Toyota has unveiled a new Prius model that looks set to revolutionise the car industry, powering the sustainable cars with the self-righteousness of their owners. The prototype, nicknamed the Toyota Pious, uses a unique hybrid engine that allows the car to go on and on whenever the driver does.

 

Engineer Sayuki Yashima was inspired to create the car after seeing the glowing self-satisfaction of a Prius driver as a passenger. "It was clear to me that the smugness coming from the driver's seat was a powerful, renewable resource," the scientist said, "And it occured to me that if I could channel that pomposity away from conversations about ethical investing and fair trade coffee and into the engine, it could stop driving people up the wall and start driving them down the road."

Working with the sanctimonious was fraught with risks. VW nearly beat the team to market with a New Beetle powered by insufferable graphic designers. But Toyota is proud of its results.

"It's quite ingenious," says urbanite brand manager Miles Kwang, his very words flooding the vehicle with kilowatts. "Listen to that - it's whisper quiet" he added, generating 4km worth of pretension. "Such is the car's efficiency that even explaining the wanky little diagram of the engine can power a trip to a grower's market."

 

More alternative fuel sources for the Pious are still being explored. "We're trialling things like switching on Radio National to improve mileage," says Yashima. "And theoretically, the car could make it from Sydney to Darwin on half a tank of petrol if it was driven by Al Gore. Maybe even further if he was visiting an eco-lodge."

Toyota at first thought the engine might create something close to perpetual motion, with the very act of tooling around in such a hateful piece of inner-city gadgetry creating limitless self-righteousness. But Yashima says that his engineers have been unable to completely insulate the Pious drivers from any self-awareness. "We haven't yet figured out how to stop the driver feeling hypocritical because the rest of their trendy existence is entirely environmentally unsustainable," he said.

Researchers are now working on technology that will harness the mockery of other drivers.