• by Tanya Gazdik , Staff Writer, Yesterday

I must confess, I have to watch my lead foot. 

I blame my father, who also had a lead foot and actually got a speeding ticket a few weeks before he died. When I was a teenager, he indulged me with a Pontiac Firebird as my first vehicle, complete with an old school hood-mounted radar detector. 

What was he thinking? Seriously! 

While I haven’t gotten a speeding ticket in many years (I’m older, if not wiser), it’s something I must always remain hypervigilant about, and for that reason I am a huge fan of adaptive cruise control, which helps keep my heavy-footed tendencies in check. 

Electric vehicles and hybrids have no shortage of pep. So it’s really imperative that I keep an eye on the speedometer so I won't have those soul-crushing “disco lights” pop up in my rear-view mirror. 

Which leads me to the Toyota Prius Nightshade plug-in hybrid edition, where I recently spent some quality time behind the wheel. 

The special edition of the redesigned Prius features blacked-out accents like 19-inch wheels, badging, and trim, plus unique interior details like carbon fiber accents and black SofTex seats with grey stitching, all built on the XLE trim level. 

Yes, it’s as striking as it sounds. 

It retains the standard 2.0L hybrid powertrain (194 hp) with available all-wheel drive, offering excellent fuel economy (around 57 MPG combined) and a more aggressive, stylish look with exclusive colors like Karashi (a much-more-attractive-than-it-sounds mustard yellow). 

The plug-in option allows owners to charge the small battery which provides 40 miles of pure electric range before switching to the gas engine. Plug-in vehicles are a great way to “try out” electric vehicles and often give their owners plenty of driving range for the daily commute. 

Standard features include an 8-inch touchscreen (with an available 12.3-inch upgrade), wireless charging and available heated/ventilated seats. 

Sadly, it was a wet week in Detroit and my plans included a 215-mile round trip on a day where Mother Nature couldn’t make up her mind between rain, snow and pea soup fog. 

While I would normally prefer to drive an AWD vehicle in such weather, the Prius (mine didn’t include the option) behaved quite well in the inclement weather. 

The vehicle I tested had a lot of luxury bells and whistles like the heated steering wheel. I found the standard touchscreen to be adequately sized.   The wireless charger is a slot next to the cup holders and unfortunately it was inconsistent in charging, which was frustrating.

There is a useful hidden compartment in front of the cupholders where you can stow something you want to be out of sight, like some pocket change or your phone.

It’s a hatchback and the seats fold flat in the back seat, with ample cargo space.  There’s a huge sunroof with a divider in between the front and back seats.

It’s definitely a lot of vehicle for the money, which as tested totaled $41,304. It felt like it should be at least $10,000 or $15,000 more than that. 

I first drove the new Prius in fall 2023 during a much longer road trip — 1,100 miles across four states in three days. The then all-new Prius garnered a lot of admiring glances, as did the Nightshade edition. 

Good looks never go out of style.