2021 Toyota Prius AWD-e: Real World Gas Mileage
One of the most prominent, longest-serving players among fuel-efficient compact hybrids is the Toyota Prius, a car that’s soldiered on for decades. Through various styling and body-style changes, it remains one of the best choices on the market if your chief concern is gas mileage.
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Shop the 2021 Toyota Prius near you
With the keys to a 2021 Toyota Prius XLE with optional all-wheel drive in my hands, I took on a test of fuel efficiency over a 215-mile route that included a mix of low- and high-speed driving, much of it in the suburbs and some highway stretches near Cars.com’s Chicago headquarters.
Wait, the Prius Has AWD Now?
It sure does. Actually, it has since the 2019 model year. Choosing an AWD model — Toyota calls it AWD-e — limits buyers to an LE or XLE trim and adds a second electric motor to the real axle for an additional 7 horsepower and 40 pounds-feet of torque on top of the front-wheel-drive Prius. It also adds weight, however, with the AWD XLE tipping the scales at 145 pounds more than a FWD XLE. There’s an extra 0.2 inch of ground clearance, as well, but AWD models still predominantly wear low-rolling-resistance tires (our test vehicle had Bridgestone Ecopia rubber), so don’t expect any hardcore traction capabilities. AWD models also have the lowest EPA mileage estimates of the Prius family, at 51/47/49 mpg city/highway/combined — compared to 52 mpg combined for FWD models and 56 mpg combined for the most fuel-efficient trim, the Prius Eco.
The Test
The test begins and ends at the same gas pump to avoid any potential variances from station to station or even pump to pump. I filled the tires to their recommended pressure, filled the gas tank to full, drove the test route and returned to the same pump to fill up again. I kept the windows closed and the air conditioning set to automatic mode with the temperature set to a nice 69 degrees. While the Prius has an available Eco feature for heating and cooling, I did not enable it.
I also kept the Prius in its Normal drive mode, avoiding both Eco and Power modes as well as the “B” setting for improved regenerative braking. I also didn’t use the Prius’ cruise control at all during the highway driving portion. Speeds were kept to within 5-10 mph of posted speed limits.
Did the Prius AWD-e Meet Its MPG Rating?
The 2021 Prius XLE AWD came close to its EPA rating but missed the mark, though its trip computer seemed a bit optimistic.
After 215 miles of driving, the Prius needed 4.611 gallons of gasoline to fill its tank. That calculates to just over 46.6 miles per gallon — still a strong number, but lower than our goal of 49 mpg and technically lower than even its lowest highway rating (though you can round 46.6 up to 47). The trip computer, which I reset before the drive, said the car had achieved 51.5 mpg.
Temperatures during the test were in the high 30s to low 40s, and winds were negligible. More likely culprits for the lower fuel economy include a fair bit of highway driving on the route, and perhaps more aggressive acceleration than the EPA uses in its testing, as well as higher overall speeds. Illinois highways often carry 70 mph speed limits, though many drivers tend to treat that as a suggestion.
Getting over 46 mpg is still quite strong relative to most new cars, making the 2021 Toyota Prius AWD a strong choice for those who need all-weather traction but still want top fuel efficiency. But if you want to hit those EPA ratings, you may need to be more eco-minded than I was: The Prius won’t do all the work for you.
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