This is a hybrid electric midsize car developed and manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation. Priced at $21,500, the car can charge its battery from a household electrical unit. The Prius first went on sale in Japan in 1997, making it the first mass-produced hybrid vehicle.

The Prius is sold in more than 40 countries and regions, with its largest markets being those of Japan and North America.

Image: The prototype model of the plug-in hybrid vehicle Prius at the annual Automotive Engineering Exposition at Yokohama city on May 22, 2008. | Photograph: Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images