This has been my special interest that I've been fixating on lately. My girlfriend has a newer Prius and I'm fascinated by the E-CVT. It's so effortlessly smooth and efficient with how it can constantly switch between transmitting and recapturing energy. Plus they're dead reliable. After driving an E-CVT car for a bit, getting back into my body-on-frame V8 SUV with an old school torque converter makes it feel like an ancient relic.
They unfairly get lumped in with belt-and-pulley CVTs due to the name, but I think they're easily the best transmission for basic A-to-B driving.
by weirddodgestratus