Last year I drove the base trim, and this year the top trim is in fleet. Looks quite sharp all dipped in black, still more efficient than any EV on the market, now at 15.1 kWh/100 km after some highway driving (was in the 14's in town).
Safety nannies behaving, and Eco mode is even peppy ;D
Quote from: Blueprint on Jun 16, 2026, 08:58 AMLast year I drove the base trim, and this year the top trim is in fleet. Looks quite sharp all dipped in black, still more efficient than any EV on the market, now at 15.1 kWh/100 km after some highway driving (was in the 14's in town).
Safety nannies behaving, and Eco mode is even peppy ;D
Disaster averted!
Gino Vanelli was right: black cars look better in the shade. Had to find some elsewhere to take pics.
How's the visibility out of these? That seemed to be a common criticism of this gen of Prius.
The Toyota dealer here uses one of these as a dealer shuttle. As a bigger dude, the backseat is not somewhere I would want to spend more than a 15-20 minute ride as the headroom and shoulder room suck. Nice car otherwise.
Quote from: Blueprint on Jun 17, 2026, 08:59 AMGino Vanelli
No idea who that is.
Any relation to Milli Vanilli? LOL 😆
Quote from: RRocket on Jun 17, 2026, 11:17 PMQuote from: Blueprint on Jun 17, 2026, 08:59 AMGino Vanelli
No idea who that is.
Any relation to Milli Vanilli? LOL 😆
Really? Canadian singer from Montreal
https://youtu.be/5PvuNAoG0XY?si=FS5WXqKcA3GYbudg
I was on the Toyota website looking at these. For some reason, it's only the base model that gets the 72km of EV range. The XSE and Premium lose 8km of range, with 62km. I wonder why that is? It's not the addition of AWD, because the PHEV is FWD only.
Could it be the wheels? The SE has 17" wheels, while the Premium has 19"ers. I'm not sure what the XSE has... 19", I think? Aside from softex and power seats/hatch, that's the only major difference between trims.
Quote from: GreatBigAbyss on Jun 18, 2026, 02:40 PMI was on the Toyota website looking at these. For some reason, it's only the base model that gets the 72km of EV range. The XSE and Premium lose 8km of range, with 62km. I wonder why that is? It's not the addition of AWD, because the PHEV is FWD only.
Could it be the wheels? The SE has 17" wheels, while the Premium has 19"ers. I'm not sure what the XSE has... 19", I think? Aside from softex and power seats/hatch, that's the only major difference between trims.
It's the wheels..
Quote from: Gurgie on Jun 18, 2026, 11:33 AMQuote from: RRocket on Jun 17, 2026, 11:17 PMQuote from: Blueprint on Jun 17, 2026, 08:59 AMGino Vanelli
No idea who that is.
Any relation to Milli Vanilli? LOL 😆
Really? Canadian singer from Montreal
https://youtu.be/5PvuNAoG0XY?si=FS5WXqKcA3GYbudg
Nope.
Quote from: RRocket on Jun 18, 2026, 08:14 PMQuote from: GreatBigAbyss on Jun 18, 2026, 02:40 PMI was on the Toyota website looking at these. For some reason, it's only the base model that gets the 72km of EV range. The XSE and Premium lose 8km of range, with 62km. I wonder why that is? It's not the addition of AWD, because the PHEV is FWD only.
Could it be the wheels? The SE has 17" wheels, while the Premium has 19"ers. I'm not sure what the XSE has... 19", I think? Aside from softex and power seats/hatch, that's the only major difference between trims.
It's the wheels..
That's an 11% decrease in range/efficiency. It's not inconsequential.
For a vehicle that's designed to be as efficient as possible, they should have a no-charge option to step down to the 17" wheels on the higher trims. That way you get all the options, minus the economy penalty of the bigger wheels.
Quote from: GreatBigAbyss on Jun 19, 2026, 12:31 PMQuote from: RRocket on Jun 18, 2026, 08:14 PMQuote from: GreatBigAbyss on Jun 18, 2026, 02:40 PMI was on the Toyota website looking at these. For some reason, it's only the base model that gets the 72km of EV range. The XSE and Premium lose 8km of range, with 62km. I wonder why that is? It's not the addition of AWD, because the PHEV is FWD only.
Could it be the wheels? The SE has 17" wheels, while the Premium has 19"ers. I'm not sure what the XSE has... 19", I think? Aside from softex and power seats/hatch, that's the only major difference between trims.
It's the wheels..
That's an 11% decrease in range/efficiency. It's not inconsequential.
For a vehicle that's designed to be as efficient as possible, they should have a no-charge option to step down to the 17" wheels on the higher trims. That way you get all the options, minus the economy penalty of the bigger wheels.
Put an ad up. You'd be able to trade them for 17in in 5 minutes IMO.
There's also a penalty going from 15" to 17".
Quote from: RRocket on Jun 18, 2026, 08:14 PMQuote from: GreatBigAbyss on Jun 18, 2026, 02:40 PMI was on the Toyota website looking at these. For some reason, it's only the base model that gets the 72km of EV range. The XSE and Premium lose 8km of range, with 62km. I wonder why that is? It's not the addition of AWD, because the PHEV is FWD only.
Could it be the wheels? The SE has 17" wheels, while the Premium has 19"ers. I'm not sure what the XSE has... 19", I think? Aside from softex and power seats/hatch, that's the only major difference between trims.
It's the wheels..
The wider tires actually!
Finally have time for a quick update. I managed to spend my entire, typical week under EV power. Having tried the ICE last year, I managed not to fire it once without breaking a sweat. With the wider tires, this XSE gave me 65 km of range after each charge and averaged 15.7 kWh/100 km, which is better than any EV I've driven, except the original Ioniq.
Review went live:
https://www.autohebdo.net/editorial/essai-routier/toyota/prius/toyota-prius-phev-se-2026-essai-routier/ (https://www.autohebdo.net/editorial/essai-routier/toyota/prius/toyota-prius-phev-se-2026-essai-routier/)
(https://cms-assets.autoscout24.com/uaddx06iwzdz/2AMC8A1Io8B8P8v3J6NMVt/92905a7f0b34c37436224ae63f074af7/2026_Toyota_Prius_PHEV_-_TD_-_DB_-_260625_-_30.jpg?fm=webp&w=1100)
After a year of driving the bZ, I have to admit I still haven't found the ideal seating position to deal with the steering wheel and gauge screen. I have no idea how this design was approved internally...
Either I sit at a comfortable height and have the gauge screen blocked by the steering wheel, or I sit very low to see through the steering wheel at the gauge screen. I've opted for sitting low since that's how my girlfriend has the seat set up and there's no memory seats unfortunately even in the top trim, but it means I can't see the hood at all while driving. It's not so bad in the bZ as a crossover, but I imagine in a Prius I'd feel like I'm sitting on the floor.
Quote from: Blizzard on Today at 09:38 AMAfter a year of driving the bZ, I have to admit I still haven't found the ideal seating position to deal with the steering wheel and gauge screen. I have no idea how this design was approved internally...
Either I sit at a comfortable height and have the gauge screen blocked by the steering wheel, or I sit very low to see through the steering wheel at the gauge screen. I've opted for sitting low since that's how my girlfriend has the seat set up and there's no memory seats unfortunately even in the top trim, but it means I can't see the hood at all while driving. It's not so bad in the bZ as a crossover, but I imagine in a Prius I'd feel like I'm sitting on the floor.
You must have an unique build.
The several people who have tried mine after I told them to look OVER the wheel found a comfortable position without obscuring the screen. They actually seemed more flummoxed by the transmission control.
I'm not tall and comfortably look over the wheel and not a single item on my screen is obscured.
Bummer though!