The 2023 Toyota Prius Prime will start at less than $38,000 and qualify for the maximum $5,000 federal rebate.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
The new Toyota Prius Prime plug-in hybrid is more powerful and has a much greater electric range than its previous generation, looks sharper and will probably cost only a thousand dollars more after rebates. What’s not to like?
Well, you probably can’t buy one for a long time if you don’t live in Quebec or British Columbia, but that’s a subject for another column. If you are successful in ordering one, its larger battery means the federal government will give you a rebate of $5,000 compared to $2,500 for the shorter range of the previous edition.
If we want to reduce emissions, are ZEV mandates really the best way?
Toyota says the 2023 Prius Prime will now drive for up to 72 kilometres on its electric motor alone, which is a considerable increase from the 40 kilometres of before. The new 13.6 kilowatt-hour battery is only slightly larger and heavier, because the power contained in its individual cells is more densely packed. That’s for the basic version that has a starting price of $37,990 (before rebates and taxes). The two more expensive trims are heavier and have a claimed maximum electric range of 64 kilometres.
The 2023 Toyota Prius Prime has an electric range of up to 72 kilometres.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
In practice, this means Toyota’s plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is probably more capable of covering your daily commute or in-town needs from just an electric charge from your home outlet. If you need to travel farther, the gas engine will kick in and take you as far as you need to go. When it does, Toyota says the Prius Prime will only consume 4.5 litres every 100 kilometres.
This all assumes you don’t step on the gas too heavily, which you might want to do now that the car has a more powerful engine and motor. The new engine is good for 150 horsepower and the new main motor is capable of 161 horsepower, which means when the two are combined, they create about 220 horsepower. That’s a 100 horsepower boost from before, and a 32-per-cent increase in torque. Hit the throttle from a standstill and Toyota says you’ll reach 100 kilometres an hour in 6.8 seconds.
This is a Prius? I had to stop writing this review to make sure I had my facts right because the original Prius of two decades ago was dull and sensible.
The previous generation of the PHEV cost $33,550 but this new generation qualifies for a more generous federal incentive of $5,000. If you live in Quebec, you’ll also get an additional rebate of at least $2,500 – the final figure is not yet confirmed by the government. British Columbia and the maritime provinces also offer rebates, but although the car is officially available across Canada, Toyota has sales targets to meet in Quebec and B.C. before selling elsewhere.
Toyota has come a long way over the last two decades with the Prius. Since its introduction in 2012, the plug-in Prime has sold more vehicles than the conventional Prius hybrid, and in most markets, two of every three Priuses are the PHEV. It doesn’t have the all-wheel drive of the Prius, but the Prius Prime has more power and cheaper running costs for about the same price. So – what’s not to like?
Tech specs
2023 Toyota Prius Prime
- Base price/As tested: $37,990 / $46,990, plus $1,860 for freight and pre-delivery inspection, plus taxes
- Engine: two-litre inline four with two electric motors and a 13.6 kilowatt-hour battery
- Transmission/Drive: eCVT / Front-wheel drive
- Fuel consumption: 1.8 litres equivalent per 100 kilometres, or 4.5 litres per 100 kilometres
- Alternatives: Hyundai Ioniq PHEV, Kia Niro PHEV, Subaru Crosstrek PHEV
Looks
The new Prius Prime is certainly sleek: it’s five centimetres lower, two centimetres wider and 2.5 centimetres longer than before. The whole package comes in with an aerodynamic drag co-efficient of 0.27, which is not as slippery as vehicles like the Tesla Model S or Mercedes-Benz EQS, but still better than almost any older car. The top-of-the-line XSE can even be ordered with “Maximum Yellow” paint, which won’t be available in the U.S.
Interior
The back seats on the 2023 Toyota Prius Prime.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
There’s plenty of space in the front row and reasonable space for three in the back. The instrument cluster is on a raised screen in front of the driver and while there’s a lot of information available, it doesn’t overwhelm. Nothing inside feels cheap. One nice touch is a subtle LED strip that runs the width of the front dash. When the vehicle ahead pulls away, it will blink, just in case you’re not looking at the road ahead for whatever, obvious reason. Rear vision is limited by the shallow window of the hatch, similar to previous generations of the Prius.
Performance
Toyota calls the Prius Prime a sporty vehicle, and while it looks the part, it doesn’t really come through in the driving. It’s not slow, but the electronic continuously variable transmission (CVT) feels as if it pulls the car up to speed rather than pushes it from behind, and the non-adjustable suspension is fairly soft, for greater comfort over sportiness. Apparently, Toyota’s chief executive officer, Akio Toyoda, had to be persuaded by his chief engineers to let the new Prius be a pleasure to drive over a boring grocery-getter, and the end result shows this. It can be fun to drive, but it’s not a sports car.
Technology
All three versions of the Prius Prime come standard with Toyota’s safety features, including blind-spot monitor, dynamic radar cruise control, lane tracing assistance and automatic high beams. New this year is Proactive Driving Assist, which uses the camera and radar to slow the vehicle into corners if necessary, and help steer through curves. The XSE trim offers Traffic Jam Assist, which follows slow-moving vehicles in traffic and stops and starts the car behind stationary traffic, though this will be a subscription feature at additional cost.
Cargo
The trunk on the 2023 Toyota Prius Prime has 574 litres of cargo space when the seats are up and 756 litres when the back seats are folded down.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
There’s a reasonable amount of room for cargo and it helps that the rear seats fold flat in a 60/40 split beneath a hatch rear door. When the seats are up, there’s 574 litres of cargo room behind the rear row, and when they’re folded down, this increases to 756 litres.
The verdict
The new Prius Prime is better than the previous Prius Prime in every way, and that older vehicle was already very good. It uses very little gas and is a pleasure to drive. Its greatest disadvantage is that it will be difficult to buy outside of Quebec and British Columbia – but not impossible.
The writer was a guest of the automaker. Content was not subject to approval.
Shopping for a new car? Check out the new Globe Drive Build and Price Tool to see the latest discounts, rebates and rates on new cars, trucks and SUVs. Click here to get your price.