Does the 2023 Toyota Prius Prime ACTUALLY Handle Your Daily EV Commute? 

Hybrids make a lot more sense right now. When the battery dies after warranty, it will only cost $2000 and not $25,000 to replace the battery. Most people drive below 40miles each day so you are really not saving much buying a full electric.

I feel the Volt never got the recognition it deserved. It did most of what the Prime does 12 years ago, yet got super (and in my opinion, unfairly) beat-up on by critics.

We purchased an ‘18 Prime in NV when visiting CA in 2022, then drove it home to MD. Many were available in the area. Our average mpg is increasing with our city use, now 88.9, since first use. EV operates best in city, when we get on a highway I switch to hybrid. Recharge is 240 at charge point, etc. or 120 at home. Only 1 gas fill / month. We are pleased with 500+ total range.

I would actually be interested in this Prius and I never thought I would say that about a Prius. It looks great, way better than the previous ugly Prius', the tech is well proven at this point. The fact that I could do a lot of driving in pure electric but still have a vehicle that would work on a road trip without lengthy charging stops, that to me is the answer.

Thanks for doing this review. I'm a big fan of Toyota Prime technology and own a RAV4 Prime. I assume the Prius Prime tech is similar to the RAV4. Mine is rated for 42 miles EV. I typically run EV below 50 mph and run it hybrid at higher speeds. Doing that, I get 55-60 miles of EV range in moderate temperatures. Unlike some PHEVs, Toyota lets you control the mode. You can run pure EV up to 84 mph. Confirming Nathan's comment, when the car says the battery is empty, it actually still has 30% charge. It uses the extra for acceleration when needed and for low speed driving. When the battery shows 100% charge, it's actually at 90%. Toyota does that to protect the battery from excess wear.

The solar roof for $610 extra is worth it. Extends range 7 miles per day.

Now, you have to test how many miles in reverse you can go once the battery is shown depleted.

Those who claim volt = 2024 Prius prime. Dead wrong. Volt problem: Low mpg on gas Blindspot was horrible Trunk…or was it a trunk? 4 seats and not five Too much piano black Cheap interior with 80s arcade display Real world drive was 27-33 mpg on first gen Priced too high It was only fun when in EV mode.

Terrific video! My wife has exactly the same model and she manages all her commuting electrically every day (35 miles to work and back home). Not once did the car shift over to gas. For longer journeys like holidays the gas obviously kicked in but very economically and no range anxiety. Great car, probably the best solution on the marked. And man, oh man, does it look good!

I really wanted one of these. But after trying to buy one for over a year, I gave up and bought a Tesla. It seems Toyota is either unable or unwilling to build enough of these to satisfy demand.

Toyota's technology in this Prius is EXACTLY what GM had in 2012 with the Volt. I have a 2012 Volt and LOVE IT. Can't remember when I put gas into my Volt. It gets me 37-42 miles per charge and has been the most reliable car I've ever owned. I wonder why all car makers don't use this tech. It eliminates range anxiety and is the perfect car in my mind.

I have this car (without the solar panel) and I routinely get between 45 and 50 miles all EV so long as I'm not running the cabin heater. I didn't have to use the AC much, so I don't know if that would also drop the range. Either way, many 2023 Prime owners are reporting much better EV range than advertised.

The new Prius is really compelling

The whole point of a PHEV - the point that most people do not understand - is that it really doesn't matter whether the "pure electric" range is 44 miles or 38 miles or 42 miles, because these cars are HYBRIDS that get incredible gas mileage AFTER the "pure EV" range is depleted. If the Prius Prime only goes 40 miles in EV mode, do you know how much gas you'll burn to drive 50 miles? The answer is 23 ounces of gasoline, because the Prius gets 55mpg when it's burning gas! For what it's worth, our Rav4 Prime has a stated "EV Range" of 42 miles, but we get 50+ miles of EV range when the temperatures are in the 70s, and less than 35 miles of range when the temperature is in the teens or colder.

Are you not aware this model is rated for 39 miles on a full charge? Why would you expect 50 and 100 miles out of it?

I was told by my local Toyota dealership on long Island that there were only 2 built in 2023 so you have one of them. Congratulations

I am seriously so impressed with the Prius 23 and 24. They look freaking amazing. ❤

My 2017 Volt was rated for 53 miles but could get 70+ in mixed driving.

The battery is not depleted; it has plenty left to both protect the battery and let the car become a better hybrid than a Prius hybrid. You should explore how well the car builds up the mpg as a hybrid.

This may be a repeat comment…but this is the third of three Prime trim-the XSE Premium. It’s the only trim that gets the solar roof (as an option). You can also get the SE or XSE for less money.

A t-shirt with Roman's mugshot on it is unnerving! ;-)

The base model for the Prime is SE (LE is the regular Prius). I decided to get the Prius Prime since I live in Atlanta and regular daily commutes are easily EV. I keep in in auto EV: which will not completely deplete the battery. As soon as the battery goes to that 1/4 (blue) range the HV mode kicks in. I do notice it's not quite as peppy and you hear the gas engine. I rented a Chrysler 300S V6 over the weekend as my Prime was being detailed. Honestly, I thought its acceleration was clunky compared to the Prime (IE the transmission wasn't smooth, and I felt like I really had to floor it to get to 70).

I'm really considering getting one... I drive 44 miles combined everyday to work and back. I could use mostly electricity every day.

Lmao the Roman shirt killed me.

THANKS NATHAN

What I have seen with many other plug-ins I have driven, is that the 0% on the battery means 0% for EV only. They still have charge for running hybrid. It has been the same with 4 different plug-ins I have tried.

we loved our 2017 and 2021 primes while we had them will consider this new one when it comes time for another car

Lol, the jab at Aurora is brutal. But parts of Aurora are amazing, especially anything East of the tollway.

so are you guys going to road trip in to Miami, as you did in a pure EV? If you do, I am sure you will get there much quicker and beat your EV record. possible by a day if not two. It will be interested to view and I am sure the result will also be very interesting.

I have a plug in hybrid and a full ev. Guess what….i never have range anxiety because i rarely drive more than 200 miles a day. But even if i did with the ev…there are chargers everywhere….but you do need to check ahead of time if where they are which might be too much for some people and i understand that (unless you have Tesla ). The hybrid I have is nice too. What I’m saying is range anxiety is nonsense ppl say because they aren’t used to charging every night. Now if you don’t have home charging I don’t recommend getting a ev as it’s a pain to go somewhere and wait

My parents have a '23 Kia Niro PHEV, though on trips they use the "smart use". And they get in the 80s for mpg. Around town they have not used the gas engine in months

Now that you mention it, my 2012 Prius V only reverses in battery mode as well.

There's a reason why all of the suddenly the BEV rush is slowing, and even Hertz are backing in their full BEV fleets. Without major improvements into battery Cells technology, Hybrids make perfect sense for the following decades.

The rated MPGe on this plug in 'hybrid' is higher than most full EVs on the market

Mine goes 104 km on my typical drive (not hwy but 85-95 kms per hour roads) without my fan or ac on (cracked windows). I notice the reviewer is driving in brake mode. I’d suggest D and use the adaptive cruise for best mileage.

At first blush getting 40 miles from 13.6kWh (2.94mi/kWh) doesn't seem all that great however I found a couple of sources that listed the usable battery capacity as 10.9kWh giving a good 3.67 mi/kWh for your mixed driving loop. Did you happen to note the amount of energy it took to recharge the battery after this test drive?

You're driving it in B mode which is the most inefficient way to drive this car. You would have gotten more EV range had you not done that.

When did Roman get arrested?

Fun fact prius does not have a reverse gear in its transmission or a traditional starter. It uses its hybrid system to substitute it.

Two things 1: When doing these range/consumtion videos, put (calculate) the average speed of the trip. The actual value is usually lower than you think. 2: MyT mobile app shows the total % of battery. And it is not 10% when empty, it is more like 30%.

I really like my '21 Prius Prime Limited (my 2nd Prius). This updated version is really nice imo. IF I was purchasing today, I would skip the Prius. Why would you pay 45-50 grand on this when you can get a Tesla Model 3 or Y...both can be purchased well under $50k and also with the full $7.5k tax credit (at this time). Choices are good, but for the premium price and only 40 all ev miles...this is a pass for me, and I have been a Toyota only owner for years. For me a 75 - 100 mile EV range only with that new motor would be a game changer.

That was 40 miles without pollution. Just as important as fuel savings. And since I won’t be here when the Batteries Pollute Too crowd chimes in: 1) that’s a one time event, which costs far less CO2 that the life of a ICE-only vehicle, 2) hybrids use much smaller batteries than an EV, and 3)never mind, I lost you at #1.

If you can coast, rather than use regenerative breaking, that would be more efficient, whats better than reclaiming ~60-80% of the energy, is not taking it out of the battery in the first place.

Is the display in front of the steering wheel annoying as many say? Maybe they should have went with a yoke steering wheel. I think would only have two occupants at most , driver and passenger) and drive with the rear seats down for cargo space. Lots of vacation driving. I have owned two hybrids, 2007 Honda Accord Hybrid and a 2015 Hyundai IONIQ Hybrid. I never thought I would say I want a Prius but they got my attention when 2023 came out.

Not a bad concept but at least here in Virginia are very few offered and of course accompanied by discouraging dealership markups which makes the Prius Prime more expensive than entry level EV. Like the RAV4 prime it just feels like Toyota wants to showcase the Prius prime but not really wants to make and sell them.

Why did you have in brake assist the whole time ?

“You don’t want to go to Aurora, trust me.” I’ve lived in Vail, Toronto, Montreal, Los Angeles, and Denver for over 50 years. I moved to Aurora 3 years ago and it’s been a very nice city. Sure, it has its problems, but so does everywhere else. I find your comment small minded, if you don’t like Aurora you’re welcome to move. 40 percent of the population is foreign born, find me a city in Colorado with that much diversity.

The more average my daily the more fun my toys are.

its different for everyone. I have the 2020 Prius Prime and I could do 100 miles a day on all EV. 16 mile to work. Then level 2 charger at work, which I installed myself. Then go do a ton of deliveries and charge every time I park back at the restaurant. Then 16 miles home. All electric. 11 hrswork day.

The last prius could out perform 15 sport cars from the past, very high end cars. The handling was amazing. The article was from car and driver.

Lots of comments here say they rarely fill up their gas tank and rarely drive on the gas engine in their hybrids. That's not good for your hybrid vehicles. You have to run the gas engine every now and then or there will be trouble.

The buffer in the battery is less about performance and more about battery health, letting a batery get to true 0% would kill it and make it uncharagble, you always have to have some voltage in it to keep it alive

Were you using the air conditioning during this trip? I see you got 40 miles in all electric range but was that with using the AC? I am in Texas and have to run the AC on full blast in the summer so I was wondering if I would get the 40 miles per all EV range? Thanks

Three years ago I made a statement on Toyota Prius my statement was this why doesn't Toyota or Chevy or Ford or GMC put solar panels on the roofs of their cars thank you very much for your video it shows me that it can be done wow

I trust you, I don’t want to go to Aurora 😅

I love the old prius look. I dont get why people think the older prius design is 'ugly'

The shirt is amazing 😅

Why don't all electric/hybrid vehicles have solar on the roof? Because it costs a fair bit and doesn't give you that much range even in the best case. Motortrend calculated that under optimistic assumptions you'd need the better part of a decade for this feature to pay for itself, in sunny Los Angeles. It's one of those ideas that makes intuitive sense but doesn't pencil out when you start to look at numbers. It may work for RVs (large roof area, sits in one place for weeks) or super efficient vehicles like Aptera's, but it's pretty questionable on an ordinary car.

THANKS NATHAN....AND CAMERA NINJA KASE

Interesting. The true EV range of our PHEV Hyundai Ioniq is not much less than Prius. But the price is significantly cheaper.

If people were honest this is car in AWD is truly the only car you need for 85% of people 100% of you don’t need to do Offroading or have a large family

2:00 Is the cabin noise that bad? i'm wondering if there's a way to get 18 inch wheels on the top trim as it might help with the ride quality. Thanks for another great video!

I have had mine for a month and it is amazing ! Huge difference over the 2018 -2022 model.

those who complain about that they can not see speedometer , FYI , this vehicle design to use York steering wheel but because of People talk , Toyota added full steering .

I wish they would build this as a Camry...

It rips through battery on the hwy (above 50 mph). Stay closer to 50 mph or less and the Prius prime will go 60 miles on battery only.

Seems like rarely using the ICE engine would be detrimental to some of the mechanicals of the vehicle.

The extra power might help with smooth consistent power. But it also ensures the car acts the same 10 years down the road.

And great video!

🥰 Want the new Prius... regular vs prime? Aurora is divided into 3 counties. Arapahoe, Adams and Denver. If you live in Adams or Denver...thats ok. ITS blue collar! Arapahoe county is AWESOME! Nathan...scared of what?

This is great but you can’t find one and if you do you’ll pay unknown “market adjustment” until then Toyota continues to drive up demand by making less of them.

So when you use electric only mode and completely drain the battery, do you HAVE to plug-in charge it, or can you drive it in EV mode and it will recharge itself just by driving?

No one wants to address ... if one keeps using the battery for all driving, how does that effect battery life over the ownership of the car?

Our Presenter lost weight and looks much healthier - Congrats👍😘🤩

This is a city car, should have done this test in city heavy commuting trafic.

I noticed that when you set out on the trip the dash thermometer was reading 68f. By half way through the journey, the devise showed as low as 46f. That may well explain why the hybrid system engaged at 40 m. Could that account for the less than hoped for range. Also, can you, or anybody else tell me about the charge cable; I read in Toyota's Technical Spec. that either 115 or 220 volts can be used to charge the car. Obviously, we wish to use 220. It's faster and just as important, more economical to use 220 volts. Nowhere online can I find details on the feed side of the charge cable plug. 115 and 220 plugs are not compatible. I visited the dealership to enquire and they had no idea ! So, I asked them to let me know when a Prime arrived so I could travel to the lot and have a look at the cable in person. A few weeks later they called and I dodged over. I was surprised to find upon viewing the cable that the feed end plug is a regular HD three pronged affair that will not plug into a 220 volt outlet. So, what's the deal here. Will I have to chop-off the 115 volt plug and splice on a 220 twist-lock. We ordered a 2022 model 17 months ago and still no sign of it. Last word from the dealer is that they get a three month heads-up upon shipping. That means it will be at least another 90 days waiting. We are not impressed. This new car will be out third Prius. Now, we're going to be faced with not one, but two model year price increases; ( if the car arrives in February it will be a 2024), around 5 grand, and will loose almost two years value for the Prius we're trading. Almost ready to walk away from the deal at this point.

Would swapping the 19" wheels for 17" gain an extra 4 miles of EV range?

toyota has a big lineup that they can afford to sacrifice the prius cargo/headroom for looks and efficiency. If the prius has it all, it'd take away sales.

Saves you $60 a year? $610 for solar panels. After 10 years you break even at $3 a gallon. Ok $6 a gallon 5 years. Average ownership is 4 years? You won’t recoup cost..🤔 plus what’s the mark up on a prime ? $5000, If you can find 1.. I can find you a 2021 ram truck V8 for $32000. After 4 years you will spend less $. Total cost of ownership will be less after 4 years. Ok environmentally impact? Ram still wins. 100% of that battery pack is resourced over seas. Working conditions to retrieve those resources. Makes the Ram sound like the lesser of 2 evils!! $ for prime advantages and ways to resource their batteries has to improve. Especially when a full size truck currently has less impact on people and cost of ownership..Prime resale value will be a lot less in 4 years. To much tech tied into vehicle. Range battery size, weight packaging style. EV’s are always improving. Think of a cell phone . The more things change the more $$ you lose. Natural aspirated truck doesn’t come with a ton of tech. It’s old tech that gets reworked. So a used truck has already lost its initial mark up. Buy a efficient natural aspirated vehicle. Save your $$ until EV’s cost and tech level out. Which will be never..

So how much that gas did you use to finish the trip? And how many miles per gallon would that equal for the full 50? And how much would 16 kW hours of electricity cost you? Making a total cost for that 50 mi versus a new Prius/ non-prime. = Then how many years to coop the additional cost if I drove that 50 mi 5 days a week to work approximately 48 weeks per year?

It's a shame the Prime isn't offered in AWD. AWD > Plug-In and +24 HP. Plus AWD would get so much more out of that extra horsepower.

I came for the Prius, I stayed for the Roman shirt

With that Solar Panel Roof, in Colorado or places alike, when it starts to hail, doesn't that blows the fuel efficiency out of the door... running for cover ? 😁

Solar on a car is extremely expensive for the amount of energy it will provide in real world use. You might as well spend that money on solar for your home or just buy a good level 2 wall charger with the money. At best the solar roof panel adds 2.7 miles of range and day. That is AT BEST! On a cloudy day you wouldn’t even see 1 mile of range. That is just a waste of money.

I like it. How many Prius Prime's will Toyota deliver to the US each year? 5K? or something meaningful like 50k+? The PHEVs have felt like more marketing and greenwashing than an actual product.

Saving money on fuel, but spending 40K. :) But it's a nice car. If it's just for your 30 miles commute, might as well buy a cheap electric, and a cheap do-it-all car. But hey, you want a new car, Pruis, Civic E:Hev, Corolla Hybrid (Cross or otherwise). Those'd be my picks.

The Prius actually looks good now.

Your center display shows a solar roof charger. When did you buy the car as I've been waiting 6 months and haven't seen a solar yet?

This isn’t a EV, it’s a hybrid.

I wonder what would have happened if you drove 65 instead of 75 on the highway stretch 🤔

Omg that’s the greatest intro of TFL!😂 ❤

The no wiper on the hatch is kind of lame. Gonna have to run rain x all over it for rainy days in florida

4 hours on a level 2. They cheaper out on a 7kwh charger?

Can the engine charge up the battery while you drive?

What about if you are running the heater during the winter or A/C in the summer (I'm in the washington DC area) how much does this diminish the 40 mile range?

Solar panels add to the cost. While in suburban sprawl North America you can have wide spaces, but that's not for everyone.

any reason to use B transmission, rather than D? any advantage for fuel efficiency?

Did locals flip you off and throw crap out of their car at you? Or deny you service at a restaurant or bar because you have Texas tags? They sure did that in the 70’s through late 80’s to us coming to ski or watch the Buffs lose to a Texas team

Kind of dissapointing as they are advertising it in Germany with 83 Km (~51.5 miles) mixed driving and even 111 km (~67 miles) in town driving ! How are we supposed to achieve that, if you only get roughly 40 miles (~64 km) !? I haven't seen Toyota beeing so far of target before !

Hybrid cars is the one for me the back up with petrol engine im not worry stand still empty battery😅