Toyota Prius Prime

Many people enjoy poking fun at the Toyota Prius because it's slow, a little odd-looking and known to be driven by eco-friendly individuals. They don't understand that the Prius has provided safe, reliable, affordable and practical transportation for more than 20 years while delivering exemplary fuel economy. Not many other, if any, vehicles can claim that. With an increasing amount of competition (which includes the Corolla Hybrid), the Prius has lost some relevance in the segment it created, but the little oddball will go down in the history books.

The 2022 Toyota Prius Prime is the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) version of the regular Prius. Toyota adds a charging port and a larger 8.8-kWh battery pack to give the Prime an EPA-estimated all-electric driving range of up to 25 miles. Once the electric juice runs out, it becomes a regular hybrid and gets an EPA-estimated fuel economy rating of 54 mpg combined. Charging the empty battery to full takes about two hours with a 240-volt charger or five and a half hours with a 120-volt charger. Essentially, the more frequently you can plug in and recharge, the less gas you'll use.

As with the regular Prius, the Prime offers a comfortable but otherwise unexciting driving experience. The hatchback body style offers more cargo space than a sedan, but because of the larger battery pack, it has a bit smaller cargo area than the regular Prius. There aren't many plug-in hatchback rivals for the Prius Prime to compete with, but there is the duo from South Korea: the Hyundai Ioniq Plug-in Hybrid and the Kia Niro Plug-in Hybrid. For a thorough review by our test team, check out the MatoCar' Expert Rating below.

Which Prius Prime does MatoCar recommend?

Toyota keeps things pretty simple with the Prius Prime. It's offered in three trim levels (LE, XLE and Limited) and there aren't any optional packages or single features to add besides fancier-looking 15-inch wheels or small accessories like all-weather floor mats.

All Prius Prime trims use a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine that's paired to an electric motor. The total system output is 121 horsepower and can provide approximately 25 miles of all-electric driving on a full charge. The Prime is only available with front-wheel drive and uses a continuously variable transmission.

LE Highlights of the Prius Prime LE include:

• 15-inch alloy wheels with wheel covers
• LED headlights
• Heated outside mirrors
• Head-up display (displays important information in your sight line on the windshield)
• Automatic climate control
• Heated front cloth seats
• Hands-free keyless entry for the driver's door
• 7.0-inch touchscreen infotainment display
• Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone compatibility
• Six-speaker sound system
• Charging cable for a 120-volt power outlet

Every Prius Prime also comes with Toyota Safety Sense 2.0. This package of advanced driver aids includes:

• Adaptive cruise control (maintains a driver-set distance between the Prius Prime and the car in front)
• Forward collision mitigation (warns you of an impending collision and applies the brakes in certain scenarios)
• Lane departure mitigation (warns you of a lane departure when a turn signal isn't used and can automatically steer to maintain lane position)
• Lane keeping system (makes minor steering corrections to help keep the vehicle centered in its lane)

XLE The Prius Prime XLE trim level adds several upgrades, such as:

• Simulated leather upholstery
• Hands-free keyless entry for additional doors
• 11.6-inch touchscreen infotainment display
• Navigation system
• Voice recognition technology
• Wireless smartphone charger
• Charging cable lock

Limited Choose the Prius Prime Limited for all of the extras, including:

• LED foglights
• Rain-sensing wipers
• Heated steering wheel
• 10-speaker JBL audio system
• Blind-spot monitor with rear cross-traffic alert (warns you if a vehicle is in your blind spot during a lane change or while reversing)
• Front and rear parking sensors (alert you to obstacles that may not be visible in front of or behind the vehicle when parking)
• Rear automatic braking (applies the brakes automatically to avoid an imminent collision with an object behind the vehicle)
• Automated parking system (steers into a parking spot with little or no driver intervention)
• Head-up display (displays important information in your sight line on the windshield)