No doubt you’ve seen it, whether here on TTAC, other websites or magazines (GASP! You actually read something other than TTAC!), or on the roads. One of the most daringly styled, attractive new cars on our roads wears a badge that has, for over two decades, been nothing but an ugly duckling camped out in the left lane at well less than the speed limit.
Well, our ugly duckling has grown into a swan. The 2023 Toyota Prius Prime is still a mileage champ, but it now has power and styling to befit its avian glow-up. The thing with swans is, well, they crap all over the place. Is this new Prius Prime a plugged-in pile of dung on a freshly-waxed showroom floor, or is it a genuinely graceful bird spreading its’ wings?
Yeah, Tim just reviewed the standard Prius last week. The timing is strictly coincidental – we are a good six weeks past the end of Toyotathon, if my calendar is correct, so we aren’t hawking any Oh, What A Feeling! feelings.
For those not down with the Toyota nomenclature, Prime stands for plug-in hybrid. That means you can hitch up to 120v or 240v in your garage and add power, rather than relying on the engine and momentum to charge the batteries as in a standard hybrid. Depending on the trim selected, you can get between 39 and 44 miles of all-electric range from a full charge in a Prius Prime, up to 84 mph. That’s a pretty decent daily commute without using a drop of fuel.
Engage both the electric motors and the 150 hp two-liter four and you’ll find 220 combined system horsepower. That’s a nice boost over the 194hp for the standard Prius, and nearly doubles the 121 combined system horsies found in the previous-generation Prius Prime. This hybrid is no longer slow. And it’s actually not bad to drive, either, as the handling remains predictable and comfortable. It’s no longer a penalty box – well, it’s not shaped like a box, more a penalty suppository – for those who are dead inside.
That steeply-raked nose and windscreen surely improve the already-wind-cheating profile of previous Priuses (Prii?) with a quoted 0.27 drag coefficient. There is still, like in every Prius, a fair bit of wind noise at highway speeds, but it isn’t objectionable.
I’m generally happy with interior comfort in this newest Prius Prime, though rear headroom is at a bit of a premium. My kids, both a couple inches under six feet tall, found their hair closer to the rear headliner than in most sedans. The seats were plenty supportive front and rear, and I feel as if I’d hear little to no complaining if we were to test the quoted 550 miles of estimated range per tank in a single stint. Standard lane-keeping assist and adaptive cruise control on all Prius Prime trims are part of the Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 suite of driver assistance technologies that help with that long cruise.
One caveat to those obsessives who read the data panel atop the page first before grooving into my magnificent prose: yeah, the price is up there. Forty-two grand and change for a compact family hatchback is hard to swallow. While the larger 12.3-inch touchscreen (versus eight inches on lesser trims) is lovely to look at, the glass roof nice to look out from, and the heated and ventilated front seats (as well as the optional-even-on-this top-trim $350 heated rear seats) are lovely, I honestly think the lesser SE trim would be a good buy for someone looking to save even more money and fuel. That SE trim weighs about 110 pounds less – some of which comes from the smaller 17-inch alloy wheels, as well as the steel roof above one’s head instead of glass – which leads to a significant fuel economy savings. Instead of 48mpg combined in the XSE and XSE Premium trims like you see here, an SE-package Prius Prime manages 52mpg combined, as well as 44 miles of EV range. All for a much more palatable figure of $34,070 delivered.
The automakers send us their best and most loaded vehicles to try out, of course, because that’s where they shine. And if you want the nicest, sexiest (I still wince when I type that) Toyota Prius Prime out there, this XSE Premium trim is the way to go. But these birds flock together, and there is value out there in the branches if you’re willing to look for the right winged eco-warrior.
[Images: Toyota]
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