Toyota has officially got its mojo back, in Prime time

2023 Toyota Prius Prime

Type: Compact five-door liftback, front-engine, plug-in hybrid

Engine: Two-litre, inline four-cylinder; 150 horsepower at 6,000 revolutions per minute (rpm), 139 lbs-ft. of torque at 4,400 rpm; motor at front, producing 161 hp, for a system total of 220 hp

Fuel economy (Regular gasoline): 4.5 litres/100 km in the city, on the highway and combined (SE)

Electric range: 72 km (SE); 64 km (XSE, XSE Premium)

Fuel economy observed: 2.5 litres/100 km

Cargo capacity: 574 litres, or 20.2 cubic feet

Price: $37,990 (SE); $42,990 (XSE); $46,990 XSE Premium (as tested). Plus destination, taxes, and fees

To say I was shocked by the 2023 Toyota Prius is an understatement. Prius was suddenly a car you wanted for the looks that just happened to get good fuel economy, not a car you bought for its economy despite the looks. Toyota transformed what was an oddball eco-special into something that was, well … fire.

Toyota has just launched the second part of the Prius equation: the plug-in hybrid 2023 Toyota Prius Prime.

With this model, Toyota has officially got its mojo back.

At its heart, the Toyota Prius Prime is the same car as the standard Prius. The big difference is that large battery pack hidden underneath. The pack is about the same size, but produces more energy, 13.6 kWh (kilowatthours), not 8.1.

The bigger battery feeds a more powerful motor. It produces 161 horsepower (hp). Pair that with the same two-litre, four-cylinder engine as the standard hybrid and you get 220 hp in total.

On electric power, the Prime can do up to 72 km, and it can hit 135 km/h on electric power, and it still has plenty of acceleration even at highway speeds.

When the gas engine is on, you’re probably moving at speed. So the engine doesn’t add much to the low levels of cabin noise. The four-cylinder and its Electronically Controlled Continuously Variable Transmission (ECVT) have been tweaked so that there’s no engine drone the way you might expect.

The Prius Prime should give you 4.5 litres/100 km. That’s for the SE. (The standard Prius gets 4.8.)

The Prime rides smoothly and drives reassuringly. It’s not a sports car, no matter how much Toyota wants you to think its new vehicles are, but it is predictable. A car that does exactly what you want it to with a minimum of fuss, be it a relaxing Sunday drive or a bumper-to-bumper highway grind.

Inside, the Prius Prime is nearly identical to the standard Prius. It has the same high-mount dash display that sits nicely just below your sightlines. It also has the same eight- and 12.3-inch multimedia screens. The difference is a little EV mode button on the centre console. You can use it to hold the charge for later if you’re on the highway and want to save some electrons for in town.

There’s not much flashy in this cabin. There aren’t any materials or details trying to convince you it is a luxury car. Instead, its controls look dependable and are arranged well and are easy to use.

Prius Prime suffers from the same confined cabin as the standard car. Headroom, especially in the rear, is much lower than the previous generation. Cargo space didn’t change when Toyota added the bigger battery: 574 litres (or 20.2 cubic feet) of space with the seats up, and 756 (26.6 cu. ft.) with them folded. Folding the seats doesn’t really make for much more room. The space with the seats up is short in height, more like a sedan that you open from above, than a hatchback.

Canada gets two grades of Prius Prime, SE ($37,990) and XSE. SE has the smaller screen and wheels, but it still has heated front seats and a heated wheel, six USB-C ports, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and Toyota Safety Sense 3.0. XSE ($42,990) adds a fixed glass roof, Softex faux leather, smart key, wireless phone charging, and the bigger 12.3-inch screen. Buyers can also add a Premium package to XSE to get ventilated front seats, heated rears, driver seat memory, parking assist, and JBL audio. The Premium package also lets you use your phone as your key and comes with a camera display in the rear view mirror.

Toyota’s infotainment system remains one of the best around. Smooth and intuitive voice-control functions, responsive screens, and crisp graphics all make for an excellent package. Prius Prime comes standard with Toyota Safety Sense 3.0. The latest version has a pre-collision system, full-speed adaptive cruise, lane-tracing, road-sign assist, and other technologies. It also now comes standard with blind-spot monitoring. There’s an emergency driving stop system that can monitor driver inputs. If it thinks you’re not responsive, it can bring the vehicle to a safe stop.

The 2023 Toyota Prius Prime is good at just about everything, and, frankly, tough to find fault with. That’s the Toyota that we used to know. The Toyota that built a car you could drive home and then largely ignore until you woke up one morning and decided you wanted a new one. Not because there was a problem, but because it was finally time for a change.

Editor’s note: Please be aware that availability of vehicles depends on supply.