2017 Toyota Prius Prime Plug-In Hybrid Review
2017 Toyota Prius Prime Plug-In Hybrid, Just after considerably discussion, we’ve lastly figured out the Toyota Prius Prime’s spirit animal: an anteater. That extended snoot, the humped visual appeal, and these squinting headlights seem prepared for ant-scooping duty. Or perhaps it is much more of the platypus. Both way, the level is Toyota’s newest-and for your first time, stylistically independent-plug-in version from the Prius hybrid seems to be weird enough to invite such comparisons. Even so, the Prime is prettier compared to the common Prius, a car we’ve described as possessing been created “by people obviously on psychotropic medication.”
Possibly a person slipped us a similar stimulant before we chose to check not 1 2017 Prius Prime, but all 3 versions of it: the entry-level Plus, the mid-level Premium, and top-of-the-line Superior. All 3 are separated through the ubiquitous Prius hybrid by means of a charge port, the one of a kind styling, along with a larger eight.8-kWh lithium-ion battery pack that enables an EPA-rated 25 miles of electric-only driving array. When the battery’s charge is depleted enough-the auto normally holds some electrons in reserve-the Prime reverts to a traditional hybrid mode (what the super nerdy call “charge sustaining mode”), blending electrical power with all the bridled fury of the 95-hp one.8-liter Atkinson-cycle inline-four gasoline engine.
Have It Three Means - 2017 Toyota Prius Prime Plug-In Hybrid Review
The Prime Plus commences at $27,985 and incorporates niceties such as LED headlights and taillights, heated door mirrors, automated grille shutters, a seven.0-inch touchscreen with navigation, a four.2-inch driver data display, automatic climate management, heated front seats, and proximity important with push-button start off. That equipment largely makes up to the $3625 value premium above the sparsely equipped base, non-Plussed Prius. Apples-to-apples, the Prime Plus is just $365 greater than a similarly equipped Prius hybrid, which can be called the Three in Toyota parlance. This check model rang in at $28,380, thanks to its $395 Hypersonic Red paint.
Subsequent up the ladder may be the $29,685 Prime Premium, which swaps out the Plus’s seven.0-inch infotainment display for any large 11.6-inch, vertically oriented display that mimics the built-in tablet in Tesla’s Model S and Model X. The only other upgrades are SofTex faux leather seat upholstery in place of cloth, proximity-key sensors to the front passenger door plus the trunk to augment the Plus’s 1 within the driver’s door, and an inductive wireless phone-charging pad within the center console.
The top-spec Superior asks $33,985 and adds a heated steering wheel, a shade head-up show, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, parking sensors, a self-parking process, and remote controls to the HVAC procedure. The State-of-the-art also could be the only Prime that involves blind-spot monitoring, although adaptive cruise manage, forward-collision warning, automatic emergency braking, automatic high-beams, and lane-departure warning with lane-keeping assist are regular on all designs. Up coming to specific, extra-cost paint colours, no selections are provided on any Prime.
Within On the lookout Out - 2017 Toyota Prius Prime Plug-In Hybrid Review
Even with all that, all Prius Prime interiors are a lot more or less the exact same. Though the seat coverings differ, just about every presents the exact same rubberized plastic dashboard, soft-touch door panels, and four-seat layout. There is no middle seat within the rear, meaning the Prime can carry only four passengers, all of which no less than delight in plenty of room. The seats are fairly comfortable, and sightlines towards the front and sides are fantastic. Issues get unconventional to the rear, due to the split rear window and curved hatchback glass, while the wavy panel has little result on clarity. Peering with the rearview mirror, you may also catch a glimpse from the exposed carbon-fiber weave along the edges from the hatch-the complete aperture is created of your high-tech things to save bodyweight.
The Plus’s seven.0-inch touchscreen is cribbed from mainstream Toyota versions and operates properly, that has a easy menu construction and helpful hard-button shortcuts to critical functions, such as audio, navigation, and telephone, and also honest-to-ergonomic volume and tuning knobs. The eleven.6-inch touchscreen on Premium and Innovative designs looks awesome in the beginning, with a good amount of show room and wow aspect, but eventually fails to benefit from its promise. For starters, Toyota inexplicably utilized the identical half-baked navigation map graphics to this giant display, that means the aesthetic that feels dated on the 7.0-inch display is just magnified. Unlike the Plus, the Premium and the Superior things the climate controls into the huge display, producing changes extra of the chore. Furthermore, non-navigation functions are relegated to compact buttons on the smaller sized area from the screen’s reduce half, meaning the majority of the additional display space is wasted. When the navigation map is set to full-screen mode, the climate and audio settings are buried inside the lower corners from the display. Toyota did fit the Prime’s touchscreen with shortcuts in the form of floating on-screen balls that spin about and deliver quick accessibility to efficiency, apps, and navigation-destination menus, however they don’t redeem the setup adequate to produce us forgive the frustrating operation of the capacitive-touch up/down temperature and volume controls. The base Plus’s physical knobs and climate controls perform substantially superior.
Prime Mover - 2017 Toyota Prius Prime Plug-In Hybrid Review
Every Prime makes use of a 95-hp one.8-liter four-cylinder and two motor/generator units (MGUs) that combine to provide 121 horsepower. These three electrical power sources are harnessed to your front wheels via a planetary gearset that behaves like a continuously variable transmission. To additional save fuel, the fuel engine runs the Atkinson cycle, and reverse motion is handled purely on electrical power. As to the Prius hybrid, the electrical motors double as generators, converting kinetic power (motion) into electricity that would otherwise be turned into heat from the friction brakes, rather of getting stored from the traction battery. The pack lives below the rear seats and weighs 265 lbs. It is also of your lithium-ion wide range in each and every Prime; only some non-plug-in Prius hybrids use lithium-ion packs, though the rest have more cost-effective nickel-metal hydride units.
Toyota gives Prime owners a say in how their machines dole out their electric and gas electrical power. Absolutely charge the battery by means of the included 120-volt wall outlet charger cable (that will consider a although) or a quicker, 240-volt hookup (slightly over two hours), plus the Prime defaults to EV mode in the next start-up. 1 can elect to leave it in this setting, running with the electric-only selection, or push a console button to switch into hybrid mode and (typically) preserve the battery’s charge for electric-only operation later. A separate button calls up an EV Auto mode that lets the Prime choose how to utilize the juice. In this case, the motor vehicle operates principally being a hybrid, but judiciously doles out stints of electric-only operation in which it sees fit. Capping points off are Standard, Eco, and Electrical power drive modes. One of the most notable is Eco, which dulls acceleration to this kind of a degree that it becomes annoying; the differences concerning the Regular and Electrical power modes have been negligible, nonetheless.
Effectiveness Is really a Relative Term - 2017 Toyota Prius Prime Plug-In Hybrid Review
We tested all three Prius Primes to gauge the effect with the different trim levels’ products to the vehicles’ weights and efficiency. Any variation might influence fuel economic climate and performance, because the trio otherwise utilizes exactly the same powertrain and battery. Look at that notion busted, as just 28 lbs separate the base automobile from the top-spec version. Riding on identical tires, the three Primes logged almost identical performances on the track. The only deviation came through the Superior, which posted a markedly lower skidpad grip figure compared to the other individuals, an anomaly we’re chalking up to a probably dirty track surface. Due to the latest Prius’s independent rear suspension, the Prime does a fair job of soaking up street imperfections and delivering a planted, secure feeling in corners regardless of its low-rolling-resistance tires. Deep potholes reveal some structural shimmies-no doubt a end result with the weight-conscious construction-but for that most aspect, the car or truck is remarkably quiet and solid-feeling, a significant departure from earlier Priuses.
All three Primes failed to breach the 10.0-second mark sauntering to 60 mph. We examined them in hybrid mode, during which they’re making total energy; count on just about every for being about two seconds slower to 60 mph in EV-only mode. Subjectively, even so, the Prime feels peppier working solely on electrons, with an immediate, smooth hit of torque off the line that is perfect for zipping around town. Once the fuel engine kicks on, it is actually growly and grainy and helps make the powertrain recalcitrant to respond to accelerator inputs, as if it’s seeking to slow the proceedings down. Blame the CVT-like nature in the transmission, which allows the engine to rev away when it alters the drive ratio to construct pace. This produces a disconnect amongst the languid acceleration plus the engine’s determined wailing which makes merging with faster-moving traffic feel extra pained than when only the electric motors are quietly accomplishing the same do the job.
That final level is essential, because it betrays the Prime’s most irritating aspect: that it’s arguably a much better electrical automobile than a hybrid, nonetheless it can pretend to get an EV only for about 20 miles at a time during the real planet. Hit the highway in EV mode (the Prime can achieve 84 mph on this setting), along with your range plummets to about 12 miles. The Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid is far better to drive overall, seems to be much less funky, has provisions for any fifth passenger, and is equally compelling when acting as an electrical vehicle, when it gives a 53-mile array per charge based on the EPA. We also accomplished a 60-MPGe efficiency figure through our test on the Volt, besting all 3 Primes’ low-50-MPGe figures. In addition, a Volt beat a Prime in the current comparison check.
Provided all this, the Prime’s bargain status relative on the Volt would seem a lot more like cautious positioning on Toyota’s aspect than an incentive in its own appropriate. Absolutely sure, the Prime is barely much more expensive than its plug-less Prius counterpart, in addition to a loaded Prime Innovative is much less than $34,000 even just before any tax incentives are factored in. The least-expensive Volt charges $110 greater than a Prime Advanced-$6110 a lot more than a base Plus-yet equipping it similarly for the Toyota (placing the rate close to $40,000 in advance of incentives) would seem worth it. In the end, your way of life, commuting distance, and entry to charge ports will determine if you’ll opt for a Prime over the Volt’s vastly higher electric-only assortment, quicker acceleration, and far better dynamics.
2017 Toyota Prius Prime Plug-In Hybrid Review
Possibly a person slipped us a similar stimulant before we chose to check not 1 2017 Prius Prime, but all 3 versions of it: the entry-level Plus, the mid-level Premium, and top-of-the-line Superior. All 3 are separated through the ubiquitous Prius hybrid by means of a charge port, the one of a kind styling, along with a larger eight.8-kWh lithium-ion battery pack that enables an EPA-rated 25 miles of electric-only driving array. When the battery’s charge is depleted enough-the auto normally holds some electrons in reserve-the Prime reverts to a traditional hybrid mode (what the super nerdy call “charge sustaining mode”), blending electrical power with all the bridled fury of the 95-hp one.8-liter Atkinson-cycle inline-four gasoline engine.
Have It Three Means - 2017 Toyota Prius Prime Plug-In Hybrid Review
The Prime Plus commences at $27,985 and incorporates niceties such as LED headlights and taillights, heated door mirrors, automated grille shutters, a seven.0-inch touchscreen with navigation, a four.2-inch driver data display, automatic climate management, heated front seats, and proximity important with push-button start off. That equipment largely makes up to the $3625 value premium above the sparsely equipped base, non-Plussed Prius. Apples-to-apples, the Prime Plus is just $365 greater than a similarly equipped Prius hybrid, which can be called the Three in Toyota parlance. This check model rang in at $28,380, thanks to its $395 Hypersonic Red paint.
Subsequent up the ladder may be the $29,685 Prime Premium, which swaps out the Plus’s seven.0-inch infotainment display for any large 11.6-inch, vertically oriented display that mimics the built-in tablet in Tesla’s Model S and Model X. The only other upgrades are SofTex faux leather seat upholstery in place of cloth, proximity-key sensors to the front passenger door plus the trunk to augment the Plus’s 1 within the driver’s door, and an inductive wireless phone-charging pad within the center console.
The top-spec Superior asks $33,985 and adds a heated steering wheel, a shade head-up show, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, parking sensors, a self-parking process, and remote controls to the HVAC procedure. The State-of-the-art also could be the only Prime that involves blind-spot monitoring, although adaptive cruise manage, forward-collision warning, automatic emergency braking, automatic high-beams, and lane-departure warning with lane-keeping assist are regular on all designs. Up coming to specific, extra-cost paint colours, no selections are provided on any Prime.
Within On the lookout Out - 2017 Toyota Prius Prime Plug-In Hybrid Review
Even with all that, all Prius Prime interiors are a lot more or less the exact same. Though the seat coverings differ, just about every presents the exact same rubberized plastic dashboard, soft-touch door panels, and four-seat layout. There is no middle seat within the rear, meaning the Prime can carry only four passengers, all of which no less than delight in plenty of room. The seats are fairly comfortable, and sightlines towards the front and sides are fantastic. Issues get unconventional to the rear, due to the split rear window and curved hatchback glass, while the wavy panel has little result on clarity. Peering with the rearview mirror, you may also catch a glimpse from the exposed carbon-fiber weave along the edges from the hatch-the complete aperture is created of your high-tech things to save bodyweight.
The Plus’s seven.0-inch touchscreen is cribbed from mainstream Toyota versions and operates properly, that has a easy menu construction and helpful hard-button shortcuts to critical functions, such as audio, navigation, and telephone, and also honest-to-ergonomic volume and tuning knobs. The eleven.6-inch touchscreen on Premium and Innovative designs looks awesome in the beginning, with a good amount of show room and wow aspect, but eventually fails to benefit from its promise. For starters, Toyota inexplicably utilized the identical half-baked navigation map graphics to this giant display, that means the aesthetic that feels dated on the 7.0-inch display is just magnified. Unlike the Plus, the Premium and the Superior things the climate controls into the huge display, producing changes extra of the chore. Furthermore, non-navigation functions are relegated to compact buttons on the smaller sized area from the screen’s reduce half, meaning the majority of the additional display space is wasted. When the navigation map is set to full-screen mode, the climate and audio settings are buried inside the lower corners from the display. Toyota did fit the Prime’s touchscreen with shortcuts in the form of floating on-screen balls that spin about and deliver quick accessibility to efficiency, apps, and navigation-destination menus, however they don’t redeem the setup adequate to produce us forgive the frustrating operation of the capacitive-touch up/down temperature and volume controls. The base Plus’s physical knobs and climate controls perform substantially superior.
Prime Mover - 2017 Toyota Prius Prime Plug-In Hybrid Review
Every Prime makes use of a 95-hp one.8-liter four-cylinder and two motor/generator units (MGUs) that combine to provide 121 horsepower. These three electrical power sources are harnessed to your front wheels via a planetary gearset that behaves like a continuously variable transmission. To additional save fuel, the fuel engine runs the Atkinson cycle, and reverse motion is handled purely on electrical power. As to the Prius hybrid, the electrical motors double as generators, converting kinetic power (motion) into electricity that would otherwise be turned into heat from the friction brakes, rather of getting stored from the traction battery. The pack lives below the rear seats and weighs 265 lbs. It is also of your lithium-ion wide range in each and every Prime; only some non-plug-in Prius hybrids use lithium-ion packs, though the rest have more cost-effective nickel-metal hydride units.
Toyota gives Prime owners a say in how their machines dole out their electric and gas electrical power. Absolutely charge the battery by means of the included 120-volt wall outlet charger cable (that will consider a although) or a quicker, 240-volt hookup (slightly over two hours), plus the Prime defaults to EV mode in the next start-up. 1 can elect to leave it in this setting, running with the electric-only selection, or push a console button to switch into hybrid mode and (typically) preserve the battery’s charge for electric-only operation later. A separate button calls up an EV Auto mode that lets the Prime choose how to utilize the juice. In this case, the motor vehicle operates principally being a hybrid, but judiciously doles out stints of electric-only operation in which it sees fit. Capping points off are Standard, Eco, and Electrical power drive modes. One of the most notable is Eco, which dulls acceleration to this kind of a degree that it becomes annoying; the differences concerning the Regular and Electrical power modes have been negligible, nonetheless.
Effectiveness Is really a Relative Term - 2017 Toyota Prius Prime Plug-In Hybrid Review
We tested all three Prius Primes to gauge the effect with the different trim levels’ products to the vehicles’ weights and efficiency. Any variation might influence fuel economic climate and performance, because the trio otherwise utilizes exactly the same powertrain and battery. Look at that notion busted, as just 28 lbs separate the base automobile from the top-spec version. Riding on identical tires, the three Primes logged almost identical performances on the track. The only deviation came through the Superior, which posted a markedly lower skidpad grip figure compared to the other individuals, an anomaly we’re chalking up to a probably dirty track surface. Due to the latest Prius’s independent rear suspension, the Prime does a fair job of soaking up street imperfections and delivering a planted, secure feeling in corners regardless of its low-rolling-resistance tires. Deep potholes reveal some structural shimmies-no doubt a end result with the weight-conscious construction-but for that most aspect, the car or truck is remarkably quiet and solid-feeling, a significant departure from earlier Priuses.
All three Primes failed to breach the 10.0-second mark sauntering to 60 mph. We examined them in hybrid mode, during which they’re making total energy; count on just about every for being about two seconds slower to 60 mph in EV-only mode. Subjectively, even so, the Prime feels peppier working solely on electrons, with an immediate, smooth hit of torque off the line that is perfect for zipping around town. Once the fuel engine kicks on, it is actually growly and grainy and helps make the powertrain recalcitrant to respond to accelerator inputs, as if it’s seeking to slow the proceedings down. Blame the CVT-like nature in the transmission, which allows the engine to rev away when it alters the drive ratio to construct pace. This produces a disconnect amongst the languid acceleration plus the engine’s determined wailing which makes merging with faster-moving traffic feel extra pained than when only the electric motors are quietly accomplishing the same do the job.
That final level is essential, because it betrays the Prime’s most irritating aspect: that it’s arguably a much better electrical automobile than a hybrid, nonetheless it can pretend to get an EV only for about 20 miles at a time during the real planet. Hit the highway in EV mode (the Prime can achieve 84 mph on this setting), along with your range plummets to about 12 miles. The Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid is far better to drive overall, seems to be much less funky, has provisions for any fifth passenger, and is equally compelling when acting as an electrical vehicle, when it gives a 53-mile array per charge based on the EPA. We also accomplished a 60-MPGe efficiency figure through our test on the Volt, besting all 3 Primes’ low-50-MPGe figures. In addition, a Volt beat a Prime in the current comparison check.
Provided all this, the Prime’s bargain status relative on the Volt would seem a lot more like cautious positioning on Toyota’s aspect than an incentive in its own appropriate. Absolutely sure, the Prime is barely much more expensive than its plug-less Prius counterpart, in addition to a loaded Prime Innovative is much less than $34,000 even just before any tax incentives are factored in. The least-expensive Volt charges $110 greater than a Prime Advanced-$6110 a lot more than a base Plus-yet equipping it similarly for the Toyota (placing the rate close to $40,000 in advance of incentives) would seem worth it. In the end, your way of life, commuting distance, and entry to charge ports will determine if you’ll opt for a Prime over the Volt’s vastly higher electric-only assortment, quicker acceleration, and far better dynamics.
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