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YOUNTVILLE, CA – Ah, the Prius.

Has there ever been a vehicle that has so divided the motoring populace?

Critics castigate the world’s best-selling hybrid-electric vehicle for its mundane styling and handling and for obliterating the notion that driving can be fun and even exhilarating. How many Prius owners have ever driven a Mustang?

But to growing legions of HEV devotees who grip the steering wheel purely out of necessity, the Prius is Toyota Motor Corp.’s shining star, the gold standard for affordable, practical mobility and conservation. To these fans, the fuel-sipping Prius will save the auto industry and our planet, and they believe all other auto makers worldwide should emulate this hybrid.

Given its popularity with celebrities, suburbanites and auto “experts” in Washington, the onset of “Prius fatigue” is understandable.

But the all-new, third-generation Prius is hard to hate. During a test drive through Napa Valley, the new Prius lives up to the hype, which is sure to intensify in the months leading up to its late spring debut.