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Video: 2023 Toyota Prius: Up Close —Cars.com
By Cars.com Editors
November 18, 2022About the video
2023 Toyota Prius: Up Close —Cars.com
Transcript
We're here in Los Angeles where Toyota has just revealed the all new 2023 Prius and Prius Prime.
Boasting sleek new styling, significant powertrain upgrades and upgraded tech, the Prius and Prius Prime promise to be some of the sportiest and most fun to drive Priuses ever, at least according to Toyota. As you can see, everyone here is very excited to check it out. So let's dig in. The 2023 Prius, this is the hybrid version, boasts all new styling. It still has that Prius roof line that's familiar, but everything else is brand new. And it's finally a very good marriage of form and function. The older Priuses were more about efficiency and less about looks, and always looked kind of awkward to me. This looks good and promises to be fuel efficient as well, which is a nice combination. Also, as you can see, it's got some muscular rear quarter panels that again hint at that performance that Toyota's promising, where this will be the sportiest Prius it's ever made. Along the front here, you get new front end styling, more reminiscent of the bZ4X and Toyota Crown. And then alongsides, you get a sculpted design and larger wheels. Higher trim levels ride on 19-inch wheels, while the base model gets standard 17s. Inside the Prius, and again, we're in the Hybrid. We have some nice decent materials quality, feels about Prius levels, so not so nice, but not terrible. But again, this is a show car, so beware that that may change with production versions. The old generations of Prius used to have a centrally located instrument panel, which was always kind of weird to me. This one has one that's more traditionally located in front of the driver. But again, it wouldn't be a Prius without some weirdness, so it's actually visible above the steering wheel and sort of past the steering wheel. And the steering wheel still feels a little unnaturally low to me. Decent physical controls throughout the cabin. This has the optional 12.3-inch touchscreen display with standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It also has over the air updates to keep it up to date as you own it. Every Prius has six USBC ports. There's two located down here, one for charging, one for data. There's two more in the center console storage here, and then two more in back for backseat passengers. There's also some wireless device charging here in this model. And again, wouldn't be a Prius without some weirdness, you get the sort of unusual Prius gear selector with the B-mode for extra regenerative braking. But overall, comfortable position to be in. Rear visibility is a bit of a weak point here. The rear window is just small, but Toyota has fixed that with an available rear view camera mirror, so that you can see even if passengers or cargo are blocking your view. Not a lot going on here in the backseat of the Prius. I have a decent amount of leg room. My knees are a little bit higher than I would like, but the real issue is Toyota lowered the roof about two inches in this new generation of Prius and I have very little headroom. I'm about six foot one, so that may be an exception, but I really would prefer not to have my head poking into the roof. But otherwise, not a terrible place to be. And given the popularity of Prius with ride hailing services, you're probably gonna be spending a lot of time in the backseat of one of these in the coming years. Despite all the changes to the design, some of the more important changes are happening under the skin and under the hood of the Prius and the Prius Prime. Both now use second generation TNGA C architecture for a lighter and stiffer chassis, and the powertrain is upgraded with a new two liter engine replacing the outgoing 1.8 liter. That ups horsepower in the Hybrid Prius to 194 in front wheel drive versions, and 196 in the all wheel drive. It also drops the 0-60 time by about two-plus seconds, which is a really significant leap. Both also now use lighter lithium ion battery packs instead of the older nickel metal ones of the prior generation. Now, Toyota says this is the sportiest Prius yet. We'll have to wait and see until we can drive it to make sure. Despite those powertrain and performance improvements, Toyota also says this Prius will be the most fuel efficient one yet, with the base LE in front wheel drive getting a Toyota estimated 57 MPG combined. Granted, that's a Toyota estimate and not the EPAs figures, so we'll have to wait for those, and we don't have figures for any of the other trim levels or all wheel drive versions at this time. The all new Prius Prime gets its own powertrain upgrades, with that new two liter engine replacing the 1.8, and a larger lithium ion battery pack and more powerful electric motor. It ups total horsepower to 220, a nearly 100 horsepower increase, and drops the 0-60 time to under 7 seconds, at a Toyota estimated 6.6. Like the RAV4 Prime, it's the sportier of the Prius models, so it has SE, XSE and XSE Premium grades. And again, despite those performance upgrades, it also has more all electric range than the outgoing model. Toyota says it's 50% more than the previous generation's 25 miles. The Prime also gets some very unique features specific to it, including a solar panel roof that can charge the battery while it's parked and power some auxiliary systems while you're driving, reducing the load on that battery. And it gets the Toyota first Traffic Jam Assistant, which is a hands-free driving system for low speed driving. It works at speeds under 25 miles per hour, and for safety reasons, it has a driver-facing camera to make sure your eyes are on the road. If it doesn't detect that, it'll disengage. According to Toyota, pricing and on sale information for the hybrid Prius will be available later this year. So, soon, 'cause the year's almost over. Pricing information for the Prius Prime will be available in the first half of next year. Again, as the sportiest Prius, we're really looking forward to getting behind the wheel and seeing if it can deliver on what Toyota's promising. For more on the 2023 Toyota Prius and Prius Prime, and everything else happening here at the 2022 Los Angeles Auto Show, be sure to check out cars.com/news.
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