Jim Resnick

Jim Resnick

Jim Resnick

Jim Resnick

Jim Resnick

Toyota

It began as a meager, nondescript little appliance and grew into nothing less than a rolling business card that explained a corporate philosophy. The Toyota Prius hybrid explains what Toyota thinks of itself, the car business, and society far better than most carmakers' products over the past decade. And the Prius has been an enormous hit, legitimately becoming that overused term in marketing: a brand.

Realistically, plug-in hybrids are yet another transitional moment on the path to full electrics, just as hybrids have been. Most Americans drive no more than 30 miles (48.2km) per day, so a plug-in hybrid that exceeds that figure with a reliable buffer will work better for the vast majority of buying intenders. The gas engine becomes an on-board, real-time insurance policy against range anxiety.

Toyota has expanded the Prius line-up to include larger cars, smaller cars, and, beginning last year, the Prius Prime plug-in hybrid edition. The Prime wears a slightly different nose and tail from the regular Prius, but it's still high-hipped, angular, and— as I wrote of the regular Prius in 2016 —beats the ugly drum with vigor. The upside, though, is excellent visibility outward, except to the rear. A bar interrupting the rear glass blocks vision to following traffic.

The new Prius interior mostly carries over to the Prime, combining white plastic of a relatively high quality with more conventional finishes that are livable but not remarkable. Our Prime Advanced model also comes with a vertically oriented, 11.6-inch tablet-type infotainment screen in the manner of a Tesla.

The unconventional dash places other gauges and readouts in the middle of the car, as on the prior-generation Prius, which, for the newcomer, takes some getting used to. Reading the speedometer means averting your focus further from the center of the road unfolding before you than if it were in the same longitude as oncoming traffic.

However, the entire point of a plug-in hybrid like the Prime is that it can operate as a pseudo-electric perhaps 95 percent of the time with adequate range for a day's worth of commuting or shopping without having to recharge. Some owners of plug-in hybrids report going for months without having to fuel up, relying heavily on electric operation, as the species was engineered to do.

Headline stats look good, but it’s not all gravy

The Prime is certainly efficient, carrying an EPA rating of 133mpg-e, where the Chevrolet Volt posts a rating of 106mpg-e and a total, fully charged range of only 420 miles (696km) versus the Prime's 640 miles (1,030km). And with a 20-year-long history of hybrids, you might figure the new Prime corners its market. But hold your electric horses there.

With just 25 miles (40km) of pure-electric range from its 8.8kWh battery pack before the 1.8L gas engine interjects, the Prime is well shy of the mark. The Chevy Volt's 53 miles (85km) from an 18.4kWh battery out-ranges the Prius Prime in a significant way. Also, the Prime's heavy battery adds 300 pounds (136kg) to the Prius and robs five cubic feet (142L) of cargo space. The Prime also provides seating for four to the Volt's five seats. So, the sum total benefit to the Prime over the normal Prius is rather meager. The industry has also not yet codified the influence of cold weather on battery range, but anecdotes suggest a shortening effect. The Prime encroaches on that average daily figure too closely for comfort with nearly no buffer.

The Volt is also quicker with its combined 149hp (111kW) versus 121hp (90kW), netting a 0-60 time of 7.6 seconds on electricity alone. Meanwhile, the Prime takes 12.2 seconds without the gas engine firing (those improve to 7.4 and 10.2 respectively, with the combustion engine helping). The Prime does hit 54 combined mpg to the Volt's combined 45mpg, once the battery is depleted.

Generally speaking, the Prius Prime drives like a normal Prius, which is a fairly good thing for the latest generation of the hybrid pioneer. It corners well, though not like a sports sedan. It's reasonably comfortable, and, even though not exactly quick, throttle response is respectable. From a dead stop, it hits 30mph in short order, though it starts to fall down at higher speeds, even though it achieved 75mph on electricity alone.

We can't help thinking, however, that with the gasoline engine on, the Prime becomes a normal Prius, just 300 pounds heavier. We covered 251 miles on our test route with about a quarter of it over the highway and the rest varied suburban driving. We averaged 24.6 miles of pure electric range, where the EPA's official estimate is 25 miles; pretty much a wash. We charged the Prime using its 110-volt hookup each night and whenever parked at home, and the overall average fuel economy for the whole test was 78.3mpg, markedly better than the EPA's combined estimate of 54mpg.

In practical terms, people are not considering the specific fuel saved by Priuses or Volts, but rather, the freedom from having to stop for gas or charging over the long haul. It does start at about $6,000 less than the Volt ($28,000 versus $34,000), but that difference is negated somewhat by the $4,500 federal tax credit versus the Volt's $7,500, so the real difference in cost, barring options, is only $3,000.

In this regard, the Prius Prime does not fare well. Removing the design quandary, if it only had a better, more efficient, energy-dense battery to offer greater range, this story would be quite different.

Listing image by Jim Resnick