2023 Toyota Prius Prime - MPG Test | Real-world Highway Fuel Economy and Range

The all-new PHEV Prius is pretty cool. But if you have a lot of highway driving in your regular routine, you may not be impressed by the fuel mileage.
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[@DailyMotor]

I checked with a colleague at Car and Driver, who leads the industry in interior noise testing. He said both their Prius and Prius Prime test vehicles measured 71 dBA at 70 mph. This is compared to 69 in the Accord Touring (just as a reference point). They don't currently publish this number for most vehicles.

[@KealeyOnCars]

Oh also to comment on the battery: it’s 12kWh gross size, the usable battery size is about 10kWh. The buffer is built in to help it last longer.

[@Michael-ee7nk]

That road noise is a killer for me. I'm sure not the only one who wishes companies would at least option smaller wheels on higher trims for the cheaper, more efficient, resilient, and compliant tires. The non-Prime is what I'd want for the smaller, more DIY friendly, battery but couldn't imagine paying for an optioned up XLE or Prime to then do an LE wheel swap. I'd also plan on replacing and repairing the first 19" wheel egged by a pothole to have as a full size spare.

[@vik_red]

True. Reminds me of Honda. I believe the Sport trims of Civic, Pilot, Hrv etc gets larger wheels. But then, as you move up the trim ladder, you get smaller wheels. I wish more manufacturers do that

[@Michael-ee7nk]

​@@vik_red I wish that were still the case. Honda unfortunately went from 17's to 19's with the last 2 generations of Touring trim Accord and CR-V at the expense of ride quality which was the focus of the Touring. The Sport rightfully has 19's but you have to downgrade to the EX/-L if 17's are important although the new body designs make the smaller wheels look disproportionate so it's a wash really. Some people can't tell a difference between the 2 so perhaps it's nothing?

[@rogerh2694]

Is that just the noise from doing a video or actual road noise?! Sounds like you're on a plane lol

[@DailyMotor]

We record with in-ear microphones to replicate what we're hearing. This is a concrete highway, so it's louder than most, but yeah, still not great.

[@aluisious]

California highways tend to be loud as hell. Also motorcycle tires last a fraction as long as they do in other places. I get 4k miles on a "road" tire that lasts 10k miles in the PNW. Must be all the taxes we pay...? @@rogerh2694

[@infernoking7504]

I love my 2009 toyota prius has 250k on it new battery for $900 45 mpg all day every day all ive done is change fluids tires oil kept everything nice I live in florida so no need for awd just a great economy car and its saved me thousands of dollars that I put into other stuff.

[@aluisious]

You did not get a new battery for $900.

[@ballathug8404]

All these butt hurt Prius owners on here. Fact is, you could get those mpg #s in a 2010 corolla or civic. Save your money

[@motomatt4266]

pretty disappointed in toyota with this. my 2022 corolla hybrid will do 55-57 mpg at 70 mph. my best tank averaged 61.xx mpg resulting in a range of just over 580 miles at 5 miles "distance to empty" displayed on the info screen. I get that its a plug in, but 30 miles range for that sharp of a drop off in fuel economy isn't worth it.

[@hollypark2752]

as a prime owner, the heat pump is not efficient when heating. cooling is ok. so expect getting only 50-80% of epa range in cold weather. so it looks like you were using the heat with highway speeds. so you will not get anywhere close to the rated range. during warm weather, even with the ac on, you could get 90% of the rated range on the highway and easily over 100% on rolling back roads or city driving.

[@flingmonkey5494]

I have a 2023 Prius Prime XSE Premium, like the one you tested. Mine is Wind Chill White. I have a 25 mile commute to work in southern CA, almost all freeway. But the freeways in the LA area tend to back up a lot. I set my cruise control to 82 meaning I will keep up with all traffic, but I spend a lot of time between stopped and 60mph. I keep the car in Eco/EV mode. I fill up my battery each night and I can get to work on it with about 40% left over, and then I can get about 10 miles homeward before the engine kicks in. Even on battery alone this car has WAY more gitup than my old Corolla did, and when the engine kicks in it's even better. I have had some difficulties with tracking overall milage and with the charger. But my first tank yielded about 108mpg, the second tank (probably a better measure) was 98mpg. The third tank, where I failed to charge my car overnight a few times, got me 80MPG. The charger problem turned out to be the old and battered extension cord I was using, the plug was heating up, and the charger senses that and shuts down. Once I figured that out I swapped cords and have had no further issues. I am coming up on filling my tank for the 4th time. I am also going to take a road trip to Tucson at end-of-March, and I will be tracking that mpg. By trade I am a test engineer, long career. Testing is what I do.

[@TomLawlor-iq6gm]

Hey Fling, I've driven in the US several times and was always amazed at how fast people drive on your freeways. We were enjoying the splendid Kentucky landscape once, rolling down a long, steep highway when a thunder cell blew over us all. With the wipers working overtime I slowed to 60mph (Jeez, my wife was sitting next to me). But other drivers zoomed past us at, ya, 80 something. Mental. Here, if you get caught rolling at 82mph (131.2kph), chances are your day will include a tow-truck. For sure a whopping big ticket along with Demerit Points.

[@esteve72]

As a 2021 Prius Prime owner, I know why the EV range is disappointing. First is the low temperature, 53°, which reduces battery capacity noticeably. The battery simply isn't as efficient at lower temps and discharges faster. Second, setting the cabin temp to 72° or so will drain the battery faster because now it's acting as a heater drawing battery energy to heat the cabin unlike an ICE which gives you free heat as a by-product of combustion. You have to pay for this heat! 😆 Try this test in the spring or summer and you will get drastically better results. I have a roughly 70 mi daily commute for work and I go from 999.99 mpg in the summer to 450-500 mpg in the winter (55° and lower). Also, I'm able to charge at work. I can get over 8K miles from one tank which takes over 5 months. When I drain the oil every 10K miles, it still looks brand new! 😂 That's the beauty of the Prius Prime, it's simply unmatched if your driving conditions fall within its strengths.

[@TomLawlor-iq6gm]

I drove our 2024 Prime 81.5Km in EV Mode yesterday and, the Energy Meter said there was a 21% State of Charge remaining. Enough to have made another 9 Km, bringing the range to over 90Km. Ambient temperature was around 13 C. Well pleased. However, you are completely correct in noting that all parasitic electrical loads have to be turned off to achieve that sort of range. Have had the car for two months, haven't pulled-up to a pump yet. But, I really believe Toyota should have added just a bit bigger battery, enough for a 100Km range, that would make a huge difference with most every day driving.

[@Eugen-E]

You should also test the non-plugin Prius to see if this low fuel economy is just for the Prime model or it is for the entire new generation Prius. The previous did 53mpg, but on 17" wheels!

[@djplonghead5403]

The non-prime models get 52 or higher. I think they should have put 17 or 18-inch wheels on it... It would have made it slightly quieter and give better mpg's.

[@KealeyOnCars]

Surprised to see it didn’t do well. My week I had it in LA I was averaging over 50 on hybrid mode alone. Also for EV range I was easily getting 40-45 miles. But then again, a good bit of that was in some amount of traffic but plugging in every night I averaged 82 mpg overall, which included a day on angeles crest highway & a couple 150 mile days.

[@mupetier]

Save $10,000usd get the Corolla hybrid. It gets better mileage. Also roomier on the inside.

[@supportyou10]

Prius looks better

[@mupetier]

@@supportyou10 yes it does . But what looks better than that is 10k in an investment account accruing compound interest.

[@supportyou10]

@@mupetier true but you could technically get by using only EV on short commute saving on gas

[@PinkFZeppelin]

⁠@@supportyou10 Youd have to drive 60000 miles on EV mode to make that savings. It makes zero sense.

[@6025094]

He doesn't want to make sense

[@noahfabula]

Now do a 1st gen insight

[@DailyMotor]

Would LOVE that. Anyone in SoCal with one, please email me. [e-mail]

[@mrxman581]

You should be going rhe soeed limit or less. That should be 65 mph ir lower. I consistently get around 38-39 miles of EV range on my Prime XSE Premium. I've had my car almost three months and have only put $10 of gas in LA. I decided I didn't need to carry around a full tank of gas since I rarely use the ICE motor so I always have my tank between 1/4 to 1/2 full. That way the car is more efficient. That's around 40 pounds of less weight lugging around all the time.

[@dproulx222]

Prius is gorgeous.. $43,000 Canadian I put a deposit on the 2024 Corolla Hybrid SE AWD. $35,000 Canadian I wonder if I should have chosen the 2024 Corolla Hybrid LE AWD $33,000 Canadian I could have saved $2,160 when comparing SE vs. LE MSRP. Too bad I'm not flush with cash. If I were - I'd splurge for the Prius with .5L/100km better fuel efficiency.

[@brandononbrand]

It's lame that they force the 19" inch wheels on you if you want some desirable features. Why can't we go back to having bigger wheels be optional? Or at least make them optional on the model that is supposed to be about fuel efficiency.

[@wackit6756]

Meh. My '19' Civic SI Coupe will get 44 mpg all day long on freeway, (No hills or stopping, 60-65 mph cruise control) Thanks for the test, maybe the Prius Hybrid would do better? I drove one today, quite impressed, but not if the mpg figures are off.🫤

[@zsharkz2633]

I assumed the new prime would give better hwy mpg compare to my none prime 2021 prius. I AVG 50-60mpg doing 70-75mph with eco AC on

[@aluisious]

I'm getting around 39 to 40 mpg to the tank driving mostly on the highway in my Camry Hybrid XSE in this season. I guess that's pretty good compared to the new Prius.

[@PreludeSon]

You did us a favor by testing it on the highway, really appreciated.

[@peterlennihan4996]

Were you using the heat? I have an Outlander PHEV if I use the heat drops the electric only miles a lot!

[@NovaPrincess]

I've seen this car 100 times already buy why show it in the dark?😂😅

[@gamelauncher9821]

$43k damn expensive😬

[@Accost2u]

Not really impressed with the result. Seems the price premium for the Prius prime over the standard Prius or the cheaper Corolla hybrid is a better value. Heck, the gas-only corolla gets mid-40s mpg in my experience for even less money.

[@Eugen-E]

Don't forget this Prius Prime rides on 19" wheels and it has over 3500lb of curb weight.

[@mrxman581]

The Prius Prime is a plug in hybrid. That's where the difference really stands out.

[@robertk1049]

I'm 5'11 and do not fit in the new Prius. My hair (a short buzz cut) brushes the headliner even with the driver's seat lowered all the way and reclined a modest amount. I was so disappointed that I didn't even bother with a test drive. Toyota definitely went with style over usability. In my 2021 Prius I easily have 3-4 inches of headroom and am definitely more comfortable.

[@rightlanehog3151]

Amen and Hallelujah! I am 6'2" with a very long torso and I fit easily in the previous model. Compounding the low roof line is the awful visibility resulting from the overindulgent redesign. They should have called this the 'Prius Sport' and continued making a 'Prius Practical' right along side it. To make matters worse, other markets do have practical Toyota Hybrid cars like the Corolla Hybrid hatch and especially, the Corolla wagon. We don't. 🤨

[@DailyMotor]

Lmao Prius Practical

[@rightlanehog3151]

@@DailyMotor 😉

[@bitbat9]

I’m the same height and I fit just fine in my 2023 Prius

[@mrxman581]

Strange because I'm also 5'-11" and have no issues fitting very comfortably in my 2023 Prius Prime.

[@dannymeltzer]

For those wondering about highway road noise, I have a 2023 Prius Prime and I found that making sure the tire pressure was correct [as indicated] made a fair difference in the cabin road noise. Went down when the tires were set to correct pressure. The cars come new over inflated from the factory, on purpose. I have had my car about 4 months and I get around 45 mpg when driving hybrid mode [not including any range or efficiency from driving in EV mode which gets me about 42 miles of EV range].

[@slamminpotatoes4508]

You're the first person with a PHEV not saying im getting 87MPG. 42 real world ev range is great!

[@dannymeltzer]

I should also note that I have the model with 19" wheels, so that makes a difference for fuel economy and EV range.

[@NovaPrincess]

@@dannymeltzerThanks for clarifying. That MPG was concerning. I have a 2017 Prius and get 50 MPG. So I'm wondering what the new Prime gets. 😊

[@TomLawlor-iq6gm]

@@NovaPrincess On our single road trip (in hybrid, after the battery died), we saw 62+mpg with our 2024 Prime. Driving at @ 105kph (65.6mph), over hills, up and down, through an ambient temperature of 50 f. In summer temperatures of around 25c (low 80's f), we have been getting over 90Km (56.25+m), range in EV Mode. Ours has the 17" wheels, far more sensible.

[@NovaPrincess]

Nice! 62 MPG is solid. It's hard to justify upgrading at this point for me, but my next car will likely be a Prime, maybe a 2027 Prime or something. I really like PHEVs. What do you think of the cabin size? Do you ever travel with bikes or sporting equipment inside of the car?

[@NovaPrincess]

This car is so gorgeous it makes me sick! 😮😢😭❤

[@shadowhound5113]

I love the look of the Prius and I want one but It doesn’t have enough headroom for me. I wish Toyota made a car with 40 inches of headroom. With sunroof.

[@mrxman581]

Get the Rav4 Prime.

[@rightlanehog3151]

Charlie, Is it fair to assume your ad hoc, off the cuff impersonation of typical commenters 3:03 does not accurately reflect the respect and esteem in which you hold us?🤔 You certainly know I do NOT hog the left lane. 🤣

[@officialyasir]

I think it's 100% accurate, I sound just like that when I am mouthing out comments as I type them. 😂😂

[@PhaseSkater]

hybrids dont shine on the highway... yet my ioniq hybrid gets 90 mpg at about 60 miles per hour lol. i get 60ish at 80 mph...

[@justinmeyer465]

I own a prius prime gen 5 here. I literally do outside sales daily. Yesterday. April 10th 2024 i drove 350 miles in one day. I had half a tank left. I did combination driving some city. But mostly highway speeds. 160 miles was on inerstste 70. Cruising at 75mph Currently if i take a pic of my range cluster. You will see 65.9 miles per gallon overall on 3000 miles. I dont know i think i get way better theb 42 miles per gallon.

[@nadeem5476]

bad fuel average.

[@tomgilfoyle6849]

Gee, let's test a machine for what it is not designed to do. I'm reminded of the argument that one of the power spots cars was a better vehicle because it got better mileage at 100 mph than the Prius. Why bother with a traction battery if you don't plan to use it?

[@DailyMotor]

How do you drive if you need to get somewhere 400 miles away? Do you take back roads and go 55 mph?

[@tomgilfoyle6849]

@@DailyMotor It goes like just about every other car. But that's just it; that is not the car's strength.

[@DailyMotor]

Right, I totally recognize that. But we don't run this test to highlight a vehicle's strength, we run it to see how it performs in a repeatable driving situation that many drivers face. The Prius would obviously do much better in the city, as would any EV that we test. But people aren't often putting 500+ miles on their car in a day doing city driving, and city driving is also much more difficult to standardize and compare from car to car. @@tomgilfoyle6849

[@jdoe836]

I owned a 2007 Honda Civic LX Coupe, 5-spd. Talk about extremes, I left Waterbury, VT at 5:30am and hit the Mass line by 7:00am, averaged 88 mph. Toned it way down when I entered Mass. Filled up on the NJ Turnpike and learned I got 29 mpg. The rest of the trip was a mild 75-78 mph, I achieved 44 MPG on that leg!

[@infernoking7504]

For highway test I would have the average speed at 55mph-65mpg range

[@CryptoTVOfficial]

Florida highway is 70mph speed limit

[@k2229]

42 MPG? That's bad. Do you know how it does at 60mph?

[@MukisaSS]

Of course it will be higher but many of us won’t be doing 60 mph on the interstate anyway.

[@mrxman581]

​@MukisaSS But many will so he should have done it at the top speed limit or less. Toyota is not going to test a car driving over the speed limit. Going the speed limit is the only fair objective way to test.

[@MukisaSS]

@@mrxman581 It’s fair for those who go that speed, like I said many won’t so a test like that would be meaningless for many viewers. The speed limit on the highway he was using was 65 mph.

[@onlyoneromeo]

Even though it's a plug in hybrid , does it have regenerative braking to recharge the battery on long drives once the battery is used up ?

[@Yoni1200]

if you drive 60 you will get better mileage

[@benson098123]

Appreciate this video. i am buying a hybrid or full Ev soon for my highway commute. 220km a day, 40k km a year, at 120 kmhr. Or 138 miles a day, 25k miles a year, at 75 mphr. I can charge at work and home. The Plug in car will save ma a fortune in gas in canada

[@TomLawlor-iq6gm]

We just got our third Prius but, first PHEV. Have had it for two months and there's still 1/3 of a tank onboard. Pretty good after more than 1,750Km. Our hope was to run it as an EV all the time and, so far, that's working well. When I drive (no highway), the car gets 80Km on battery alone. When my wife has the wheel she sees more like 60Km. She's a spirited person. We're paying something like $7.00 a US gallon here for gas ($1.89 L). With our other two hybrids (16 years in total), we averaged 4.5 L per 100Km. So, running the new car as an EV makes perfect sense for us. It costs just under $2.00 to charge.

[@Hallowsaw]

Its insane people buy these expensive plug in versions of a car to save like 2k on gas... you could just buy an impreza rs, corolla hatch and save 5-8k of msrp and render the savings null. They both get 40mpg highway in the real world.

[@wl6020]

Add in the cost of replacing batteries, and opportunity cost of those extra thousands of dollars when bought new, could be used to invest in something, plus interest cost from bank.

[@mrxman581]

The Prime is about driving it in EV mode, and it's better for the environment.

[@6025094]

You'll believe anything 😅😅😅

[@officialyasir]

As a headroom enthusiast, Prius is a let down for me 😂. But it doesn't matter what I think because I don't have any intentions of ever buying one.

[@SkyRL25]

Why making a comment then? 😅

[@officialyasir]

@@SkyRL25 As an automotive enthusiast, I'm required to learn about all types of vehicles and share my opinions. What year Prius do you drive?

[@SkyRL25]

@@officialyasir 2023, buy a suv then lol

[@mrxman581]

​@@officialyasirNo, you're not required to share your opinion.

[@defcon888]

That rearview mirror is so bright and distracting

[@saysbadman]

Driving in cold weather and running hvac both impact range and milage. Im hot natured so my hvac is never set above 68. Also milage tanks above 70 mph. I usually drive 80.

[@saysbadman]

Also my Camry hybrid does better than that mpg on the highway. Something is funky.

[@DailyMotor]

The 2.5L Camrys are some of the most efficient cars we've ever tested.

[@markadamson2102]

I get 70 mpg on 2015 T3

[@wl6020]

I wished the prius hit 60 mpg combined and kept the same horsepower as last generation. For them to add more power, it so not the prius. There are other options for more power and hybrid, such as the lexus hybrids.

[@rightlanehog3151]

Exactly.

[@mrxman581]

This is a plug in, not just a hybrid.

[@glenf4115]

Car and driver stated 10.9 kW usable, you used 10.31 kW so you started with a 94.5% charge. On a full charge you would get 31.61 miles. Toyota states battery gross capacity as 13.6 kWh. A 20% buffer. 29.9 miles = 48.12 kilometers 2.9 miles per kWh = 214.26 Watt hours per kilometer 214.26 x 48.12 = 10,310 Wh used.

[@TomLawlor-iq6gm]

Yesterday, I drove our 2024 Prime (17" wheels), 81.5Km in EV Mode. No highway travel and an ambient temperature of 13 C. The Energy Meter indicated a remaining State of Charge of 21%. That 21% would have evaporated more quickly than the preceding 79%, but, I'd have easily gotten to 90Km on a single charge. We're paying .1325Kwh for hydro but, close to $7.00 a gallon ($1.86 L), for gas. Do the math. We've had the car for about two months and one third of the Dealer's "free" tank of fuel is still onboard. We're impressed with our third Prius.

[@glenf4115]

@@TomLawlor-iq6gm you averaged 131.8 Wh/km and used 10.7 kW which cost you a whopping $1.42

[@tonymcflattie2450]

Poon mobile!

[@r2stik]

GO FULL TANK TO STOP! HOW FAR YOU CAN RIDE!

[@alexbenjaminlubbers]

If you’re seriously worried about mpg, get a bike. A Honda Goldwing gets 42 mpg and has a 5.5~ gallon tank. That's 231 miles, for about $16 here in Michigan, with gas at just under $3/ gallon. If you desperately need a car with mpg, get a 90s Caprice. You get about 22 mpg average, a 23 gallon tank and about 500 miles of average range.

[@davidryder5082]

Or get a vw Jetta and get over 50 mpg.

[@richardshaffer3874]

Or we'll keep our '08 Prius until it falls apart. 145k miles.