2010 Toyota Prius rear seat

2010 Toyota Prius rear seat

Soon we'll dive into much more detail on each aspect of the 2010 Toyota Prius, covering every facet of the car exhaustively. Think of it as "Everything You Need to Know," but on steroids.

Meanwhile, today's installment of our 30 Days of the 2010 Prius series follows up on yesterday's "10 Best Things" with a list of a few things that are ... well ... not-so-best.

(1) Less rear legroom. Within a very similar package to the 2009 Prius, most dimensions got a bit bigger. One that didn't was rear-seat hip room, which is almost half an inch narrower. Another is front headroom, which is 0.3 inches lower. Worst of all, despite front seat backs almost 1.5 inches thinner, rear leg room fell by 2.6 inches--though rear knee space rose almost an inch. Our take: The rear seat is suitable for two 6-foot tall males with normal-issue legs, but you wouldn't want to sit between them.

(2) Limits on option combinations. How could the company not expect that buyers would want a fully-loaded 2010 Toyota Prius with both the Advanced Technology Package and the Solar Roof Package? Pick one, kids; it's all ya get.

(3) Location of seat-heater button. This is a major irritant for those of us in cold climates. The seat-heater button is located down by your ankles, buried in the open space below the high-mounted center console--right next to the 12-Volt outlet. Grrrrrr.

(4) Same old battery and electric range. With all the great new stuff, we're shocked (ahem) that the battery remains the same, and so does the electric range--roughly 1 mile, under the right circumstances. We know it's to keep cost down, but still ....

(5) No plug-in option. OK, no one else offers one either, yet (aside from the $109,000 2009 Tesla Roadster, which is entirely different). But with the 2011 Chevrolet Volt less than two years away, we wanted Toyota to pioneer the plug-in hybrid. Now! For the record, Toyota says limited numbers of plug-in Prius models will be offered to fleets--not civilian buyers--by the end of 2009.

2010 Toyota Prius seat-heater button and 12-Volt power outlet

2010 Toyota Prius seat-heater button and 12-Volt power outlet