Right Time for Prime

OJAI, CA – We were prepared not to like the second-generation Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid, now called the Prius Prime.

The plug-in’s 25 miles (40 km) of electric range, while an improvement from the 10-15 miles (16-24 km) achieved by its first-gen predecessor, are marginal in comparison to the second-gen Chevy Volt’s 53 all-electric miles (85 km).

But, as Bob Barker used to say, the price is right.

Yes, the Volt has much more electric range, but you’ll pay for it. The Volt’s entry point is $33,220, while the Prime starts at $27,100. The Prime peaks at $33,100, well below the Volt’s $37,570 top end.

And on MPGe, how far an electrified vehicle can go using the same amount of energy in a gallon of gasoline, the Prime bests the $42,400 all-electric BMW i3, with a 133 MPGe rating vs. the i3’s 124 MPGe, according to fueleconomy.gov.

But cost isn’t the only reason to buy the Prius Prime. If you’re a fan of modern controls, its pinch-and-swipe 11.6-in. (29-cm) touchscreen, the biggest ever in a Toyota and standard in the Premium middle grade and Advanced top grade, is relatively easy to use and not as distracting and complicated as Volvo’s similar-size screen.

And while it has been controversial, the car’s styling, borrowing heavily from its brother the fourth-gen Prius liftback, is futuristic, a stark contrast to the Volt’s more mainstream, car-of-today appearance.

If the Prime looks bigger than the Prius liftback, that’s because it is. Toyota engineers added 4 ins. (102 mm) in length to accommodate its lithium-ion battery pack.

The added length has the side benefit of minimizing some of the weirder lines and crinkles of the liftback.

Further distinguishing the Prime from the liftback is a grille overlay applied to the front of the car, while wavy glass is used in the rear – a very Vulcan look for Trekkie eyes.

The glass helps reduce drag, the overlay doesn’t. In fact, the need to visually distinguish the PHEV from the regular Prius hybrid was taken so seriously within Toyota that the grille overlay decreased coefficient of drag from the liftback, with the Prime getting 0.25 Cd vs. the liftback’s 0.24.

Nevertheless, the Prime still is plenty slippery and uses the same automatic grille shutters as well as aero-stabilizing fins in front of side mirrors as the liftback.

The Prius liftback won a 2016 Wards 10 Best Engines trophy, and the Prime also shares its 95-hp, 1.8L Atkinson-cycle 4-cyl. But in a Toyota-first, both motor-generators (MG1 and MG2 in Toyota parlance) can drive the wheels in electric mode. Up to now, MG1 in Toyota hybrids has been used for starting the engine and regenerating the battery. A new 1-way clutch engages MG1.

This change, along with a lithium-ion battery pack with double the capacity of the outgoing Prius plug-in’s (8.8 kWh vs. 4.4 kWh) and a more efficient charging system, makes possible traveling up to 84 mph (135 km/h) in EV mode. The old Prius PHEV would leave EV mode and switch to hybrid mode beyond 62 mph (100 km/h) or with a heavy throttle.

Based on a late-September drive here, heavy acceleration still will switch you out of EV mode in the new Prime, but there is more wriggle room than before for aggressive behavior. The accelerator now can be compressed two-thirds down vs. one-third.

EV is the default drive mode, with hybrid mode (engine on) and EV auto mode (blended engine/motor depending on drive route) being the others. We elect to stay in EV mode until our charge is depleted.

Because it’s a hybrid, and not an extended-range electric vehicle like the Volt, you get the benefit of blended electric and gas power. The total range for the Prius Prime is 640 miles (1,030 km), well above the Volt’s total range of 420 miles (676 km).

The Prime also has plenty of torque, in both EV and hybrid modes, and is reasonably tossable. Much like its brother, the fourth-gen Prius liftback, the Prime is fun-to-drive.

Like the liftback, the Prime is underpinned by Toyota’s new global platform, TNGA, giving the plug-in the same 60% torsional rigidity and double-wishbone rear suspension as the liftback, which Toyota says makes the car more stable in spirited driving.

The Prime is nearly 300 lbs. (136 kg) heavier than the liftback, but hundreds of pounds lighter than the Volt and midsize-sedan PHEVs the Hyundai Sonata and Ford Fusion Energi. To limit the impact of the bigger battery pack, Toyota uses a carbon-fiber liftgate on the Prime, its most complicated carbon-fiber piece yet, Prime Chief Engineer Koji Toyoshima says.

We test the Prime here during a full day of driving. First up is an Advanced grade, with a full charge beyond the stated figure, 26.6 miles (43 km). After a 7-mile (11-km) trek to a driver-change point, we have 19.9 miles (32 km) of electric range left, or nearly 1 mile (1.6 km) spent for 1 mile traveled. That’s impressive considering the air conditioning is running at a good clip to temper the hot morning sun. An information display reveals our AC use cost 1.6 miles (2.6 km) of electric range.

Even in hybrid mode, the Prius Prime still has a quiet cabin, with minimal noise intrusion from the drivetrain. Toyota says the Prime gets the liftback’s laminated windshield, and the laminated front-door glass available only on the liftback’s higher grades to quell noise, vibration and harshness.

Technology So-So

While the Prime’s huge touchscreen is a high-res delight to look at, with a charming cartoon at startup and shutdown, functionality is so-so.

The map always is on the screen, either in fullsize or half size, which is a good thing. But keying in a destination is not easy. The QWERTY keyboard has small virtual keys. We hit “A” when we mean to hit “S” and undoing the error is cumbersome.

As in the latest Hondas, you can use voice controls in the Prime not only to find a location or radio station but also adjust climate settings. Nice. However, the first time trying to use voice to control climate in the Prime returns radio prompts. The word “climate” does flash by on the touchscreen momentarily, as if the system recognized it being spoken, but second-guessed itself.

We go along with the radio prompts to tune in SiriusXM 80s on 8, but here too the system second-guessed itself. After repeating “80s on 8,” the words flashed on the screen, but then a list was brought up to confirm our station selection. A Toyota official believes there is a way to nix the list. Hopefully so, as it makes the process tedious.

The Prime’s safety technology is better, with its adaptive cruise control bringing us to a full, gentle stop at a light behind another car. Because it was a brief stop, the Prime proceeds on its own as the car ahead pulls away.

Lane-departure alert with steering assist very subtly torques the wheel, good for those who still want to feel in control of their vehicle. But it picks up lane lines roughly 50% of the time. Perhaps shade from the many trees overhanging area roads is the culprit for its poor performance?

The Prime is one of 18 Toyota models that will have the brand’s Safety Sense P suite of technologies standard by year end.

Because of its added PHEV componentry, the Prime is a 4-seater, not a 5-seater like the liftback. Reviewers here point out rarely do 5-seat cars carry five passengers, so likely it won’t be too detrimental to sales. At least the center console in lieu of a middle seat is generously sized.

The Prime fixes a pet peeve we have about the liftback, its plastic-hole cupholders. There are still no spring-loaded nubs, but front and rear cupholders have grippy rubber at their bottoms.

Like the liftback, the Prime has the same glossy white trim on the center stack and center console. It is a dust-catcher, but the white spices up the interior, and plays nicely against gray tones and turquoise color accents on seats and vents in our test cars.

There’s soft-touch material covering the instrument panel and upper front doors, the latter present in the liftback’s top grades. It thankfully seems like a thicker material than that in the liftback.

The Prime has a charging output of 3.3 kW, up from 2 kW in the outgoing Prius PHEV, although the charger itself is smaller, now able to live below the rear seat to free up cargo volume.

Charge time on a standard household outlet (120V) is less than 5.5 hours, Toyota says, while Level 2 charging (240V) is 2 hours and 10 minutes.

A new battery warmer will ensure the car starts in EV mode on a cold day, so long as it’s plugged in, and, as in the Volt, owners can set charge times to take advantage of off-peak electrical rates.

Unlike the previous Prius plug-in, the Prime will be sold in all 50 states. Toyota is keeping mum on sales potential. Given the Prius name and the sub-$30,000 starting price, plus a generous federal incentive for PHEVs, it doesn’t seem far-fetched Toyota could sell 13,000 of these per year, the previous Prius PHEV's goal. According to WardsAuto data, the Volt is the best-selling model among hybrids with a plug, up 76.2% through September to 16,326 units.

The outgoing Prius PHEV is down 98.7% from its 4,034 January-September 2015 tally, with just 52 units sold this year, but plug-ins are the only alternative-powertrain group ahead of year-ago, up 62.8% to 48,816.

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'17 Toyota Prius Prime Advanced Specifications