The Most Efficient AWD Vehicle In America [That Runs On Gasoline] | 2021 Toyota Prius AWD 

AWD Prius isn't the vehicle we often want, but more times than not, it's what we need. Great work as always, Alex.

I had a 2011 Prius and loved it. Traded it in on a RAV4 Hybrid last year. The all wheel drive RAV4 Hybrid is just what I needed for skiing and vacation trips. The planetary gear "power split device" is a unique and efficient "transmission system". Those Japanese engineers deserve a Nobel Prize for their design....

The Prius looks good in that color.

Thank you for explaining that the Prius does not have a CVT. I'm sick of car channels getting that wrong.

Alex's clear and convincing explanation of Toyota's macro fuel-saving philosophy is important. If the same capacity of battery components is spread over hybrid vehicles rather than concentrated in many fewer pure EVs, far more fuel will be saved. I hope the EV fanatics take notice.

I love how Alex has “I’m too sexy” displayed on the infotainment screen. I love your humor 🤣🤣🤣

280K miles on the original battery? That is amazing!

You know you’re a talented reviewer when even a Prius review is satisfying to watch. This review really had that special AoA touch to it, offering unique and nuanced insights into the Prius that other reviewers look past. For instance, in their latest Prius video, Redline Reviews simply focused on how the Prius is no longer a desirable electrified vehicle and offered little of the depth and between-the-lines analysis that Alex delivers so eloquently.

Keep the liftback design but Just make the design less ugly. The Prius would sell better

This is possibly the absolute best video on the subject of electronification. Outstanding, clear explanations. Bookmarked, and I'll be sharing. THANK YOU.

I got one four months ago and had a chance to drive it locally on country unpaved roads and took to a 2000 mi round trip. One thing I disagree with this video is handling. Prius' handling is second to none. And I am not a caddy or chrysler man - everything I've ever been involved with personally is Honda and Toyota. I also have two 4Runners that I dearly love but driving Prius is so much more fun. In other words, gas saving is not the only thing Prius excels at - handling and intelligent road manners is the other, better than virtually anything I've driven. And I've driven everything for nearly 20 years in the field as a Mechanical Breakdown Inspector.

So I am the only one that loves the design of the gen 3 Prius. I love my car.

Love my 2015 Prius V. Yes, its quirky looking but when all the others look out of date, mine will still be 'quirky'. Gotta love it, not one issue w/it yet! Drives like a dream, comfortable seating, roomy interior, plenty of cargo space. It's a gem!

The RAV4 hybrid has taken over the reigns for now being that the market demands SUVs.

Great job.....very informative! I've had a 2021 Prius AWD for over a month and got 65 mpg on my first tankful! I suspect the lighter oil (OW-16) helps with fuel economy. I did not know it doesn't have a CVT but a "planetary power split" transmission...interesting! But you should mention the days of dropping the transmission pan to do a service are gone...it's as easy as drain and fill, actually easier then a motor oil change!

RAV4 Hybrid essentially replaced the Prius V.

Your argument about lithium and prius bring the best is exactly what I've been saying. Mining 100kwh for one model S isn't green at all.

Alex has made this the ONLY Prius review I’ve actually enjoyed watching. VERY VERY informative especially with how the synergy drive works.

This makes me kind of sad because I LOVE my Prius -- I first got it in the very beginning. But that RAV4 looks great, especially as I travel in my vehicle. I had no issues traveling cross-country in my Prius, but the higher clearance and extra room for "stuff" is tempting. I'd hate to see the Prius disappear, but I think my next Toyota will be a RAV4. Wonderful video - thanks!

Wish this thorough explanation found its way to more forums and EV websites.

Awesome, informative, comprehensive review. For those worried about Prius ground clearance, there is a California company that makes a 1.5” lift kit that supposedly makes a huge difference in navigating bumps, potholes, and steep driveways while not affecting fuel economy. Some owners are actually doing very mild off-roading with the stock tires, or, a 1”-2” larger diameter tire.

Y'all, Alex just gave us a TEDtalk in the first 7 minutes, and I love it. Good work, Sir.

The mitigation talk is really something. Good stuff Alex!

I just bought a Camry Hybrid I love it!

I love my front wheel drive Prius. It's the ugliest car I have ever owned. (I loved the styling of my former 2nd generation Prius.) It is also the best car I have ever owned.

Very informative. Great to see someone take about the technical aspects and be objective about what this car is meant for. Always amusing when you see other folks doing 0-60 on Prius and complaining how slow it is...dahhh!

I would love to see a new Prius V Prime but with an actual wagon body style. Basically a squished Venza with the Rav4 Prime drivetrain.

This is such an amazing review! I have owned and driven all four generations of Prius and currently on the latest generation which I bought brand new in 2016. I completely agree that Toyotas other hybrids are very compelling, but to be honest I would still always pick the Prius because I like what it has stood for. Prius name means “to go before”, and with each generation Toyota has really pushes the envelope which is the reason why I have stayed hooked on it. Think about how the second generation looked to people Wayback in October 2003 when it was first released, nobody had ever seen anything like it before. Everyone called it a spaceship. It’s always been very controversial, love it or hate it, but it really does have a beautiful story behind it that I’m well read up on, and has come of age. I really hope that Toyota continues to keep that mindset with the Prius and continue to push boundaries with designs that are practical but push the envelope. Also, Prius sales peaked in 2012, it didn’t really start to decline until about 2014 when many more different hybrids started hitting the road.

This is the by far the most informative hybrid and Prius video I've ever seen. Thank you.

Just completed a run from Maine to Tennessee to South Carolina and back to Maine. Thousands of highway miles. My RAV4 hybrid averaged 46 mpg hand calculated (Fuelly). Stayed at the speed limit (65-70 mph). Mind. Blown.

Alex, I really appreciated the scope and tone of your review of the Prius AWD. Other reviewers have simply panned it as an out-of-date appliance, but your thoughtful approach to the vehicle allows us to see the past and where we have come from. For my part, I'm buying a new vehicle at the end of the year and I'm ONLY considering hybrids, PHEVs and EVs. I am greatly impressed by the Hyundai Tucson hybrid and have a reservation in on the Hyundai Ionic 5 coming in the fall. It's going to come down to what's available and what is fairly priced when I make my purchase. I guess I should stop by the Toyota dealer because they sure have a lot of good hybrid models. Keep up the great work!

Still rocking the 2010 Prius… well over 100,000 miles and not a moments trouble. Well, besides headlight issues. ;)

Any one noticed Alex has been using the CarPlay's Music Interface to give a statement for every car he reviews recently? "I'm too sexy" notice the other day that the car was playing Forte when he reviews Kia Forte

I bought my '19 awd-e Prius as a commuting tool, and ended up liking it a lot. My awd-e gets far-better mileage than advertised, with the best summer mileage having been 86.6 us mpg on a trip, with 70mpg the usual in the summer. Even in winter with winter tires I get 50mpg+. I commute over a 1,300' twisty pass that gets slick in the winter, and the awd system does its job without fuss. It isn't a sports car and wasn't made to be one, but it handles well and is very comfortable and relaxing to drive. I recommend this car highly.

Alex its videos like this that make me glad i found your channel! Great content for the intellectual car people

Prius gets murdered for their Catalytic converters in my city.

This is honestly the best review I've ever seen and I agree the best approach right now is to hybridized everything.

I have had my 2020 Toyota Prius Xle all wheel drive for 1 year now. It's a great car! The little four-wheel drive push helped a lot in the winter. Thank you very much for the best review on the Prius

Best Prius review on RU-vid. I took delivery of a 2022 Prius XLE three months ago and I absolutely live it. I have zero complaints about the power and love the utility of a hatchback. I might get snow in my area, 4 days or less during the year so didn’t feel that an AWD was necessary for me. Toyota quality and reliability abound in my new car ❤! Thanks for the very thorough and enjoyable review, Alex!

Great informative review Alex. I really liked the Prius vs RAV4 hybrid comparison at the end. Great stuff…..not many other car reviewers do the comparisons to similar cars at the end of their reviews. I find them really useful….thanks mate.

If we're listing the Toyota hybrids, don't forget the Avalon. Roomy, smooth, quiet, and a superb highway car with 680 miles of range.

Excellent detailed review Alex. Thank you.

Excellent information, great review!

Thank you! You answered all my questions. I drive a 2006 Prius that I got used and I love it, it’s been the most reliable car I’ve ever had. Part of the year I drive in wintry conditions so I’ve been considering upgrading to a 4WD of some sort but don’t want to give up the great MPG. Looking into Rav 4 hybrid or Venza, honestly don’t know which yet, probably will come down to price. I like your line ‘driving appliance’ LOL.

We had two Prius from 2008 to 2017. They are great cars, super reliable. My daughter-in-law drives the 2008 model every day. It has well over 200,000 miles, has never had a problem requiring service other than oil and lubes. The car still has the original brakes. However I consider this old technology. We have been driving a Honda Clarity PHEV since 2017 which is a great car. Also super reliable. We are not ready for a full EV yet. When 20-80% charge times are under 15 minutes and the car cost is less than $35K we will take a look. Right now most EVs have too much battery for around town driving, and just aren't the right vehicle for long trips. We won't go back to a non-plug-in car again.

Alex, This is one of your most rational and persuasive videos and quite possibly your best since the legendary RAV4 Hybrid Tow Series®. However I am left with one critical question, do RU-vid's 'terms of use' actually allow this quantity of logic in just one car video? In regard to this pragmatic, AWD Prius, I would prefer the even more practical AWD Hybrid Corolla wagon. Finally, without knowing it, you just made a heck of an argument in favor of Toyota bringing the new 60+ mpg Yaris Cross to this market. :-)

Alex really dropping some knowledge on this one!

And this is why this is the first auto review channel that I subscribed too... 🙌🏽

My 2022 AWD Prius is getting 60 + MPG, most of my driving is on town and country roads.

I have owned a 2021 Prius XLE AWD for a few weeks and love it. I bought it after watching your many hybrid car reviews to replace our old subcompact economy car. I live in Montana where the speed limit is 80 on the interstate and no dealerships sell BEVs, so I had to choose between the Toyota hybrids for hwy mileage. My local dealer hardly ever has Rav anything, and they cost too much for a commuter car. I picked the Prius over the Corolla due to the lift back, we can fit a dog in the back with a car seat. I will admit it is a very ugly car, but it's practicality wins out over looks.

I purchased a Prius based on your reviews. Recently carried a dishwasher with packaging and it all fit....behind the rear seats! I am very impressed with the practicality of the car and I'm averaging 59 MPG in mostly highway driving ("64" according to the onboard computer, lol). Generally, I'm happy with the purchase. The main complaint I have is the 3rd Gen had a *way* better interior. The fancy 4th Gen interior creaks in hot weather everywhere soft plastic meets hard and the floating shifter gave way more storage than the new design. I am glad Toyota is going back to practical design in the Sienna, hopefully that'll carry over if they make a 5th Prius.

Merry Christmas Alex, With a week left in the year, I am going to name this your top video of 2021.😁👏👏👏👏

The most understated prius

Loving your analysis of pure EV vs hybrid!

Lots of great info here. Thanks man!

Thank you for this In depth review. I’ve been looking all over for one. I need a car with AWD to drive back and forth to work and I think this is it.

I had a 2nd gen 2005 Prius that went to 264k miles. The only things that broke was the HV battery (a wear item, expected at 240k miles) and the thing that finally totaled it mechanically was a broken brake booster. Even though it was a snooze to drive, I will always LOVE that car and will never forget it.

Love your analysis of gas consumption in hybrid and electric vehicles! Great math! Therefore, love the Prius, RAV4, Prius Prime and RAV4 Prime.

Wow very well done introduction from Alex on this video. Even some delve in philosophical discussion.

We miss the mileage of the Prius, we owned one from 2006 and another until 2016. We went with the 2016 RAV4 hybrid and couldn’t be any happier! Thank you for this review!👍👍

Nice review keep up the good work

"Planetary Power Split" is an awesome name for that transmission, way better than "eCVT", since it really has very little to do with a belt CVT. Plus, it probably sounds cool to people that don't know any better, so a a marketing term that is cool and technically accurate is a good bonus.

Holy, what a great package of useful information THANK YOU

You're making me want to buy one . It's genius !

Long time viewer Alex. This may be the best review/analysis you’ve ever done.

Great video. Very pragmatic, very educational

Alex, you really hit the nail on the head with your opening gambit regarding hybrids and evs. This is especially the case in remote places and developing countries where hybrids would be much better than evs simply because of the lack of infrastructure. Not everyone lives in Europe or California!

Feel like I have homework... 😜 awesome job Alex wow!... level of info and detail is fantastic...👍🏻😎

Super review, Alex.

My son recently purchased the 2022 Prius Limited. A very nice car. It has the near 12" screen, JBL, HUD, etc. They live in Chicago where gas is not cheap. Since the Prius is smaller it is a LOT easier to find parking. He had his Dash Cam professionally installed and hot wired to the dash. I am impressed with his choice of his first brand new vehicle he has purchased. His mother and I are waiting for our 2022 RAV4 Limited Hybrid to be built. Hopefully by April.

Traded our 2010 Prius for a Rav 4 hybrid. I'm sold on Toyota hybrids and I agree with you on your analysis of why hybrids are the way to go. Great video Alex, though in my case, you were preaching to the converted.

Great explanation. Thank you

Very informative video.👍🏾

Love that A/A gave props to Prius! I wish there was a sports Prius with, say, 100 hp on the rear transaxle to mainline some fun. We have the RAV4 Hybrid, and agree with Alex's assessment.

Thanks for a great video Alex. I've never been really interested in a Prius, but I like the way Toyota integrated their hybrid system from the Prius into their other vehicles like the RAV4 and Highlander hybrids. I agree, I'd rather buy the RAV4 over the Prius, but I myself would go for a new Sienna eAWD. I know, 35 MPG. But 35 MPG is over 50% better than my old 2005 Dodge Caravan that gets about 23. FWIW I'm stuck on minivans because of a few things, entry height, ride, the big box to put things and/or people, and the fact minivans get converted to haul wheelchairs like my monster power chair. For that, I need the ramp. I just can't pick up 345 pounds of wheelchair. Besides that, the Sienna eAWD is a very nice minivan with Toyota reliability.

Appreciate your educational presentation

I’m still using second generation of Prius. It is still good car even after 16 years. My car got air-con and some batteries replaces only 1 time.

amazing intro wow, nice perspective on different issues

Right Said Fred. LOL! Great video, though. Your initial discussion about EV vs. Hybrid is excellent. I don't even like cars, but find myself watching your videos for details like that.

Just the other day I saw Prius with larger aftermarket wheels. I was surprised how much this simple upgrade improved Prius’ looks. It actually looked like a concept car.

I'm 5'11 and went from a 4Runner to a Prius C, I fit fine. There's even a 6'7 rower who specifically chose a Prius because of the headroom. It's so silly how much people resist the Prius without even knowing much, if anything, about it; as evidenced by you still having to explain the mechanics 21 years later. I'm always passing everyone too since I've adapted my driving to maintain momentum, but also nobody knows how to drive in SoCal.

Wow great review of this car - and not simply because you liked it. I just finished another reviewer “hot rides” or something like that, where they didn’t like it, but it was the logic of their review that let them down.

I bought the rav4 hybrid......great car.

Everything you said makes sense!

Great review. I didn't catch if you measured interior noise in dB but the rest was good. Wife just got a hybrid Camry and it makes me jealous as I got stuck with her 10 year old Camry (my Tundra was traded in for the hybrid). It is leaving me wanting either a Prius for the mpg or a RAV4 hybrid for the extra cargo space and towing capacity--but what holds me back is that I like driving sedans as I do mostly highway driving. AWD might be nice living in NH, I usually use snow tires in winter so just adding a bit of umph from the rear wheels is likely all I would ever need.

Very important points...the focus on purely electric, to me, seems to distract us from the more realistic solutions that are already at hand.

Good review sir

I think the electric air conditioning system is a big, big, big underrated plus for the Prius. It was hhhhhaaaawt in Québec during the summer and that thing was simply genius. Simply no noticeable change in consumption with that thing wide open. You know, I bought that thing needing an appliance car. But the more I drive it, the more I think this is genius. Unfortunately, the new generation really cut on practicality in order to make a better looking vehicle. After sitting in the new one, I must say “no thank you, I’ll keep my 2022”.

Thanks Alex! I really enjoyed your analysis at the end. I agree that a base model is the best Prius; it's a practical and cheap commuter car. If you want true AWD, the Rav4, Venza, or other models make better sense.

I was watching this video in December 2022 and now that Prius 2023 is much better then it's predecessor with many changes and great looking car!

I have a 2011 Prius and it's by far the best vehicle I have owned. Highly practical and efficient. It may not be the most exciting car but it just makes so much sense.

I owned a 2016 Prius for a few years. I bought it because it was the best hybrid at the time. Since then, SO MANY PHEVs and EVs have popped up that are better. I agree with Alex’s review, but I’ll add that the ride quality of the Prius is better than a 3rd gen Toyota Avalon, meaning it is superb. Cabin noise is a little loud. The JBL sound system is actually very good. There is not a lot of steering feel, but the ratio is quick it feels light on its feet. Also if you get the sunroof, headroom is significantly reduced in the front seat. 6’5 passengers don’t fit in the front unless the seat is heavily reclined. Comfortable seats and ride, 48 mpg going 80 mph, and full speed adaptive cruise control make it a fantastic car for a 1000 mile road trip.

Outstanding!

I'm highly considering a Prius AWD. I want to go full EV but I live in the Northeast and we had a Northeaster storm last week that knocked power out for 4 days. The last Northeaster we had before that was a couple years prior that knocked power out for almost 2 weeks. Thats my main issue is if we get storms like this, which seems to become more frequent every year, especially with a combination of snow fall. I think plug in hybrids and hybrids is the way to go until the grid improves. Even the majority of gas stations were without power in my area during those storms. The closet gas station that had power was over an drive away with lines going for at least a mile long and gas price up to $4.30 during those days.

I really wish they brought back the Prius V.

I hope it sticks around in all it's Prius-ness. It's the VW Beetle of its time. I switched from an older CUV to a hybrid sedan and I love it. Other than stop less frequently for less gas, I don't do anything different from any other car I've owned.

Excellent video with great info on the Prius. I have to agree with the Rav4 hybrid providing a better platform to tow a small lightweight trailer and better AWD the Prius is probably doomed.

Interestingly enough I’ve reached the exact same destination - hybrid and plug-in is most realistic solution to reduce carbon emissions now, and at least for another 5 years. So I picked up an Ioniq.

Excellent facts and information from you about hybrid cars we should do our part tks from Mexico 🇲🇽

This dude spitting facts. Slow transition is the best plan. 👌