• Achieved top Euro NCAP score
• Wide array of driver assistance packages available
• Much of the kit comes as standard

Toyota Prius safety levels are strong, with the standard hybrid receiving a top five-star score when tested in 2016. What’s particularly impressed us is how much of that safety equipment comes as standard. Not only do all Priuses come complete with seven airbags and two ISOFIX child seat mounting points in the back, there are also LED headlights with automatic main beam, LED tail lamp elements, a forward collision warning system with automatic braking and adaptive cruise control to safely maintain a predetermined distance between you and the vehicle ahead.

Most versions also feature a blind-spot monitor to alert you to cars which may have escaped your peripheral vision and a rear cross traffic alert to bring oncoming vehicles to your attention when reversing out of a restricted-view parking bay.

Even more impressive, Business Edition models and higher come with a head-up display projecting key information onto the windscreen while Business Edition Plus adds a self-parking function in the conventional hybrid, with this only standard in the Plug-in version in range-topping Excel trim. Curiously you have to go all the way to the flagship Excel grade for rain-sensitive wipers.

• Battery location aids practicality

• Plug-in only has four seats

• White trims may not age well

In spite of its sleekness, the Toyota Prius is a practical proposition meaning a family with three kids could own one with few, if any, compromises to their lifestyle – provided you steer clear of the four-seat-only Plug-in version. By locating the battery pack under the rear seat rather than beneath the boot floor, Toyota’s freed up space and increased flexibility

Boot space is increased by ditching the space saver spare wheel that comes as standard with models riding on 15-inch wheels. Replacing it with a puncture repair kit ensures the capacity jumps from 457 litres to 502 litres. That’s only 23 litres shy of the Ford Mondeo Saloon hybrid but significantly short of the Volkswagen Passat Saloon’s 586 litres.

The Prius’s trump card over those two is its hatchback design, the tailgate opening making it much easier to load the boot, especially longer and heavier items which require the 60:40 split rear seats to be folded. Tumble both sections over and its potential’s increased to 1,633 litres.

Both passenger and boot room suffer in the Plug-in version, however, due to the extra batteries under the boot floor. These make the boot much too shallow. Overall volume of 360 litres is still reasonable, though the shallow gap between the floor and the boot cover limits practicality somewhat. Meanwhile, with just two seats in the rear and a large central armrest, it is not the best car for carrying passengers, though the outer two seats are comfortable.

There’s a useful amount of storage space around the Toyota’s cabin with sensibly sized and shaped door bins, glovebox and central cubby under the armrest. Less convenient is the space below the gear lever which is awkward to get at quickly. At first glance the two-tiered dash looks like it has a shelf along much of its horizontal plane but a quick test revealed cabin detritus soon slides off it into the footwell.

While we liked the airier, lighter ambience of the pale grey and black interior over the all-black alternative, it’s not hard to envisage those softer shades becoming quickly grubby. Similarly the shiny white and black plastic elements of dash look great when new but time will tell how scratch-resistant they prove to be.