**The New Toyota Prius: A Focus on Design and Driving Experience**
In 2023, Toyota released its latest version of the Prius, one of the first hybrid vehicles to hit the market. Initially, it was praised for its exceptional fuel economy, practicality, and spacious interior. However, with the new generation, Toyota has shifted its focus towards more style and a sporty driving experience. The result is a car that finds itself in an awkward position, struggling to balance between its practical roots and a more modern, design-driven approach.
One of the most noticeable changes is the new wheel design, which are quite large, giving the Prius a more sporty appearance. However, it's not just the wheels that have been tweaked; the entire front end has been redesigned to create a sleeker, more aerodynamic profile. The hood is now almost a straight line from the front of the car to the windshield, creating a unique silhouette that sets it apart from its predecessors. Additionally, the peak of the roof has been moved further back, giving the Prius a sportier look and feel.
This new design approach comes at the cost of some practical considerations, such as interior space. The cargo area behind the rear seats is noticeably smaller than before, which may be a concern for those who need to carry large items. Furthermore, the lower roofline has resulted in smaller windows, reducing visibility, particularly when viewing the blind spots created by the extended side pillars.
**A Change of Pace**
Under the hood, the new Prius boasts 196 horsepower, a significant increase from its predecessor's 121 horses. This power boost comes at the cost of some compromises on fuel economy, with the EPA rating it for 49 MP gallon combined, but only 57 MP gallon when paired with the lower trim and front-wheel drive.
At Consumer Reports, we've put our test vehicles through a range of tests to evaluate their performance. We'll be driving the new Prius extensively, including its acceleration, braking, avoidance maneuvers, handling, and more. Our own fuel economy testing will also provide insight into how the car's EPA ratings compare in real-world use.
**The Interior: A Study in Contrasts**
Toyota has always been known for its...let's say, "interesting" interior design choices. The new Prius is no exception. The dashboard layout has been tweaked to move the gauges and screen closer to the driver, but not so close that it creates a blind spot. However, this relocation means that the steering wheel now sits lower in the cabin, requiring drivers to adjust their position to view the instrument cluster.
The result is an interior design that's both familiar and strange at the same time. The wireless charger has been cleverly integrated into the dashboard, but one wonders why it had to be labeled "# wireless charger" – a bit of a marketing gimmick, perhaps? Another quirky touch is the hidden compartment under the tray, which can only be accessed by lifting up the lower panel.
**Easter Eggs and Trivia**
Throughout the Prius's design, there are numerous little Easter eggs waiting to be discovered. The exterior features plenty of Toyota badges and logos, while the interior boasts its own set of secrets, including a wireless charger with the "hidden compartment" label. It's clear that Toyota had fun designing this car, and fans will appreciate the attention to detail.
**The Verdict: A New Era for the Prius**
As we await the results of our comprehensive testing program, it's clear that Toyota has made some bold changes to the Prius. While the new design is undeniably striking, it also means that the car's practicality has been compromised in some areas. Only time will tell how existing Prius fans will receive this new generation, but one thing is certain: the 2023 Toyota Prius is a car that's sure to spark conversation and debate.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi I'm Alex Nik and I'm standing in the main garage here at Consumer Reports auto test center and believe it or not that is the brand new 20123 Toyota Prius we got an XLE trim which is right in the middle of the Prius lineup and we got the optional all-wheel drive so in the end we paid with destination so the Prius kind of finds itself in a little bit of an awkward place in 2023 when it first came out it was one of the very first hybrids on the market and it was really focused on hyper practicality really excellent fuel economy storage space all these things and it was really weird looking uh it's still weird looking but Toyota had to differentiate it more from the other great hybrid options that are on the market now so they traded some of that practicality for a more attractive look it'll be really interesting to see how existing Prius fans receive this new Prius since it's focusing Less on practicality and more on design and a sporty Driving Experience so the new Prius has a lot of really interesting design details first of all the wheels are relatively huge um so that makes it look a little bit more sporty but one of the things I find pretty fascinating is this line right here most cars they have a distinct hood that then kicks up into the windshield right and the old Prius had that but this one when you look at it from the side it is almost a straight line from the hood all the way up into the a pillar pretty crazy really gives the Prius that unique silhouette that it has and the other thing that they did is move the peak of the roof so the highest point of the roof they move that way back in the car if you look at the outgoing Prius it was somewhere around here over the driver and passenger's heads kind of gave it this weird bubble shape they moved it way back it makes it a lot sportier looking the proportions are pretty crazy um but it does compromise interior space and they lowered the roof quite a bit too so interior a little bit more cramped in the driving position suffers but hey it looks pretty cool one area that you're paying for the cool new styling of the Prius is definitely in the cargo space this space back here definitely looks a lot smaller so we evaluate the cargo space on all our test Vehicles here at Consumer Reports so we'll see exactly how much smaller the 2023 Priuses cargo space is compared to the outgoing model another huge change for this new generation of Prius is actually under this stubby little Hood it now makes 196 horsepower which is 75 more than the outgoing car the Prius has always been known for fuel economy and despite the new styling that's still the case our car is rated for 49 MP gallon combined by the EPA but if you get the lower trim the Le with just front wheel drive it's rated for 57 MP gallon by the EPA now of course we do our own fuel economy testing here at Consumer Reports so we'll put this car through its paces and see just how those numbers compare to the EPA the interior design of the the Prius has always been pretty weird and it's still weird but it's a little bit better in some ways so instead of the screen being mounted in the center and your gauges being in the center now it's more in front of the driver but it's still really far away so we've seen this in some other Toyota vehicles but ultimately what it means is I need to have the steering wheel a little bit lower to see over it to look at the gauge cluster so this is definitely something that it'll take getting used to I would definitely recommend sitting in one of these cars for a while test driving it thoroughly and really making sure that this position works for you so the cool new styling also impacts visibility so these a pillars are super long and they go out really far away from the driver so that creates a little bit of a blind spot in that area and the windshield is also pretty narrow too and because the roof is a lot lower all of the windows are a bit smaller than the old Prius there are a bunch of little Easter eggs all over the Prius um and you'll see little badges throughout the car but two of my favorite ones are here on the inside um here inside the wireless charger for some reason they decided to write # wireless charger and one of the more ridiculous ones is under this little tray here if I take this out it says # hidden compartment not really sure what they're going for there but this is one of my favorite wireless chargers your phone just drops in there nicely my first impression is that I'm really liking the new Prius I think it looks awesome and I can't wait to drive it more it drives a lot better than the last one uh but like always we will put it through more than 50 tests here at the consumer reports test track including acceleration breaking avoidance maneuver and handling and we'll see how all of these wild changes that Toyota made to the Prius impact its score so check back with us soon on consumerreports.org for the full test resultshi I'm Alex Nik and I'm standing in the main garage here at Consumer Reports auto test center and believe it or not that is the brand new 20123 Toyota Prius we got an XLE trim which is right in the middle of the Prius lineup and we got the optional all-wheel drive so in the end we paid with destination so the Prius kind of finds itself in a little bit of an awkward place in 2023 when it first came out it was one of the very first hybrids on the market and it was really focused on hyper practicality really excellent fuel economy storage space all these things and it was really weird looking uh it's still weird looking but Toyota had to differentiate it more from the other great hybrid options that are on the market now so they traded some of that practicality for a more attractive look it'll be really interesting to see how existing Prius fans receive this new Prius since it's focusing Less on practicality and more on design and a sporty Driving Experience so the new Prius has a lot of really interesting design details first of all the wheels are relatively huge um so that makes it look a little bit more sporty but one of the things I find pretty fascinating is this line right here most cars they have a distinct hood that then kicks up into the windshield right and the old Prius had that but this one when you look at it from the side it is almost a straight line from the hood all the way up into the a pillar pretty crazy really gives the Prius that unique silhouette that it has and the other thing that they did is move the peak of the roof so the highest point of the roof they move that way back in the car if you look at the outgoing Prius it was somewhere around here over the driver and passenger's heads kind of gave it this weird bubble shape they moved it way back it makes it a lot sportier looking the proportions are pretty crazy um but it does compromise interior space and they lowered the roof quite a bit too so interior a little bit more cramped in the driving position suffers but hey it looks pretty cool one area that you're paying for the cool new styling of the Prius is definitely in the cargo space this space back here definitely looks a lot smaller so we evaluate the cargo space on all our test Vehicles here at Consumer Reports so we'll see exactly how much smaller the 2023 Priuses cargo space is compared to the outgoing model another huge change for this new generation of Prius is actually under this stubby little Hood it now makes 196 horsepower which is 75 more than the outgoing car the Prius has always been known for fuel economy and despite the new styling that's still the case our car is rated for 49 MP gallon combined by the EPA but if you get the lower trim the Le with just front wheel drive it's rated for 57 MP gallon by the EPA now of course we do our own fuel economy testing here at Consumer Reports so we'll put this car through its paces and see just how those numbers compare to the EPA the interior design of the the Prius has always been pretty weird and it's still weird but it's a little bit better in some ways so instead of the screen being mounted in the center and your gauges being in the center now it's more in front of the driver but it's still really far away so we've seen this in some other Toyota vehicles but ultimately what it means is I need to have the steering wheel a little bit lower to see over it to look at the gauge cluster so this is definitely something that it'll take getting used to I would definitely recommend sitting in one of these cars for a while test driving it thoroughly and really making sure that this position works for you so the cool new styling also impacts visibility so these a pillars are super long and they go out really far away from the driver so that creates a little bit of a blind spot in that area and the windshield is also pretty narrow too and because the roof is a lot lower all of the windows are a bit smaller than the old Prius there are a bunch of little Easter eggs all over the Prius um and you'll see little badges throughout the car but two of my favorite ones are here on the inside um here inside the wireless charger for some reason they decided to write # wireless charger and one of the more ridiculous ones is under this little tray here if I take this out it says # hidden compartment not really sure what they're going for there but this is one of my favorite wireless chargers your phone just drops in there nicely my first impression is that I'm really liking the new Prius I think it looks awesome and I can't wait to drive it more it drives a lot better than the last one uh but like always we will put it through more than 50 tests here at the consumer reports test track including acceleration breaking avoidance maneuver and handling and we'll see how all of these wild changes that Toyota made to the Prius impact its score so check back with us soon on consumerreports.org for the full test results\n"
