Fresh looks, improved tech and economy give the long-running Toyota Prius Plug-in hybrid a major boost 

---

Car Reviewed: Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid

---

What you see here is the latest fifth-generation Prius, a car that won the Japan Car of the Year title on its debut but which has since taken a surprisingly long time to find its way here to the UK.

The first thing to say is that while the Prius might ‘look’ electric, it is, in fact, a petrol-electric hybrid, just as it has always been.

The hybrid system and technology naturally have been updated once again, but at a glance, what’s really changed is the way the car looks…

For a long while, the Prius has been this virtuous but rather dull eco-warrior, super clever, much beloved by the green lobby and ride-hailing fraternity, but hardly (perhaps deliberately) making much of a design statement.

All that’s now gone with this Mk 5 Prius. At one point, Toyota was considering redesigning the Prius simply as a taxi. Alternatively, it challenged its design team to come up with something new and cool, a car to transcend eco-geekery to become a car you might actually want to buy for its kerb appeal….The designers won…
   
Having seen and driven the new Prius in Japan, and now here in the UK, to me, the new design is still a real stand out. That low, sleek nose and swooping roofline culminating in a neat hatchback tail are really well executed, smart and fashionable, the coupe-like profile looking really something on the road.

That said that sweeping roofline does have an impact on rear headroom and having ditched its former nerdiness, the Prius has perhaps lost some identity.

Some might not like that, preferring the Prius’ former space and style of product design. Or does it now look too much like a Tesla? Discuss…

This is meantime a Prius reconfigured for a new age. While the previous Prius was a 1.8, this latest gen will surprise downsizers by moving up to 2.0-litre. It still has four cylinders but with more power, linked to a redesigned front motor/transaxle.

Total system power comes out at 220 bhp, well up on the previous car’s 121 bhp. Toyota quotes a quick 0-60 mph time of 6.8 secs.

A year back, the Prius I drove in Japan was a pure hybrid (or self-charging hybrid, as Toyota puts it). But in the UK and Europe, the Prius comes solely as a plug in hybrid, giving you a theoretical EV range of up to 53 miles. We’ll be back to this one a bit later on.

Prius packaging is all new, too. Toyota has stretched the wheelbase, lowered the roofline, and shortened the overall length compared to the previous model. With a more efficient battery sited under the rear seat, this brings better balance and a lower centre of gravity, Toyota says.

At launch, we get the Prius in two model grades, Design and Exel. The former, tested here, gets 17-inch wheels and a voluminous raft of safety and tech equipment. As tested, it was £37,315, with metallic paint a £655 option.

The pricier Excel gets you 19-inch wheels, power adjust front seats and a power tailgate. That’s up for £39,955, so strategically just under the £40k mark.

Inside, the Prius gives you a solid driving position, yet the plain seats and grey plastics are not too uplifting. The big central multi-information screen looks well coordinated and works well.

Personally, though, I’m not a fan of the small digital combimeter sited in front of you as you sit behind the Prius’ ungainly steering wheel.

Incorporated into the column is a spy camera that’s watching you all the while and admonishes you should you dare to look out of the window or down at the centre console. Boo

Toyota has really embraced the latest EU-style GSR 2 safety alerts with speed chongs and tugging steering wheel. Can you turn them off? I couldn’t see how.

Another bugbear – there is no rear wiper to clear the back screen, Why?? Toyota, in fairness, is not the only one to go down this route but I can’t see the logic of it.

On the road, the news is much better, in that the Prius manages to be brisk, handling neatly and returning good economy. The Prius is super smooth, decently manoeuvrable, refined, with good body control and a well-judged ride.

This UK Prius is noticeably sharper to drive than the Japan edition I drove in 2023, which was softer, centring on comfort. Of the different drive modes, Sport tightens the suspension and steering, making the Prius keener along a decent B-road, while motorway cruising at all times is unfussed. I found that the Active Cruise Control system works well, although it is not totally straightforward to set up.

As you work the throttle, there is a strong regeneration effect (to charge the hybrid battery) when you lift off. This works well in practice.

When the Prius arrived, it was showing a previous average of 77 mpg. This, too, is encouraging. (Disregard the official WLTP economy figures, which are ridiculous).

With a spell of back road driving, and when the hybrid battery is depleted, this then drops to 51.2 mpg, quite a difference.

To charge up the hybrid battery, you will need over 4 hours. I tried this at Gridserve in Braintree and after charging for an hour, which cost precisely £1, this gave me 30% battery charge. But this soon went within 10 miles on the drive home. So not a hugely productive exercise.

So you really need home charging with this Prius plug-in to get the quoted EV driving range and make it worthwhile.

In the big picture, there is lots to like about this latest generation Prius. It looks sharp, drives well, offers excellent economy, is comfortable, unfussed (annoying driver alerts aside). And, of course, there is no “range anxiety.”

So far, it doesn’t seem to have had the cut through that previous generations achieved but there are an array of competing forces around today that weren’t there in the past. For me, this is easily the best Toyota Prius yet.