IT'S all very strange when you sit in Toyota's Auris Hybrid for the first time, especially if like me it happens to be in the dark.

The first surprise is that the traditional gear shift has been replaced with a tiny control lever, marked with just three positions; D (drive), R (reverse) and N (neutral).

It's a little like the shock you get when you are invited onto the bridge of a cruise ships and find the traditional large wheel has been replaced by a small joystick.

The Auris's dashboard looks conventional enough, except that next to the speedometer, where you would normally find the rev counter, there is a totally unfamiliar dial marked with zones for Charge, Economy and Power.

When you push the start button the dashboard illuminates and a little "ready" indicator lights up - but there is no engine noise. Even when you pull away everything is silent. Weird.

But while it might seem a little daunting initially, it's all very simple and everything soon falls into place.

The car is powered by a 1.8-litre VVT-i petrol engine assisted by an electric motor. When there is enough power in the battery pack the Auris will run on the electric motor for up to 1.2 miles at a speed of up to 30 miles per hour.

In practice the power for the car fluctuates from the electric motor to the engine or a combination of both, depending upon conditions.

The electric motor is powered by the hybrid battery and works in tandem with the petrol engine to boost acceleration during normal driving.

This provides instant power, seamless acceleration and - most noticeable of all - very quiet running even when the power is coming solely from the engine.

Fascinatingly you can have a little diagram on screen which shows you at any given time where the power is coming from. And of course when the car is being driven in electric vehicle mode alone it means that CO2 and NOx emissions are cut to zero.

Taken overall the CO2 emissions are just 89g/km so you don't have to pay any road tax. That and the fact that the Auris Hybrid will average more than 70 miles per gallon means it is cheap to run, a factor you have to weigh up against what is quite a high initial price of more than £20,000.

Despite initial misgivings I really warmed to the Auris Hybrid. The Hybrid Synergy Drive system works remarkably well in heavy traffic and on the motorway. You purr along at low speeds in silence yet there is plenty of power in reserve for high speed driving when you need it.

The UK-built car has a nice solid feel to it with the doors and boot closing easily with the lightest of pressure and with the upholstery in a combination of leather and Alcantara on the T Spirit version it has a very up-market feel to it.

The Auris is surprisingly spacious with plenty of leg room for rear seat passengers and even allowing for the fact that there is a battery pack in the boot area it will still accommodate a generous amount of luggage, boosted by a false floor to give double-decker space.

And because the hybrid version sits lower than the standard version - to help with economy - it looks far more sporting.