Toyota Prius C vs Mercedes-Benz Esprinter

What's the difference?

It's as if the the future is firmly rooted in the past at Toyota. The Prius is still undoubtedly clever, frugal and easy to drive, but it is feeling so old in places that the bad had begun to weigh on the good. If you're a tech-head or have a right foot crafted from lead, then there's nothing to see here. But if the thought of saving money at the bowser sets your heart aflutter, then step right this way.

With the convenience of back-to-base charging the eSprinter would be well suited to last-mile logistics or other urban delivery roles, as its driving range is ample for many of these urban tasks with the added benefit of zero tailpipe emissions. However, at more than $100K it is a big spend (like its full-electric rivals) so only a thorough cost-benefit analysis can decide if it’s the right choice for your business.

The good news is that it doesn't look quite so quirky as the full-size Prius. The not-as-good news is that it's still no beauty-contest winner. Not helping matters was the fact our test vehicle was painted in a retina-burning yellow (they call it Hornet Yellow, and it's new for 2018) that looked almost nuclear.

Viewed front on, the blacked-out section of grille and bumper gives the littlest Prius a vaguely manta ray-shaped front-end, while the headlights climb both upwards and back into the body, lending a sense of sportiness to this very unsporty hybrid. From the back, the chunky bumper, vertical taillights and rear windscreen spoiler all add a little attitude to the design.

Inside, you'll find a small but premium-in-places space, with a gloss-black stereo surround that angles the main controls toward the driver, while the digital driver's binnacle is pushed toward the centre of the car, displaying speed, fuel and other key info above the stereo, rather than in front of the steering wheel.

This is a substantial vehicle riding on a 3665mm wheelbase and spanning almost 6.0 metres in length (5932mm) and more than 2.0 metres in width (2020mm without mirrors), yet it has a tight kerb-to-kerb turning circle of only 12.4 metres.

And with the optional High Roof as fitted to our example it stands almost 3.0 metres tall (2867mm), so drivers need to be conscious of this extra dimension when accessing underground loading zones, driving under height-restricted bridges etc.

Its rear-wheel drive unitary chassis features simple and rugged McPherson strut front suspension paired with a De Dion-style rigid beam/leaf spring rear axle, along with four-wheel disc brakes and electrically assisted power steering.

There’s prominent use of unpainted dark grey plastic in external areas where bumps, scrapes and wear are usually inflicted, including the grille, front bumper, hubcaps, doorhandles, door mirror shells, side bump-strips and rear bumper.

The cabin design is spacious, neat and functional, with unique instrumentation which replaces the traditional tachometer with a gauge that monitors driving efficiency. There’s also a digital info screen that displays average energy consumption, battery charge, estimated driving range, gear selection and more.

Not very. This is a Yaris-based city car, let's not forget.

That said, it never feels cramped up front, with enough shoulder and headroom to ensure you feel separated from your fellow passengers, where you'll also find two cupholders, and an infuriating USB connection housed in the touchscreen - so your cord dangles from the dash when connected.

Climb into the back, and you'll find yourself in a pretty snug space. Sitting behind my own (5ft-8inch) driving position, it's only the scalloped back of the driver's seat that affords me any clear air between my knees and the seat in front, and the space behind my head and the roof lining is minuscule, too. But again, we're talking city car space here, so you can't expect to lounge about back there.

The ambience in the backseat leaves a little to be desired, though. The door trim pushes into the passenger space, and the plastics used in the rear are rock hard. There's a single cupholder to share, and a seat-back pocket on the rear of the passenger seat, but that's it; there's no vents, USB or power sources. There's no bottle-room in the rear doors, either.

An easy-access boot space will swallow 260 litres with the 60:40 rear seats in place. And there are two ISOFIX attachment points, one in each window seat in the back.

With its hefty 2727kg kerb weight (largely due to the battery) and 4250kg GVM, the eSprinter has a sizeable 1523kg payload rating. It’s also rated to tow up to 2000kg of braked trailer but with its 5000kg GCM (or how much it can carry and tow at the same time) that big payload must shrink to only 273kg to legally tow its maximum trailer weight.

That’s only enough payload capacity to cater for the weight of a two-man crew and little more so it’s important to be aware of these numbers if you’re planning to tow this heavy (although we suspect few if any owners would do so).

The cargo bay with the High Roof option is enormous, with 2009mm from floor to roof allowing even tall people to stand without stooping. Its load volume is a cavernous 10.5 cubic metres.

The load floor, which is protected by a hard non-slip surface, is 3375mm long and 1732mm wide with 1350mm between the rear-wheel housings. This allow up to two Aussie pallets or up to four Euro pallets to be carried, secured using a choice of 10 load anchorage points which fold flush with the floor when not in use.

Cargo bay access is through a sliding kerbside door with a big 1260mm-wide opening and a pair of rear barn doors which can open to a full 270 degrees on each side to optimise access to forklifts and loading docks.

The walls and sliding door are neatly lined to roof height and large handles inside both door openings assist access. There’s also bright LED lighting plus handy storage pockets in each rear door.

Its spacious cabin provides a comfortable and efficient workspace. The fabric-trimmed bucket seats offer generous head and legroom for driver and passenger and the ample open floor space between them features a sturdy cradle in which to carry the charging cable (see image).

There’s also ample storage including a large bottle-holder and multiple bins in each door plus a full-width overhead shelf with a key-lockable security box and a central glasses holder.

The top of the dash has two cupholders on each side (so, four in total) plus a large compartment with clamshell lid in the centre equipped with a 12V socket and three USB-C ports. There’s another shelf in the lower dash on the passenger side, a quartet of cupholders in the centre console and yet another compartment hidden beneath the passenger seat.

The local eSprinter range, which does not include a cab-chassis variant, offers a choice of van-based models comprising the MWB (Medium Wheelbase) with 81kWh motor for a list price of $104,313 and LWB (Long Wheelbase) with 113kWh motor for $121,041. This six-figure pricing is in the same ballpark as full-electric large van equivalents from Ford (E-Transit) and LDV (eDeliver 9).

Our test vehicle, finished in standard 'Arctic White', is the smaller MWB/81kWh model equipped with the optional High Roof (option code DO3) which adds almost half a metre (489mm) to its external height and $2392 (ex GST) to its price.

Its work-focused standard equipment includes 16-inch steel wheels with 225/75 R16 tyres and a full-size spare, DRLs and side marker lights, sealed cabin bulkhead with central window, electric-adjustable truck-style exterior mirrors, heated driver’s seat and exterior mirror, prestige leather-rimmed steering wheel with multiple remote control functions, colour 5.5-inch driver’s information display, reversing camera, front/rear parking sensors and tyre pressure monitoring to name a few.

The cabin also has an electronic parking brake, electric air-conditioning and heating plus multiple USB ports and 12V sockets. The latest 'MBUX' multimedia system features a large 10.25-inch touchscreen as central command offering voice activation, digital radio, wireless Apple/Android connectivity and more.

Under that little hood lives a 1.5-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine good for 54kW, which pairs with a 45kW electric motor. Toyota lists combined outputs at 74kW at 4800rpm and 111Nm at 4000rpm.

That hybrid setup partners with a CVT automatic, pumping power to the front wheels.

The eSprinter is powered by a single electric motor producing 150kW of power and 400Nm of torque. It’s mounted under the rear floor where it drives the rear wheels through a single-speed transmission.

This compact motor-trans unit shares underfloor space with an 81kWh lithium-ion battery that provides the motor’s energy. This battery occupies most of the underfloor between the front and rear axles and features a slimline design to optimise ground clearance.

Drivers have a choice of three drive modes comprising 'Comfort', 'Economic' and 'Max Range', plus different levels of energy recuperation using steering wheel-mounted paddles that adjust the intensity of regenerative braking.

The electric motor also features a ‘boost’ function which temporarily increases power output when fast acceleration or overtaking is required. The eSprinter’s maximum speed is capped at 120km/h.

If that last section didn't impress, this one surely will. The little Prius c will sip a claimed 3.9L/100km on the combined cycle.

That's very low, and the fact it accepts cheaper 91RON fuel makes it a very affordable car to run. Except... the onboard computers revealed a slightly less-impressive 5.1L/100km after my time with the car.

Emissions are a claimed 90g/km of CO2, which is very good.

Mercedes-Benz’s official driving range for the 81kWh eSprinter, based on combined WLTP testing, is up to 264km. When we collected the vehicle for our test, the battery was fully charged but the estimated driving range displayed was only 234km, or 30km less than the official figure.

The eSprinter’s towering height also stopped us accessing local charging infrastructure (located inside multi-storey car parks) so our test was conducted using the initial single charge. This included a mix of suburban and city driving best suited to electric van use and covered a total distance of 190km.

At the completion of our test, the dash display claimed average energy consumption of 29kWh/100km, with 25 per cent battery charge remaining and 63km of estimated range. So, based on these figures, the official WLTP range of up to 264km is credible.

The eSprinter comes standard with a Mode 3/Type 2 charging cable and the charging port is in the centre of the grille behind a spring-loaded flap displaying a three-pointed star badge.

Mercedes-Benz claims 11kW AC charging of the 81kWh battery from 10-80 per cent takes around eight hours while 115kW DC fast charging reduces that to around 32 minutes.

In much the same way that you don't buy an exotic performance car for its ability to run to the shops, you're unlikely to be buying the Prius for its ability to set your pulse racing.

But happily, it doesn't feel wobbly or disconnected, either. It's aided by being such a small package, and when you're not wafting silently about in electric mode, and you've coaxed that little petrol engine into life, it serves up more than enough poke to navigate the city, and even to leave the slow-reactors in your rear-view mirror at traffic lights.

The ride is good, too, feeling connected to the road below without feeling uncomfortable, although the little Prius does tend to track with the corrugations in the road, leaving you to wrestle it back into line. That's a job made easier by light and surprisingly direct steering, which feels tailor-made for the city.

Finally, the leather-look seats are comfortable, even over long distances, the razor-thin A-pillars make forward vision easy and it's a very simple thing to drive and manoeuvre  into parking spaces. And all of those are good things.

Not so good? Well, the entire drive experiences feels a little beige and emotionless, it can get noisy and there are parts of the cabin that feel downright cheap. Worst of all, though, is that for a car that once heralded the future, it's feeling very, very dated.

But there are some amazing quirks attached to driving an (almost) electric car, including the delivery of eco awards for using the least amount of fuel (they were awarded for 2.6, 3.2 and 3.6L/100km over as much as 25km - none of which occurred during my tenure). The hardest thing to get used to was the absolute silence served up in electric mode. I counted four seperate occasions when I walked away from the car with it still turned on.

There are large handles on the front door window frame and overhead shelf to assist climbing aboard, where you’ll find a comfortable and commanding driving position.

This is thanks to supportive seating (albeit with no lumbar adjustment), ample steering wheel height/reach positioning and a spacious footwell, combined with a clear rear view through the bulkhead window and along the sides thanks to large truck-style mirrors.

The leather-rimmed steering wheel feels nice in your hands, all major controls are easy to see and operate and the electric air-conditioning and heating systems are effective.

It’s a pleasant vehicle to drive as the most noise you hear is the tyres, given the near silence of the rear-mounted motor and drivetrain. The underfloor location of the battery also creates a low centre of gravity, which optimises handling with minimal body lean when cornering.

Unladen ride quality is excellent, enhanced by the weight of the battery which helps the suspension iron out bumps. And the electric motor’s 400Nm of torque provides energetic performance, with acceleration delivered in a smooth liquid-like surge.

Selecting the strongest regenerative braking not only optimises energy harvesting for the battery but also creates enough retardation to ensure mostly single-pedal driving (accelerator only) as the brake pedal is rarely required. This mode is also handy on steep descents.

To test its payload rating we forklifted 975kg into the cargo bay, which combined with our two-man crew equalled a total payload of 1155kg that was still comfortably below its legal limit.

The rear leaf springs compressed less than 30mm under this loading, leaving ample bump-stop clearance to ensure no bottoming out on our test route. The e-motor’s response was more subdued as you’d expect but it still hauled this payload with apparent ease.

Overall, the driving experience was hard to fault, apart from the vertical pillar between the fixed and sliding glass in the driver’s door blocking the outer third of the exterior mirror’s view, at least with the driver’s seat positioned far enough rearwards to suit my 186cm frame.

We also noted, when travelling at highway speeds on a windy day, that our test vehicle was prone to being moved within its lane by strong crosswinds, even though ‘Crosswind Assist’ is included in the active safety menu.

We suspect the High Roof option was responsible for this given the larger bodysides it creates and is something to be mindful of when driving in high wind conditions.

There’s no ANCAP star rating for commercial vans above 3.5-tonne GVM but the eSprinter did score the maximum Platinum grade in ANCAP’s Commercial Van Safety Comparison in 2024.

It comes standard with six airbags, active distance assist (can automatically brake and accelerate in traffic), lane-keeping, multiple blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, tyre pressure monitoring, reversing camera, front/rear parking sensors, crosswind assist and many more.

Toyota offers a three-year/100,000km warranty, while the batteries are covered for eight years or 160,000km. The car's six-month service intervals might sting a little, though, but with each service capped at $140 for the first three years, even taking two trips to the dealership a year isn't too expensive. Just annoying.

Then eSprinter comes standard with a five-year/250,000km warranty including 24/7 roadside assist for the same duration. There’s also a separate eight years/160,000km warranty covering the lithium-ion battery.

Scheduled servicing is every 12 months/40,000km whichever occurs first. Capped pricing applies to the first five scheduled services totalling $1920, or an average of $384 per service. Pre-paid service packages offer additional savings.