The 2023 Toyota Prius Prime is a plug-in hybrid model of the standard 2023 Prius hybrid launched earlier this yr. It shares that automobile’s hanging new form, the one which wowed reviewers and buyers.
The Prime provides a a lot bigger battery that may be plugged into the grid to recharge—giving it an estimated EPA mixed electrical vary of as much as 44 miles for the bottom SE grade, or 39 miles for higher-level (and heavier) XSE and XSE Premium trims. It’s rated at 51 mpg mixed in hybrid mode with a depleted battery for the SE mannequin, 47 mpg for the XSE and XSE Premium—lower than the traditional hybrid, which has rankings from 49 to 57 mpg.
It’s a stealth EV, not like its visually distinct earlier era. Thirty-five to 40 miles is a helpful all-electric vary, and the extra highly effective electrical motors—rated at 120 kilowatts (161 horsepower)—let it sustain in fast site visitors with out requiring a mild foot on the accelerator to keep away from triggering the engine. That 2.0-liter engine is rated at 150 horsepower, however not like the traditional hybrid, non-compulsory all-wheel drive isn’t accessible.
2023 Toyota Prius Prime
Toyota will promote all of the new-generation Prius Primes it wants to remain compliant with state and federal emissions and zero-emission car gross sales necessities. How adept its salespeople are at explaining plug-in hybrids to buyers newly drawn to the Prius by its beauty stays to be seen.
However the greater query but is whether or not Toyota’s new Prius Prime surpasses what stays essentially the most competent and interesting compact plug-in hybrid passenger automobile: the second-generation 2016-2019 Chevrolet Volt, launched greater than seven years in the past with a 53-mile EPA vary. The Volt was killed in 2019 by Common Motors because it ready for a way forward for Ultium battery-electric automobiles—for which we’re nonetheless largely ready.
2023 Toyota Prius Prime
Prius plug-in hybrid historical past
The brand new Prime is definitely the third era of Prius to be provided with a plug. The 2012-15 Prius Plug-In Hybrid had a 4.4-kilowatt-hour battery pack, simply giant sufficient to qualify it for a federal tax credit score, and a measly 11 miles of EPA-rated vary—although its electric-only energy was so low the engine needed to change on at 6 miles, midway by way of the EPA’s easygoing check cycle.
Then got here the 2017 Prius Prime, visually fairly distinct from its conventional-hybrid sibling, with 8.8 kwh giving 25 miles of vary. Commendably, it operated as an EV solely so long as the battery had extra cost in it than the traditional hybrid model. Now we now have the brand new 2023 Prius Prime, with a 13.6-kwh battery giving ranges of 39 to 44 miles, arriving at dealerships in Might.
2023 Toyota Prius Prime
2023 Toyota Prius Prime
2023 Toyota Prius Prime
Prius Prime design and styling
Whereas the outdated Prius Prime had many design variations from its plain outdated hybrid sibling—whose appears to be like didn’t obtain good opinions, to place it charitably—the brand new one is all however an identical to the common hybrid model. Prius aficionados will discover the charge-port door on the correct rear flank, completely different wheel designs, and a barely completely different entrance decrease molding. That’s it.
The shortage of differentiation was deliberate, Toyota execs instructed Inexperienced Automotive Stories. The concept was to position the Prime model on the high of the Prius mannequin vary, reasonably than making an attempt to make it a separate and distinct mannequin because the earlier one had been.
Given the low volumes projected, that appears smart. Toyota says quantity for its first yr of the brand new Prius will probably be 30,000, with Primes representing 30 % of that, or as much as 10,000. For the total 2024 yr, it expects these numbers to rise to 50,000 and 15,000. On condition that 240,000 Priuses in 4 completely different fashions have been offered ten years in the past, that’s a little bit of a comedown.
2023 Toyota Prius Prime
We drove two Prius Primes in and across the San Diego suburb of Carlsbad. One was a top-trim XSE Premium, whereas the opposite was a mid-level XSE. Each have been estimated at 39 miles of mixed EPA vary, however given the vary of driving modes, acceleration exams, and different driving variations, we couldn’t confirm whether or not that quantity was affordable. Expertise with the earlier era Prime suggests it in all probability is.
Prius Prime EV acceleration: sufficient to shock a truck bro
On the street, electric-mode acceleration was brisk, particularly to 30 mph. We have been in a position to shock one truck bro in a really loud lifted pickup as soon as the sunshine turned. The accelerator detent that stops drivers from unintentionally triggering engine-on mode is agency, and the electrical motors are highly effective sufficient to spin an inside entrance wheel whereas accelerating round a curve.
2023 Toyota Prius Prime
2023 Toyota Prius Prime
2023 Toyota Prius Prime
Sadly, regenerative braking felt no extra aggressive than that of the common Prius hybrid, regardless of the a lot bigger pack. Solely on downhill stretches did regen noticeably improve, because the automobile saved itself to a set velocity. However regardless of the all-electric nature of the Prime in EV mode, there was nothing approximating heavy regen, not to mention one-pedal driving.
However that, the bigger pack will accumulate considerably extra cost touring downhill than the traditional hybrids. We really gained 10 % of battery vary, or roughly 4 miles of all-electric working, throughout a number of downhill miles of the drive route.
A jarring transition to gasoline
Total the 2023 Prius Prime drives just about like an everyday automobile in electrical mode. That’s admirable. Nevertheless it made the transition to engine-hybrid energy extra jarring after the 30-plus miles we lined solely on battery energy.
In hybrid mode, the Prius Prime is comfortably quiet puttering round city. Engine noise is distant, up there within the nostril someplace. If it flips on at regular velocity when the battery depletes, it’s not noticeable. Speed up onto a brief uphill on-ramp, nevertheless, and it will get loud shortly—although neither as thrashy nor as desperate-sounding as earlier generations.
2023 Toyota Prius Prime
However, particularly after silent EV working with just some whine from the powertrain, that engine roar was notably jarring. It took about 10 miles to acclimatize, as recollections of easy, quiet electric-only propulsion light away.
Our two Prius Primes every confirmed a cumulative common of three.1 miles per kwh, although we had no visibility into the earlier drive cycles these miles lined. And we appreciated the Hill Maintain characteristic that saved the brakes engaged after a cease—although we discovered it irritating that it needed to be re-engaged after every energy cycle.
Does the brand new Prius form have an effect on cabin consolation?
The fifth-generation Prius stays a hanging, handsome automobile, one for which its venture workforce intentionally sacrificed a couple of factors of aerodynamic drag—and, maybe, some practicality—to get the compelling form proper. Toyota’s entrepreneurs are taking full benefit of the brand new and sudden comeliness, with adverts taglined, “Prius: It’s a Looker Now” and “Prius: It’s Rebellious Now.”
2023 Toyota Prius Prime
2023 Toyota Prius Prime
2023 Toyota Prius Prime
We’re undecided about precise insurrection, however its steeply raked windshield—at a 21.6-degree angle—nonetheless requires a hand on the pillar and a duck-and-twist movement to drop into the motive force’s seat with out banging your head. Inside, passengers sit low, and a number of other drivers complained concerning the problem of discovering changes for the seat and steering wheel that permit them view the instrument cluster—on the base of the windshield—with out the wheel rubbing towards their legs.
Powertrain apart, just about each remark we made in our first drive report on the traditional 2023 Prius hybrid applies to the Prime. You’ll miss it in a parking zone until you occur to see it plugged in.
Will homeowners plug them in? Toyota had no information on the earlier plug-in to share, although (as earlier than) it promised to analyze the query.
Prius Prime vs. used Volt?
So … again to that Chevy Volt. Greater than seven years after GM launched its second-generation plug-in hybrid hatchback—and 4 years after it was killed off—has Toyota constructed a greater Volt?
In vary, the reply is not any. The Volt was EPA-rated at 53 miles when it departed; all however the base Prius Prime are available in 27 % beneath that. Furthermore, the Volt stayed totally electrical even underneath foot-to-the-floor acceleration if its battery pack was charged; the Prius Prime will kick on its engine underneath these circumstances.
In appears to be like, we now have to say Prius wins. The second-generation Volt was racy and engaging, however the 2023 Prius Prime nonetheless will get the nod for being merely a jaw-dropping form, one checked out and commented on far and large throughout our exams.
2023 Toyota Prius Prime
Will Volt homeowners trying to substitute their six-year-old vehicles discover the Prius Prime a compelling entry? Possibly. However totally a decade after Toyota’s first Prius with a plug, we are able to’t assist feeling the corporate nonetheless doesn’t actually wish to be doing EVs. Whereas it has dedicated $35 billion to battery-electric automobiles by 2030—the identical quantity as Common Motors—its first EV entry, the underwhelming bZ4X compact SUV, hardly makes the case Toyota can design compelling EVs.
After delivering our Prius Prime, a remaining thought occurred: As a battery-electric mannequin, a Prius Prime EV would have been a much better car than the bZ4X. It will have had extra vary, and its visible attraction would have attracted a brand new set of patrons wanting to have an EV—and saved the Prius title related.
As it’s, the 2023 Toyota Prius Prime is an efficient plug-in hybrid. However with much less vary and fewer efficiency than the Volt of seven years in the past, it’s not an excellent plug-in hybrid.
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Toyota supplied airfare, lodging, and meals to allow Inexperienced Automotive Stories to convey you this first-person drive report.