The Hybrid Power of the Toyota Prius Prime

Having the gasoline engine kick on the drivetrain tuning is a feature that has been well-executed by Toyota, especially considering their previous generation's efforts. However, it seems like beating a dead horse as the sound of the four-cylinder engine doesn't quite match the desired effect in terms of creating an elastic band-like experience. The Prius Prime does not have this annoying sensation when the gasoline engine kicks on, making it more refined and quiet to drive.

The Toyota Prius Prime is a car that has mastered the art of being efficient without sacrificing comfort or refinement. While driving, one can focus on the smooth and quiet ride rather than the sound of the engine. The only time the four-cylinder sounds noticeable is when force charging kicks in, which is not typical for everyday driving.

A major aspect to consider is the brake pedal feel, which has been a common issue with many electric vehicles (EVs) such as the EQS. However, the Toyota Prius Prime's brake pedal feels like traditional Toyota gear, providing a natural and smooth experience. The calibration of the pedal inputs are also spot on, making it an ideal choice for most drivers.

The design philosophy behind the Prius Prime is quite interesting. While the outside looks sleek and modern, the inside doesn't quite match in terms of material quality or overall design. It's clear that Toyota put a lot of effort into creating a unique driving experience, throwing some flair into the segment with their prime model. The attention to detail is evident, making it a joy to drive.

One potential issue with the Prius Prime is its tendency to lean on traction stability control when driving in wet conditions. This happens because the car puts too much torque through the front wheels, causing it to lose grip and stability. The lack of all-wheel drive is also a notable aspect, which might be a drawback for some drivers.

Overall, the Toyota Prius Prime has done an excellent job of reinventing the segment with its unique design philosophy and driving experience. With its smooth and quiet ride, comfortable interior, and great fuel economy, it's no wonder that this car checks every box. Whether you're looking to upgrade from a previous generation or try out your first hybrid vehicle, the Prius Prime is an excellent choice.

My Final Thoughts on the Toyota Prius Prime

It's time for me to wrap up my final thoughts on the Toyota Prius Prime. In all seriousness, this car has been well-executed by Toyota, taking the lessons learned from its previous generation and creating a truly desirable vehicle. With the added power and extended range of 40-plus miles of EV-only range, it's no wonder that this car will be in high demand.

The problem is that Toyota has created a highly sought-after car, and with only 10,000 units available for sale in its first year, 15,000 in total, the supply is limited. This means that potential buyers will have to get in line, deal with dealership screw-ups, or wait months for their new vehicle.

In conclusion, there's almost nothing to complain about with this car, other than a few minor design issues and handling concerns in wet conditions. The attention to detail is evident, making it a joy to drive. With its unique blend of power, efficiency, and refinement, the Toyota Prius Prime has successfully reinvented the segment and left its mark on the automotive world.

A Final Word on the Prius Prime's Design

One aspect that I find particularly interesting about the Prius Prime is how its design philosophy differs from its predecessor. The outside looks sleek and modern, but the inside doesn't quite match in terms of material quality or overall design. While this might be a drawback for some buyers, it's clear that Toyota put a lot of thought into creating a unique driving experience.

The interior layout has been sacrificed slightly to make the outside look cool, resulting in wasted space and a more claustrophobic feel inside. However, this is a minor complaint compared to the overall package. The infotainment system is excellent, providing seamless technology and intuitive controls.

In terms of visibility, there have been some improvements made to address this concern. Overall, while the design might not be perfect, it's clear that Toyota has put a lot of effort into creating a unique driving experience that sets the Prius Prime apart from its competitors.

A Final Word on Safety and Features

One aspect that I find particularly impressive about the Prius Prime is its safety suite. With numerous features such as adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, and automatic emergency braking, this car has got it all covered. The infotainment system is also excellent, providing clear and concise information to drivers.

Overall, the Toyota Prius Prime is a car that checks every box. From its smooth and quiet ride to its comfortable interior, great fuel economy, and advanced safety features, there's almost nothing to complain about. Whether you're looking for an eco-friendly vehicle or just want to experience what hybrid driving has to offer, the Prius Prime is an excellent choice.

In conclusion, the Toyota Prius Prime has successfully reinvented the segment with its unique design philosophy and driving experience. With its numerous features, advanced safety suite, and great fuel economy, it's no wonder that this car will be in high demand.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enforeign the brand new Toyota Prius and Prius Prime this is a ground up redesign of this vehicle the car market has changed and it was time for Toyota to take the Prius brand out of the stone ages and that's exactly what they did Gone is the quirky design and this is by far the least conservative approach I've seen in a vehicle they made since the LC 500. now when we're talking about exterior styling it is very subjective but what you will see is a level of cohesion not found in this this platformer compact segment of car it doesn't look like a ship box it looks far more expensive than what it is it's the way that the headlights integrate in the bumper without having this massive Grille or over styling along the side and the front of it the rear hatch the way that the tail lights are integrated into it it just looks really clean it looks very modern without being quirky like the last Prius was now when they pulled the sheet off this car for the first time I saw it I couldn't help draw the parallels to the Dodge Dart because I grew up with a lot of those cars and I remember when the Intrepid came out it was a big deal they're like cab forward all the marketing with that and that's because the windshield was so long and extended over the front wheels it gave this like spaceshipish style design from the outside and it was really striking for the ear and I feel like this borrows some of that and that's why I'm drawing the parallels to it but some of that exterior design has affected the interior usability so when you get on the inside the first thing you notice is these enormous a-pillars that are in here and despite putting the Side Glass so you can see when you're turning I feel like there's always a blind spot in here from them because the windshield goes so far forward that you can't even reach the front of it the entire dashboard is it's just so large there's so much wasted space with all the Plastics here and they've done the bz4x thing here with the the gauge culture that's kind of like a HUD slash gauge cluster but if you're in the wrong position with the steering wheel where you want it you could literally block the gauge cluster with the steering wheel position and you know there's just weird things like that in here that you kind of get used to but there is not a lot of glass in here because the outside shape it looks cool on the outside but you realize your visibility is not that good that's really the biggest knock so let's get into the positives it's got Toyota stuff all the knobs buttons and switches in here are physical from your auto brights to your steering wheel heater to your steering wheel controls just traditional Toyota stuff you're never going to complain about how to utilize any of this your drive mode selectors for a EV mode or hybrid mode are all simple right by the shifter you have this old school like LC 500 old Prius shifter in here that's a Digi stick but some of the storage is really well thought out like where you would put your phone down here in the hidden storage space underneath you can really hide some great stuff in here and I've already chosen to do that I put my Awards and some of my butt cream in here and then the cup holders are pretty good things are not going to fly out and then the best thing is the phone storage holder for the wireless charger it's a great implementation right by the shifter you can get to it easily and it doesn't slide around or fly out the door pockets are not the biggest and the armrest is not the biggest for storage the big surprise this is a smaller car getting in and out of this vehicle can be a little bit of a trouble you have to duck your head because the the roof line is pretty low relative to the seating position but getting in and out of the back seats are pretty good for a car of this size and you think about it's on the same architecture as the Corolla they've done a pretty good job in packaging and with the hatch in the back really it's amazing that you can fit so much stuff back there really it's like a really tiny CUV thing you could use this as your only car you could fit your family in here and you can fit a lot of things in the back and I think that's what I really liked and with the seats down you it's there's almost no sacrifice of having a small car that does everyday Duty and I think that that's what they've done really good here and the technology implementation has also improved greatly with Toyota connected there's like zero complaints with this thing you know Wireless Android auto and apple carplay work well the usability is simple you have Google Maps you have all of the things that you really want and of course there's other things about the technology Suite that have improved they've updated their safety Suite with Lane departure you now have traffic jam assists so some of the things I talked about with visibility have been offset by the fact that they're safety Suite has improved quite a bit where you can lean on that more there's less guesswork there they have updated some of their Chimes and beeps over the previous Toyota products so now the turn signals go through the speakers and their Chimes and all that are more modern so there's little things that they're doing all over the place including on the Prius Prime giving this red dashboard inlay there there's just subtleties that make this feel like a more special car then the price point would suggest but let's get in the shop we're going to talk about the Prius Prime foreign what are we under finally Prius Prime that's what this is going to focus on I went to the launch event for this car and it rained the whole time unfortunately in California so I didn't just want to crap something out I wanted to take a more comprehensive look at it because I think it is a special car I really appreciated the previous generation Prius Prime unfortunately it didn't age all that well visually but the concept of it is great so Toyota knew that the sedan Market is cooled quite a bit and they couldn't just do what they did before it needed a reinvention so they're taking what they did with the old car and essentially took that and made it better mechanically and Visually far more striking so let's get into the mechanical part of this joke Toyota is still chasing hybrids and when you talk to people who don't know anything they'll say why are you even working on hybrids it just doesn't make everything EV and there's an argument Toyota makes and it comes down to resources the resources it takes to build a car it's not just that they can't do it it's the physical battery resources the electric motors and all the parts that go into making a fully electric vehicle so Toyota's concept is do we make 70 hybrids or do we make one Bev and it makes a lot of sense and one of the reasons why we're seeing problems and it's not just Toyota you see Hyundai and Kia they're like why are their sales numbers so low why don't they sell more AVS there's advertising everywhere well they can't make anymore they're production limited and the prime is another example the Prius Prime is another another example where they're only going to be able to make 10 000 of these the first year the second year they're really stretching it to try to make 15 000. now you consider the demand for this and you look at the amount of availability you're it's going to be hard to get this so if you really care about this and you want this you got to get on a list right away and this is the sad state of not just you know sports cars it's happening to commodity cars like this too and so knowing that the prime is going to be limited what does it do well over the regular hybrid Jack main thing is it gets even better fuel economy and theoretically at least it gets reasonable EV range it's about 50 better than the prior generation Prius Prime so with its a little bit over 13 kilowatt hour battery in the non-se trim you're looking at a little less than 40 miles of EV range and in the SE trim which is the bass trim you're looking at over 40 it's like four it's about 44 miles and of course this is all variable depending on temperature like what you're in condition wise if you're running AC but best case scenario you're looking at about 40 regardless of your trim level now there are some changes with the SC versus the xse trims like the SE trims are lower the Turning circle is a bit shorter and the tires are more rolling resistant so you're getting better fuel economy the coefficient of drag could be potentially a little bit better because it's lower but this is a 0.27 coefficient of drag it's really really slippery and they did it without air curtains or wheel curtains I mean it's just about body structure and airflow underneath and that's what you really look at when you see this is active shutters in the front they've made it look better but they haven't sacrificed its usability it's it's a core function is to drive this around an EV for about 40 miles and then get around 45 to 50 miles per gallon all the time and in my drive in California I did get really really close to 50 miles per gallon the entire drive and I haven't driven this much yet but that's what you're looking at that's why you're buying this this is on the latest iteration of tngac which is their Global architecture their small car variant so it's more rigid it's quieter than the last generation TNG AC products it says so lower by two inches it's longer by an inch and it's wider by an inch so it's supposed to have improved driving Dynamics it's definitely still on the softer side yeah but that's again what the Prius is supposed to be when it comes to Speed it is no longer a penalty box on the highway you're no longer going to be holding up traffic with its combined system output of 220 horsepower it gets to 0 to 60 in 6.6 seconds the main way it did it is it updated the electric motors it has a more recent design that puts out a little bit more power and the internal combustion engine went from a 1.8 to a 2 liter so it dramatically increased in power to like 150 horsepower out of the 2-liter which is a noticeable yeah as I said it's like 100 increase in power which makes sense you have a Lithium-Ion pack you have more displacement and you still have dual injection with port and direct so they're really trying to to work on the reliability part the power part the efficiency part and now the aesthetic part that the Prius has not been known for in the past Jack so I think let's let's do it let's get this on the road I can't wait all right jack let's do it it's funny that the full power comes in after like 70 miles an hour and I've done the launch like 20 different ways with this and if you're launching an EV only mode it's a putter I mean it's way better than it used to be but I I think some of this is like you're expecting oh it's 100 more popular it's this is not going to be 100 More Than Zero so so here's the thing um I had a pretty light-hearted discussion with the product Planning Group and the marketing people of the small group there's like three or four of them uh when I was at the Press event and they're like the marketing woman she's just tell me the response of how how positive people are about this car is so great and it makes us feel so good that people really like it I'm like well it's not hard to do when the bar is set so low and that was kind of the other car you know the other car was just long in the tooth despite the styling changes the Prius has never had a cool factor it's been trashed in the media it's got this weird like outside perspective of being somebody that sits in the left lane oblivious to the rest of the world the pompousness from like South Park when they made a joke about it but luckily now a lot of that market has moved over to like Teslas and it's the model three yeah the model 3 has replaced it so they have this ability to re really reboot this car and I think people are receptive to it because we're tired of SUVs now we have a sedan that has some passion to it and it's much better driving it is for whatever reason it's much better driving maybe it's just the power maybe it's the refinement and the isolation that you get out of it and it's softness it really is a soft compliant car I mean the argument for this product now is for the type of driving most people do perfect you sit on the highway you sit in traffic it's quiet enough it's soft enough it's got enough space to replace a small SUV or CUV without the driving Dynamics compromise of one of those vehicles and it I mean it it really is an exceptional looking car for the classic vehicle it is the interior while they're definitely you are correct compromises to the frontward visibility and for the sake of styling it's a nice place to be man this is a really nice car yeah it's it's something that I drove in great length and I know you're going to get to drive it on a trip here in a little bit I think what I appreciate the fact the most is you know when you're using it is it in its intended purpose like your daily commute getting 40 miles of pure EV range is almost 90 percent enough for most of the population at least in the United States I love the fact that I can switch it over to hybrid or pure EV and you can force charge it so like if I don't want to plug it in when I get home I can just force charge it on all the way home and still have a 40 miles range ready to go without having to deal with like plugging it into a wall there's the flexibility that that's there that I don't have with an EV um and I would much rather have this than the current crop of EVS because I think it's going to stand the test of time a little bit better than like something more or less disposable vehicle yeah 100 how is the drivetrain refinement how was the dynamic I mean honestly it's that's not what this is about I mean it's really really sharp to turn in so I would say if you're staying below the 70 limit of the car like you're gonna be whoa this thing turns quickly there's no body roll but once you lean on it more if you really drive it harder like if you're in a canyon or some twisty roads which I was on there's just not a lot of Tire under it but you know there's not a lot of tire for grip so it goes into this crazy understeer and the stability control kicks in so I as as a driving tool like to have fun with it's not all that great but I will say compared to an SUV it does feel very Nimble it feels like a fun engaging drive to car a driving car as long as you know your limits with it and you know what what this is supposed to be versus you know like it looks cool but it's not a sporty car I'm gonna launch it one more time Jack I mean it does move pretty well like once you get it up there and it accelerates out it pulls far harder than the previous generation car and we talked about in the shop it's not a burden in traffic anymore right if you are an EV only mode and you are locked in there without the gasoline engine kicking on you do have to be a bit more prepared which I'll I'll do right now for you so you can see but that that'd be the only consideration and I think flexibility wise they've programmed this enough where um you do have the ability to change the drive modes and like how you want to drive this thing but this is foot to the floor flat oh okay I mean it's it's not great but it's not horrible no it but it's noticeably slower when you're only in EV only mode EV only propulsion versus the Hybrid Power of having the gasoline engine kick on the the drivetrain tuning though I mean we beat a dead horse the Toyota has done this impeccably well you've never I just in the passenger seat I know that we're in EV and I know we're in hybrid audibly through like the sound of the four popper but it doesn't have this huge elastic band effect I don't feel like it's a rough feeling driving it's refined I mean com like if you're really looking at it to your point this is not disposable it can be quiet and refined even in its hybrid mode where the gasoline engine kicks on it's not annoying the four-cylinder doesn't sound like ass it just Blends into the background you focus on the smooth quiet ride and the fact that it is super efficient the only time it gets rattly is if you force charge this thing um that that's when you know obviously you have the gasoline engine on it's generating it creates mvh but it like it that's when you hear it but you're not typically going to be riding around in force charge so it's still worse than like a Highlander though no no it's not I mean I'm just trying to I'm just trying to point out the differences in the different modes but I think I'm really impressed with how smooth quiet this is uh and just how it's trying to reinvent the segment a little bit throwing some Flair into it you can tell they put a lot of effort into this my last question and this has been a problem a lot of evsm for me at least like the eqs how's the brake pedal feel it's it's Toyota stuff I mean sometimes you hit it and it's all at once and then sometimes you get into it it feels like the pedal is very synthetic but for the type of driving you're doing I think the calibration is really normal all the inputs are really natural you don't think about it no I don't think about anything and I think that's also some of the problems with it is it's like there's not enough drama there which is you know it's the perfect Appliance yes it is it's a huge perfect Appliance so marble that I think it's time for you to wrap this up in your final fonts all right jack thanks final thoughts on the Prius Prime this is a car that is very well executed they took the lessons they had from the previous generation they recreated it put it in better packaging it looks far better than it used to it's going to have much broader appeal you've added the power to it the extended range of 40 plus miles of EV only range and great fuel economy at around 45 to 50 miles per gallon when you're not in only EV mode it's quiet it's comfortable the safety Suite works good and the infotainment is really good it's basically checking every single box if you're thinking about oh what do we do what do we need to do to make this car sell they've done it now the problem is is now they've created a desirable Prius at least in the prime and they can only make ten thousand the first year 15 000 and who knows after that it's gonna be really hard to get one I'm just going to tell you this right off the bat it's the frustrating part of the car industry right now they make these products and you're like oh I gotta have them and then you can't get them or you have to deal with the dealership screwing you over if you want one get in line right now I'm just telling you're gonna have to wait just get in line and try to get one there's almost nothing to complain about with this car now the things that I do have an issue with is it's more of a design philosophy the outside looks don't match the inside match the Driving Experience it's a soft cushy ride it doesn't particularly handle great when you're in the wet the car is just freaking out this it leans so much on traction stability control because it's putting so much torque through the front wheels the prime does not have all-wheel drive I'll just put that out there other than that you know the drivability is pretty good for most people it I love the fact that it's a quiet refined ride you can eat something miles on the highway in terms of interior design I've already talked about it I don't like the fact that they sacrificed the interior layout to make the outside look cool there's a lot of wasted space in there and it feels a little bit more claustrophobic because of that in terms of visibility but they've improved pretty much everything else you know the technology works the infotainment's great I mean it's just it's a good car I'm going to leave it at that thanks for watching I'll see you next video foreignforeign the brand new Toyota Prius and Prius Prime this is a ground up redesign of this vehicle the car market has changed and it was time for Toyota to take the Prius brand out of the stone ages and that's exactly what they did Gone is the quirky design and this is by far the least conservative approach I've seen in a vehicle they made since the LC 500. now when we're talking about exterior styling it is very subjective but what you will see is a level of cohesion not found in this this platformer compact segment of car it doesn't look like a ship box it looks far more expensive than what it is it's the way that the headlights integrate in the bumper without having this massive Grille or over styling along the side and the front of it the rear hatch the way that the tail lights are integrated into it it just looks really clean it looks very modern without being quirky like the last Prius was now when they pulled the sheet off this car for the first time I saw it I couldn't help draw the parallels to the Dodge Dart because I grew up with a lot of those cars and I remember when the Intrepid came out it was a big deal they're like cab forward all the marketing with that and that's because the windshield was so long and extended over the front wheels it gave this like spaceshipish style design from the outside and it was really striking for the ear and I feel like this borrows some of that and that's why I'm drawing the parallels to it but some of that exterior design has affected the interior usability so when you get on the inside the first thing you notice is these enormous a-pillars that are in here and despite putting the Side Glass so you can see when you're turning I feel like there's always a blind spot in here from them because the windshield goes so far forward that you can't even reach the front of it the entire dashboard is it's just so large there's so much wasted space with all the Plastics here and they've done the bz4x thing here with the the gauge culture that's kind of like a HUD slash gauge cluster but if you're in the wrong position with the steering wheel where you want it you could literally block the gauge cluster with the steering wheel position and you know there's just weird things like that in here that you kind of get used to but there is not a lot of glass in here because the outside shape it looks cool on the outside but you realize your visibility is not that good that's really the biggest knock so let's get into the positives it's got Toyota stuff all the knobs buttons and switches in here are physical from your auto brights to your steering wheel heater to your steering wheel controls just traditional Toyota stuff you're never going to complain about how to utilize any of this your drive mode selectors for a EV mode or hybrid mode are all simple right by the shifter you have this old school like LC 500 old Prius shifter in here that's a Digi stick but some of the storage is really well thought out like where you would put your phone down here in the hidden storage space underneath you can really hide some great stuff in here and I've already chosen to do that I put my Awards and some of my butt cream in here and then the cup holders are pretty good things are not going to fly out and then the best thing is the phone storage holder for the wireless charger it's a great implementation right by the shifter you can get to it easily and it doesn't slide around or fly out the door pockets are not the biggest and the armrest is not the biggest for storage the big surprise this is a smaller car getting in and out of this vehicle can be a little bit of a trouble you have to duck your head because the the roof line is pretty low relative to the seating position but getting in and out of the back seats are pretty good for a car of this size and you think about it's on the same architecture as the Corolla they've done a pretty good job in packaging and with the hatch in the back really it's amazing that you can fit so much stuff back there really it's like a really tiny CUV thing you could use this as your only car you could fit your family in here and you can fit a lot of things in the back and I think that's what I really liked and with the seats down you it's there's almost no sacrifice of having a small car that does everyday Duty and I think that that's what they've done really good here and the technology implementation has also improved greatly with Toyota connected there's like zero complaints with this thing you know Wireless Android auto and apple carplay work well the usability is simple you have Google Maps you have all of the things that you really want and of course there's other things about the technology Suite that have improved they've updated their safety Suite with Lane departure you now have traffic jam assists so some of the things I talked about with visibility have been offset by the fact that they're safety Suite has improved quite a bit where you can lean on that more there's less guesswork there they have updated some of their Chimes and beeps over the previous Toyota products so now the turn signals go through the speakers and their Chimes and all that are more modern so there's little things that they're doing all over the place including on the Prius Prime giving this red dashboard inlay there there's just subtleties that make this feel like a more special car then the price point would suggest but let's get in the shop we're going to talk about the Prius Prime foreign what are we under finally Prius Prime that's what this is going to focus on I went to the launch event for this car and it rained the whole time unfortunately in California so I didn't just want to crap something out I wanted to take a more comprehensive look at it because I think it is a special car I really appreciated the previous generation Prius Prime unfortunately it didn't age all that well visually but the concept of it is great so Toyota knew that the sedan Market is cooled quite a bit and they couldn't just do what they did before it needed a reinvention so they're taking what they did with the old car and essentially took that and made it better mechanically and Visually far more striking so let's get into the mechanical part of this joke Toyota is still chasing hybrids and when you talk to people who don't know anything they'll say why are you even working on hybrids it just doesn't make everything EV and there's an argument Toyota makes and it comes down to resources the resources it takes to build a car it's not just that they can't do it it's the physical battery resources the electric motors and all the parts that go into making a fully electric vehicle so Toyota's concept is do we make 70 hybrids or do we make one Bev and it makes a lot of sense and one of the reasons why we're seeing problems and it's not just Toyota you see Hyundai and Kia they're like why are their sales numbers so low why don't they sell more AVS there's advertising everywhere well they can't make anymore they're production limited and the prime is another example the Prius Prime is another another example where they're only going to be able to make 10 000 of these the first year the second year they're really stretching it to try to make 15 000. now you consider the demand for this and you look at the amount of availability you're it's going to be hard to get this so if you really care about this and you want this you got to get on a list right away and this is the sad state of not just you know sports cars it's happening to commodity cars like this too and so knowing that the prime is going to be limited what does it do well over the regular hybrid Jack main thing is it gets even better fuel economy and theoretically at least it gets reasonable EV range it's about 50 better than the prior generation Prius Prime so with its a little bit over 13 kilowatt hour battery in the non-se trim you're looking at a little less than 40 miles of EV range and in the SE trim which is the bass trim you're looking at over 40 it's like four it's about 44 miles and of course this is all variable depending on temperature like what you're in condition wise if you're running AC but best case scenario you're looking at about 40 regardless of your trim level now there are some changes with the SC versus the xse trims like the SE trims are lower the Turning circle is a bit shorter and the tires are more rolling resistant so you're getting better fuel economy the coefficient of drag could be potentially a little bit better because it's lower but this is a 0.27 coefficient of drag it's really really slippery and they did it without air curtains or wheel curtains I mean it's just about body structure and airflow underneath and that's what you really look at when you see this is active shutters in the front they've made it look better but they haven't sacrificed its usability it's it's a core function is to drive this around an EV for about 40 miles and then get around 45 to 50 miles per gallon all the time and in my drive in California I did get really really close to 50 miles per gallon the entire drive and I haven't driven this much yet but that's what you're looking at that's why you're buying this this is on the latest iteration of tngac which is their Global architecture their small car variant so it's more rigid it's quieter than the last generation TNG AC products it says so lower by two inches it's longer by an inch and it's wider by an inch so it's supposed to have improved driving Dynamics it's definitely still on the softer side yeah but that's again what the Prius is supposed to be when it comes to Speed it is no longer a penalty box on the highway you're no longer going to be holding up traffic with its combined system output of 220 horsepower it gets to 0 to 60 in 6.6 seconds the main way it did it is it updated the electric motors it has a more recent design that puts out a little bit more power and the internal combustion engine went from a 1.8 to a 2 liter so it dramatically increased in power to like 150 horsepower out of the 2-liter which is a noticeable yeah as I said it's like 100 increase in power which makes sense you have a Lithium-Ion pack you have more displacement and you still have dual injection with port and direct so they're really trying to to work on the reliability part the power part the efficiency part and now the aesthetic part that the Prius has not been known for in the past Jack so I think let's let's do it let's get this on the road I can't wait all right jack let's do it it's funny that the full power comes in after like 70 miles an hour and I've done the launch like 20 different ways with this and if you're launching an EV only mode it's a putter I mean it's way better than it used to be but I I think some of this is like you're expecting oh it's 100 more popular it's this is not going to be 100 More Than Zero so so here's the thing um I had a pretty light-hearted discussion with the product Planning Group and the marketing people of the small group there's like three or four of them uh when I was at the Press event and they're like the marketing woman she's just tell me the response of how how positive people are about this car is so great and it makes us feel so good that people really like it I'm like well it's not hard to do when the bar is set so low and that was kind of the other car you know the other car was just long in the tooth despite the styling changes the Prius has never had a cool factor it's been trashed in the media it's got this weird like outside perspective of being somebody that sits in the left lane oblivious to the rest of the world the pompousness from like South Park when they made a joke about it but luckily now a lot of that market has moved over to like Teslas and it's the model three yeah the model 3 has replaced it so they have this ability to re really reboot this car and I think people are receptive to it because we're tired of SUVs now we have a sedan that has some passion to it and it's much better driving it is for whatever reason it's much better driving maybe it's just the power maybe it's the refinement and the isolation that you get out of it and it's softness it really is a soft compliant car I mean the argument for this product now is for the type of driving most people do perfect you sit on the highway you sit in traffic it's quiet enough it's soft enough it's got enough space to replace a small SUV or CUV without the driving Dynamics compromise of one of those vehicles and it I mean it it really is an exceptional looking car for the classic vehicle it is the interior while they're definitely you are correct compromises to the frontward visibility and for the sake of styling it's a nice place to be man this is a really nice car yeah it's it's something that I drove in great length and I know you're going to get to drive it on a trip here in a little bit I think what I appreciate the fact the most is you know when you're using it is it in its intended purpose like your daily commute getting 40 miles of pure EV range is almost 90 percent enough for most of the population at least in the United States I love the fact that I can switch it over to hybrid or pure EV and you can force charge it so like if I don't want to plug it in when I get home I can just force charge it on all the way home and still have a 40 miles range ready to go without having to deal with like plugging it into a wall there's the flexibility that that's there that I don't have with an EV um and I would much rather have this than the current crop of EVS because I think it's going to stand the test of time a little bit better than like something more or less disposable vehicle yeah 100 how is the drivetrain refinement how was the dynamic I mean honestly it's that's not what this is about I mean it's really really sharp to turn in so I would say if you're staying below the 70 limit of the car like you're gonna be whoa this thing turns quickly there's no body roll but once you lean on it more if you really drive it harder like if you're in a canyon or some twisty roads which I was on there's just not a lot of Tire under it but you know there's not a lot of tire for grip so it goes into this crazy understeer and the stability control kicks in so I as as a driving tool like to have fun with it's not all that great but I will say compared to an SUV it does feel very Nimble it feels like a fun engaging drive to car a driving car as long as you know your limits with it and you know what what this is supposed to be versus you know like it looks cool but it's not a sporty car I'm gonna launch it one more time Jack I mean it does move pretty well like once you get it up there and it accelerates out it pulls far harder than the previous generation car and we talked about in the shop it's not a burden in traffic anymore right if you are an EV only mode and you are locked in there without the gasoline engine kicking on you do have to be a bit more prepared which I'll I'll do right now for you so you can see but that that'd be the only consideration and I think flexibility wise they've programmed this enough where um you do have the ability to change the drive modes and like how you want to drive this thing but this is foot to the floor flat oh okay I mean it's it's not great but it's not horrible no it but it's noticeably slower when you're only in EV only mode EV only propulsion versus the Hybrid Power of having the gasoline engine kick on the the drivetrain tuning though I mean we beat a dead horse the Toyota has done this impeccably well you've never I just in the passenger seat I know that we're in EV and I know we're in hybrid audibly through like the sound of the four popper but it doesn't have this huge elastic band effect I don't feel like it's a rough feeling driving it's refined I mean com like if you're really looking at it to your point this is not disposable it can be quiet and refined even in its hybrid mode where the gasoline engine kicks on it's not annoying the four-cylinder doesn't sound like ass it just Blends into the background you focus on the smooth quiet ride and the fact that it is super efficient the only time it gets rattly is if you force charge this thing um that that's when you know obviously you have the gasoline engine on it's generating it creates mvh but it like it that's when you hear it but you're not typically going to be riding around in force charge so it's still worse than like a Highlander though no no it's not I mean I'm just trying to I'm just trying to point out the differences in the different modes but I think I'm really impressed with how smooth quiet this is uh and just how it's trying to reinvent the segment a little bit throwing some Flair into it you can tell they put a lot of effort into this my last question and this has been a problem a lot of evsm for me at least like the eqs how's the brake pedal feel it's it's Toyota stuff I mean sometimes you hit it and it's all at once and then sometimes you get into it it feels like the pedal is very synthetic but for the type of driving you're doing I think the calibration is really normal all the inputs are really natural you don't think about it no I don't think about anything and I think that's also some of the problems with it is it's like there's not enough drama there which is you know it's the perfect Appliance yes it is it's a huge perfect Appliance so marble that I think it's time for you to wrap this up in your final fonts all right jack thanks final thoughts on the Prius Prime this is a car that is very well executed they took the lessons they had from the previous generation they recreated it put it in better packaging it looks far better than it used to it's going to have much broader appeal you've added the power to it the extended range of 40 plus miles of EV only range and great fuel economy at around 45 to 50 miles per gallon when you're not in only EV mode it's quiet it's comfortable the safety Suite works good and the infotainment is really good it's basically checking every single box if you're thinking about oh what do we do what do we need to do to make this car sell they've done it now the problem is is now they've created a desirable Prius at least in the prime and they can only make ten thousand the first year 15 000 and who knows after that it's gonna be really hard to get one I'm just going to tell you this right off the bat it's the frustrating part of the car industry right now they make these products and you're like oh I gotta have them and then you can't get them or you have to deal with the dealership screwing you over if you want one get in line right now I'm just telling you're gonna have to wait just get in line and try to get one there's almost nothing to complain about with this car now the things that I do have an issue with is it's more of a design philosophy the outside looks don't match the inside match the Driving Experience it's a soft cushy ride it doesn't particularly handle great when you're in the wet the car is just freaking out this it leans so much on traction stability control because it's putting so much torque through the front wheels the prime does not have all-wheel drive I'll just put that out there other than that you know the drivability is pretty good for most people it I love the fact that it's a quiet refined ride you can eat something miles on the highway in terms of interior design I've already talked about it I don't like the fact that they sacrificed the interior layout to make the outside look cool there's a lot of wasted space in there and it feels a little bit more claustrophobic because of that in terms of visibility but they've improved pretty much everything else you know the technology works the infotainment's great I mean it's just it's a good car I'm going to leave it at that thanks for watching I'll see you next video foreignforeign the brand new Toyota Prius and Prius Prime this is a ground up redesign of this vehicle the car market has changed and it was time for Toyota to take the Prius brand out of the stone ages and that's exactly what they did Gone is the quirky design and this is by far the least conservative approach I've seen in a vehicle they made since the LC 500. now when we're talking about exterior styling it is very subjective but what you will see is a level of cohesion not found in this this platformer compact segment of car it doesn't look like a ship box it looks far more expensive than what it is it's the way that the headlights integrate in the bumper without having this massive Grille or over styling along the side and the front of it the rear hatch the way that the tail lights are integrated into it it just looks really clean it looks very modern without being quirky like the last Prius was now when they pulled the sheet off this car for the first time I saw it I couldn't help draw the parallels to the Dodge Dart because I grew up with a lot of those cars and I remember when the Intrepid came out it was a big deal they're like cab forward all the marketing with that and that's because the windshield was so long and extended over the front wheels it gave this like spaceshipish style design from the outside and it was really striking for the ear and I feel like this borrows some of that and that's why I'm drawing the parallels to it but some of that exterior design has affected the interior usability so when you get on the inside the first thing you notice is these enormous a-pillars that are in here and despite putting the Side Glass so you can see when you're turning I feel like there's always a blind spot in here from them because the windshield goes so far forward that you can't even reach the front of it the entire dashboard is it's just so large there's so much wasted space with all the Plastics here and they've done the bz4x thing here with the the gauge culture that's kind of like a HUD slash gauge cluster but if you're in the wrong position with the steering wheel where you want it you could literally block the gauge cluster with the steering wheel position and you know there's just weird things like that in here that you kind of get used to but there is not a lot of glass in here because the outside shape it looks cool on the outside but you realize your visibility is not that good that's really the biggest knock so let's get into the positives it's got Toyota stuff all the knobs buttons and switches in here are physical from your auto brights to your steering wheel heater to your steering wheel controls just traditional Toyota stuff you're never going to complain about how to utilize any of this your drive mode selectors for a EV mode or hybrid mode are all simple right by the shifter you have this old school like LC 500 old Prius shifter in here that's a Digi stick but some of the storage is really well thought out like where you would put your phone down here in the hidden storage space underneath you can really hide some great stuff in here and I've already chosen to do that I put my Awards and some of my butt cream in here and then the cup holders are pretty good things are not going to fly out and then the best thing is the phone storage holder for the wireless charger it's a great implementation right by the shifter you can get to it easily and it doesn't slide around or fly out the door pockets are not the biggest and the armrest is not the biggest for storage the big surprise this is a smaller car getting in and out of this vehicle can be a little bit of a trouble you have to duck your head because the the roof line is pretty low relative to the seating position but getting in and out of the back seats are pretty good for a car of this size and you think about it's on the same architecture as the Corolla they've done a pretty good job in packaging and with the hatch in the back really it's amazing that you can fit so much stuff back there really it's like a really tiny CUV thing you could use this as your only car you could fit your family in here and you can fit a lot of things in the back and I think that's what I really liked and with the seats down you it's there's almost no sacrifice of having a small car that does everyday Duty and I think that that's what they've done really good here and the technology implementation has also improved greatly with Toyota connected there's like zero complaints with this thing you know Wireless Android auto and apple carplay work well the usability is simple you have Google Maps you have all of the things that you really want and of course there's other things about the technology Suite that have improved they've updated their safety Suite with Lane departure you now have traffic jam assists so some of the things I talked about with visibility have been offset by the fact that they're safety Suite has improved quite a bit where you can lean on that more there's less guesswork there they have updated some of their Chimes and beeps over the previous Toyota products so now the turn signals go through the speakers and their Chimes and all that are more modern so there's little things that they're doing all over the place including on the Prius Prime giving this red dashboard inlay there there's just subtleties that make this feel like a more special car then the price point would suggest but let's get in the shop we're going to talk about the Prius Prime foreign what are we under finally Prius Prime that's what this is going to focus on I went to the launch event for this car and it rained the whole time unfortunately in California so I didn't just want to crap something out I wanted to take a more comprehensive look at it because I think it is a special car I really appreciated the previous generation Prius Prime unfortunately it didn't age all that well visually but the concept of it is great so Toyota knew that the sedan Market is cooled quite a bit and they couldn't just do what they did before it needed a reinvention so they're taking what they did with the old car and essentially took that and made it better mechanically and Visually far more striking so let's get into the mechanical part of this joke Toyota is still chasing hybrids and when you talk to people who don't know anything they'll say why are you even working on hybrids it just doesn't make everything EV and there's an argument Toyota makes and it comes down to resources the resources it takes to build a car it's not just that they can't do it it's the physical battery resources the electric motors and all the parts that go into making a fully electric vehicle so Toyota's concept is do we make 70 hybrids or do we make one Bev and it makes a lot of sense and one of the reasons why we're seeing problems and it's not just Toyota you see Hyundai and Kia they're like why are their sales numbers so low why don't they sell more AVS there's advertising everywhere well they can't make anymore they're production limited and the prime is another example the Prius Prime is another another example where they're only going to be able to make 10 000 of these the first year the second year they're really stretching it to try to make 15 000. now you consider the demand for this and you look at the amount of availability you're it's going to be hard to get this so if you really care about this and you want this you got to get on a list right away and this is the sad state of not just you know sports cars it's happening to commodity cars like this too and so knowing that the prime is going to be limited what does it do well over the regular hybrid Jack main thing is it gets even better fuel economy and theoretically at least it gets reasonable EV range it's about 50 better than the prior generation Prius Prime so with its a little bit over 13 kilowatt hour battery in the non-se trim you're looking at a little less than 40 miles of EV range and in the SE trim which is the bass trim you're looking at over 40 it's like four it's about 44 miles and of course this is all variable depending on temperature like what you're in condition wise if you're running AC but best case scenario you're looking at about 40 regardless of your trim level now there are some changes with the SC versus the xse trims like the SE trims are lower the Turning circle is a bit shorter and the tires are more rolling resistant so you're getting better fuel economy the coefficient of drag could be potentially a little bit better because it's lower but this is a 0.27 coefficient of drag it's really really slippery and they did it without air curtains or wheel curtains I mean it's just about body structure and airflow underneath and that's what you really look at when you see this is active shutters in the front they've made it look better but they haven't sacrificed its usability it's it's a core function is to drive this around an EV for about 40 miles and then get around 45 to 50 miles per gallon all the time and in my drive in California I did get really really close to 50 miles per gallon the entire drive and I haven't driven this much yet but that's what you're looking at that's why you're buying this this is on the latest iteration of tngac which is their Global architecture their small car variant so it's more rigid it's quieter than the last generation TNG AC products it says so lower by two inches it's longer by an inch and it's wider by an inch so it's supposed to have improved driving Dynamics it's definitely still on the softer side yeah but that's again what the Prius is supposed to be when it comes to Speed it is no longer a penalty box on the highway you're no longer going to be holding up traffic with its combined system output of 220 horsepower it gets to 0 to 60 in 6.6 seconds the main way it did it is it updated the electric motors it has a more recent design that puts out a little bit more power and the internal combustion engine went from a 1.8 to a 2 liter so it dramatically increased in power to like 150 horsepower out of the 2-liter which is a noticeable yeah as I said it's like 100 increase in power which makes sense you have a Lithium-Ion pack you have more displacement and you still have dual injection with port and direct so they're really trying to to work on the reliability part the power part the efficiency part and now the aesthetic part that the Prius has not been known for in the past Jack so I think let's let's do it let's get this on the road I can't wait all right jack let's do it it's funny that the full power comes in after like 70 miles an hour and I've done the launch like 20 different ways with this and if you're launching an EV only mode it's a putter I mean it's way better than it used to be but I I think some of this is like you're expecting oh it's 100 more popular it's this is not going to be 100 More Than Zero so so here's the thing um I had a pretty light-hearted discussion with the product Planning Group and the marketing people of the small group there's like three or four of them uh when I was at the Press event and they're like the marketing woman she's just tell me the response of how how positive people are about this car is so great and it makes us feel so good that people really like it I'm like well it's not hard to do when the bar is set so low and that was kind of the other car you know the other car was just long in the tooth despite the styling changes the Prius has never had a cool factor it's been trashed in the media it's got this weird like outside perspective of being somebody that sits in the left lane oblivious to the rest of the world the pompousness from like South Park when they made a joke about it but luckily now a lot of that market has moved over to like Teslas and it's the model three yeah the model 3 has replaced it so they have this ability to re really reboot this car and I think people are receptive to it because we're tired of SUVs now we have a sedan that has some passion to it and it's much better driving it is for whatever reason it's much better driving maybe it's just the power maybe it's the refinement and the isolation that you get out of it and it's softness it really is a soft compliant car I mean the argument for this product now is for the type of driving most people do perfect you sit on the highway you sit in traffic it's quiet enough it's soft enough it's got enough space to replace a small SUV or CUV without the driving Dynamics compromise of one of those vehicles and it I mean it it really is an exceptional looking car for the classic vehicle it is the interior while they're definitely you are correct compromises to the frontward visibility and for the sake of styling it's a nice place to be man this is a really nice car yeah it's it's something that I drove in great length and I know you're going to get to drive it on a trip here in a little bit I think what I appreciate the fact the most is you know when you're using it is it in its intended purpose like your daily commute getting 40 miles of pure EV range is almost 90 percent enough for most of the population at least in the United States I love the fact that I can switch it over to hybrid or pure EV and you can force charge it so like if I don't want to plug it in when I get home I can just force charge it on all the way home and still have a 40 miles range ready to go without having to deal with like plugging it into a wall there's the flexibility that that's there that I don't have with an EV um and I would much rather have this than the current crop of EVS because I think it's going to stand the test of time a little bit better than like something more or less disposable vehicle yeah 100 how is the drivetrain refinement how was the dynamic I mean honestly it's that's not what this is about I mean it's really really sharp to turn in so I would say if you're staying below the 70 limit of the car like you're gonna be whoa this thing turns quickly there's no body roll but once you lean on it more if you really drive it harder like if you're in a canyon or some twisty roads which I was on there's just not a lot of Tire under it but you know there's not a lot of tire for grip so it goes into this crazy understeer and the stability control kicks in so I as as a driving tool like to have fun with it's not all that great but I will say compared to an SUV it does feel very Nimble it feels like a fun engaging drive to car a driving car as long as you know your limits with it and you know what what this is supposed to be versus you know like it looks cool but it's not a sporty car I'm gonna launch it one more time Jack I mean it does move pretty well like once you get it up there and it accelerates out it pulls far harder than the previous generation car and we talked about in the shop it's not a burden in traffic anymore right if you are an EV only mode and you are locked in there without the gasoline engine kicking on you do have to be a bit more prepared which I'll I'll do right now for you so you can see but that that'd be the only consideration and I think flexibility wise they've programmed this enough where um you do have the ability to change the drive modes and like how you want to drive this thing but this is foot to the floor flat oh okay I mean it's it's not great but it's not horrible no it but it's noticeably slower when you're only in EV only mode EV only propulsion versus the Hybrid Power of having the gasoline engine kick on the the drivetrain tuning though I mean we beat a dead horse the Toyota has done this impeccably well you've never I just in the passenger seat I know that we're in EV and I know we're in hybrid audibly through like the sound of the four popper but it doesn't have this huge elastic band effect I don't feel like it's a rough feeling driving it's refined I mean com like if you're really looking at it to your point this is not disposable it can be quiet and refined even in its hybrid mode where the gasoline engine kicks on it's not annoying the four-cylinder doesn't sound like ass it just Blends into the background you focus on the smooth quiet ride and the fact that it is super efficient the only time it gets rattly is if you force charge this thing um that that's when you know obviously you have the gasoline engine on it's generating it creates mvh but it like it that's when you hear it but you're not typically going to be riding around in force charge so it's still worse than like a Highlander though no no it's not I mean I'm just trying to I'm just trying to point out the differences in the different modes but I think I'm really impressed with how smooth quiet this is uh and just how it's trying to reinvent the segment a little bit throwing some Flair into it you can tell they put a lot of effort into this my last question and this has been a problem a lot of evsm for me at least like the eqs how's the brake pedal feel it's it's Toyota stuff I mean sometimes you hit it and it's all at once and then sometimes you get into it it feels like the pedal is very synthetic but for the type of driving you're doing I think the calibration is really normal all the inputs are really natural you don't think about it no I don't think about anything and I think that's also some of the problems with it is it's like there's not enough drama there which is you know it's the perfect Appliance yes it is it's a huge perfect Appliance so marble that I think it's time for you to wrap this up in your final fonts all right jack thanks final thoughts on the Prius Prime this is a car that is very well executed they took the lessons they had from the previous generation they recreated it put it in better packaging it looks far better than it used to it's going to have much broader appeal you've added the power to it the extended range of 40 plus miles of EV only range and great fuel economy at around 45 to 50 miles per gallon when you're not in only EV mode it's quiet it's comfortable the safety Suite works good and the infotainment is really good it's basically checking every single box if you're thinking about oh what do we do what do we need to do to make this car sell they've done it now the problem is is now they've created a desirable Prius at least in the prime and they can only make ten thousand the first year 15 000 and who knows after that it's gonna be really hard to get one I'm just going to tell you this right off the bat it's the frustrating part of the car industry right now they make these products and you're like oh I gotta have them and then you can't get them or you have to deal with the dealership screwing you over if you want one get in line right now I'm just telling you're gonna have to wait just get in line and try to get one there's almost nothing to complain about with this car now the things that I do have an issue with is it's more of a design philosophy the outside looks don't match the inside match the Driving Experience it's a soft cushy ride it doesn't particularly handle great when you're in the wet the car is just freaking out this it leans so much on traction stability control because it's putting so much torque through the front wheels the prime does not have all-wheel drive I'll just put that out there other than that you know the drivability is pretty good for most people it I love the fact that it's a quiet refined ride you can eat something miles on the highway in terms of interior design I've already talked about it I don't like the fact that they sacrificed the interior layout to make the outside look cool there's a lot of wasted space in there and it feels a little bit more claustrophobic because of that in terms of visibility but they've improved pretty much everything else you know the technology works the infotainment's great I mean it's just it's a good car I'm going to leave it at that thanks for watching I'll see you next video foreign\n"