Brake Fluid Explained

Hydraulic brakes are always used from approximately 7 mph to 0 mph, however regen provides impressive braking at speed. Enough to surprise the novice Toyota hybrid driver.

Yes but you quickly got used to it. It is all simulated in any case unless your brake booster system has failed. At that point you get a light show, no power braking and dramatically increased stopping distance. However Toyota does a decent job of predicting the situation before it happens and then alerting the driver.

The biggest problem with brake boosters in Toyota hybrids were early failures and no aftermarket options in gen2 and 3 Prii.