Toyota’s Prius Prime PHEV has taken a giant leap forward in terms of style and EV range for the next-generation 2023 model. It’s gone from a dowdy, so-so PHEV to class-leading.
Whether it’s range, style, acceleration or handling; the new Prius Prime is a joy compared to the old cars.
Gone is the last generation’s somewhat polarizing styling. Instead drivers will find a trendsetting look that is among the most attractive hatchback sedans on the road today.
Post your questions or comments about the Prius Prime here.
Let’s start with what is perhaps the car’s most important improvement: range.
The base Prius Prime SE is rated at 44 miles of all-electric range, which is 76 percent jump over the previous generation, according to Toyota.
Our top trim XSE Premium model with its 13.6 kWh battery is rated at 39 miles of all-electric driving due to its larger 19-inch wheels. The SE comes with 17-inch wheels.
Toyota predicts it will receive an EPA-estimated 127 combined MPG-equivalent rating for the SE and 114 MPGe for the XSE Premium. Official EPA range estimates for the 2023 Prius Prime weren’t available yet at the time of this story’s posting.
With a 10.6 gallon tank, Toyota estimates Prime drivers will be able to go 550 miles on a full charge when combined with a full tank of gas.
The Prius Prime is also economical when running in hybrid mode, delivering a Toyota-estimated 51 miles per gallon. However, it did miss a couple of “prime” opportunities as compared to its former competitor, the discontinued Chevrolet Volt PHEV.
The Prius Prime charges at a maximum rate of 3.5 kW per hour as compared to the Volt’s 6.6 kW charging speed. The Volt also beat the Prius Prime in EV-only range at an EPA-estimated 53 miles per charge.
Adding to the Prius Prime’s efficiency, a solar roof option adds 185-watts worth of panels. Motor Trend found that in six hours of Los Angeles sun it could make just over a kilowatt hour of power a day, which the automotive magazine said works out to 3.2 miles, which means assuming perfect weather, you could fully recharge it in 12-days, although the magazine found three weeks to be a more realistic estimate.
During our time with the Prius Prime, we saw peaks of just over 100-watts per hour during a partly cloudy Jacksonville day.
The car had produced 21.6 kW of solar power in its brief lifetime, which according to the car’s readout was good for 96.6 miles of solar-powered driving.
Using a per kWh rate of 26 cents, Motor Trend estimated it would take about seven-and-a-half years of 275 blue-sky afternoons per year to pay off the additional cost of the solar roof, which is a $610 option on the XSE Premium trim model. The solar roof isn’t available on base models.
A fixed-glass roof is also available on the Prius Prime in addition to a standard hardtop on the base model.
While the 2023 Prius Prime is a better overall automobile than its predecessor, it has lost some cargo space and headroom as compared to the last generation. With that said, apart from tall rear-seat passengers of over 5′ 10′ or so, most probably won’t notice the difference.
Rear visibility also isn’t the best, but thanks to our test car’s rear-camera mirror system, it actually had better rear visibility than most cars. It’s easy to toggle the mirror camera on or off, just like you would toggle a traditional mirror at night.
When the mirror camera is activated the car’s natural blind spots are eliminated and a much wider rear-view of traffic is offered.
Toyota’s new gauge cluster in the Prius Prime splits the difference between a traditional dashboard and a heads-up display. It’s situated high on the dash.
Thanks to a widely adjustable steering wheel I didn’t have any trouble dialing in a comfortable 100% view of the display.
The dash readout features a wealth of information that is accessible via steering wheel controls.
AutomotiveAddicts.com lent EV Rider the Prius Prime featured in this road test. AutomotiveAddicts.com Publisher Malcolm Hogan says with the exception of the Kia Niro, the Prime doesn’t face much direct competition.
“The Prius Prime is almost in a category by itself. You have a few competitors out there in the SUV realm. A lot of them start to get into a higher price.”
The Prius Prime SE bases at $32,350, while the average new car price was $48,334 in July 2023, according to Kelley Blue Book. Our heavily-optioned XSE Premium-trim Prime carried an as tested price of $42,510.
The 2023 Prius Prime is the quickest Prius yet, with a 0-60 mph time of 6.6 seconds, according to Toyota. That’s a 35% performance bump over the 10.2 second time of the outgoing model.
“I’m actually impressed with the Toyota Prius. I thought I’d never say that,” Malcolm said. “Previous generations were pretty slow. Let’s be honest. I mean this one, it’s not a rocket ship, but it just runs rings around the old previous generations.”
Our XSE Premium trim had the 12.3-inch high-resolution touchscreen, which was logically laid out with several EV-and-hybrid centric screens along with wireless Android Auto and Apple Car Play.
Out on the road our Prime’s adaptive cruise control and steering assist worked as expected.
There’s a lot more to this story. For a road test and additional details about the Prius Prime, watch the video at the top of this post and if you enjoyed this edition of EV Rider, please give the video a like and subscribe to the EV Rider YouTube channel.