2026 Toyota Prius PHEV XSE Nightshade

[Blizzard]

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.

[RRocket]

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.

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!

[Blizzard]

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.

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!

In the name of science, I spent 15 minutes sitting in the seat trying out different positions. I think I found the ideal seating position where I'm looking over the wheel like you said. The bottom 5% of the screen is still obscured, but I can see all of the relevant information. I can increase the seat height to compensate, but then I feel like I'm towering over the car.

Only weird thing is that now I find the steering wheel a little bit low. It still works, but as always I'm wondering why Toyota did this.

Luckily I figured out the transmission controller on Day 1 The Bolt's is way more confusing, R and D use an almost-identical toggle switch and I've found myself in the wrong gear while parking a few times. My in-laws' RDX has it right, R and D are completely different shapes so you can shift confidently without looking.

[RRocket]

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.

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!

In the name of science, I spent 15 minutes sitting in the seat trying out different positions. I think I found the ideal seating position where I'm looking over the wheel like you said. The bottom 5% of the screen is still obscured, but I can see all of the relevant information. I can increase the seat height to compensate, but then I feel like I'm towering over the car.

Only weird thing is that now I find the steering wheel a little bit low. It still works, but as always I'm wondering why Toyota did this.

Luckily I figured out the transmission controller on Day 1 The Bolt's is way more confusing, R and D use an almost-identical toggle switch and I've found myself in the wrong gear while parking a few times. My in-laws' RDX has it right, R and D are completely different shapes so you can shift confidently without looking.

Glad you got it sorted!


The steering wheel is smaller, so yes, it will sit lower when you have it adjusted properly. My index fingers sit on the stitches when my hands are at the 10-2 position on the wheel. My arms are lightly bent. I feel perfectly natural and comfortable..but as you point out, the wheel is a bit lower. But it doesn't interfere or touch my legs or anything like that. Nor is it uncomfortable in any way. When I started drivingc as a teen, the instruction was hands on wheel at almost shoulder level. This is a bit lower than that, I think. But it doesn't feel odd or weird. And I say that going between the BZ and the Porsche.

The reason why they did this? One of them was focus groups liked the Heads Up Display "feel" without having an actual HUD. I concur. I almost never used the HUD in the Prius. So I get it. Also, the higher gauges are a more direct line of sight for the driver. Safer, supposedly. There was also talk of a potentially having a real yoke at some point. And with the steer-by-wire system (optional), it would get a yoke-like steering wheel. So they needed a design that would work with all 3 as well, I guess.

I think more people would have been happier with the yoke like wheel from the Subaru Solterra. I think I might prefer it too...if for no other reason than to look/feel more futuristic. Which I think is a good fit for the car.

As far as the transmission? I tested a cool safety feature. If you get out of the car while the car is in D, it automatically goes into P with the door open and seat belt off.. I tested it..it works. 

First time trying this with a car.

 

[Blizzard]

It's funny, when we were looking to buy a bz we also looked at Solterras, and 2023 Solterras had the normal round wheel while the 2024s had switched to the flat top wheel I guess because people found the round wheel cut off the bottom part of the screen. Strangely that change never made it over the bZ which still has the round wheel.

Not sure I understand the logic of those focus groups. I had a HUD in a rental Mazda CX-5 I had maybe 5 years ago and I remember really enjoying it, no problems at all. But I've also never had a problem looking at regular gauges through the wheel.

[Tortoise]

I rented a PRIUS SE for the weekend and put about 800 km on it. I ended up liking it quite a bit.

Like every other car I've driven on the TNGA platform, it was smooth, composed, and struck a nice balance between comfort and handling. It almost feels German in how it goes down the road.

I picked it up with 0 EV range, so it was in hybrid mode for the entire time I had it. It is surprisingly quick, with solid torque from the electric motor, but the engine is pretty buzzy at higher revs. I managed 4.9 L/100 km for the trip.

The safety suite worked well, noticeably better than the system in the Passport. One feature I liked is that it will automatically regen brake to follow the car in front of you, even if the radar cruise is off. Visibility is ok, and I managed to get used to it, but the Golf definitely has better sight lines.

The only real knock is the lack of storage space. That would be a dealbreaker for me now, but once the kids have moved out it would be enough.

I could see myself buying one, but not in the black on black Darth Vader spec of the one I rented.

[Blueprint]

^That spec (SE Nightshade like my tester by the Darth Vader reference) was a 2026 offering only.