The Toyota Prius boasts stellar mpg — more than 50 mpg in real-world driving, most likely — but it's no longer the only reason to buy a Prius. It's also enjoyable to drive and fitted with many helpful features. The car's main downsides are mediocre utility and rear passenger comfort.
Pros
- Excellent fuel economy
- Easy-to-use infotainment system
- Decent acceleration for highway merges and passing maneuvers
- Smooth and helpful operation of the car's advanced driver aids
Cons
- Backseat headroom is tight
- Gauge cluster blocked by the steering wheel and hard to see
- Noisy when the gas engine kicks on
What's new
- No changes for 2024
- Part of the fifth Prius generation introduced for 2023
Overview
Now, on today's episode of the "Automotive Extreme Makeover!" reality TV series, we have the Toyota Prius. Seriously, it's hard to think of a car that has changed more dramatically in the past year or two. The 2024 Prius follows up on last year's redesign that introduced sleek new styling, more power, and a cabin with new technology features and a more modern aesthetic. Frumpy and/or dorky were good adjectives to describe the Prius in the past, but no longer.
Edmunds Expert Rating
The Toyota Prius boasts stellar mpg — more than 50 mpg in real-world driving, most likely — but it's no longer the only reason to buy a Prius. It's also enjoyable to drive and fitted with many helpful features. The car's main downsides are mediocre utility and rear passenger comfort.
Performance
8.0/10
How does the Prius drive? The latest Prius is smooth and able to smartly accelerate from a stoplight. It's also just fine for when you want to merge onto a highway or climb a long grade. At Edmunds' test track, our test front-wheel-drive Prius accelerated from 0 to 60 mph in 7.7 seconds, which is significantly quicker than the Prius' main rival, the Kia Niro (9.7 seconds). Around turns, the Prius is stable and secure. The economy-biased tires don't provide much grip but we get the sense that the Prius would actually be kind of fun to whip around turns if you put stickier tires on it.
In everyday driving, the Prius is smooth and easy to drive. Leaving a stoplight, you'll rarely notice the hybrid power transition from the electric motor to the gas engine.
Comfort
7.5/10
How comfortable is the Prius? The Prius' front seats offer enough support to be comfortable for longer stints. The rear seats are also comfortable, though they don't recline. We like how the Prius rides smoothly over bumps and broken pavement. However, excessive tire, wind and engine noise under acceleration holds the Prius back from being a fully relaxing car to drive.
There's only a single climate zone, which is a bit of a bummer. But most Prius trims have heated front seats, and ventilated front seats are found on the top Limited trim.
Interior
7.5/10
How’s the interior? A conventional dashboard layout and well-placed controls make the Prius interior functional and easy to interact with. Less appealing is the digital instrument cluster. It displays too much information and looks cluttered as a result. Its placement and shape are also awkward; most of our drivers found that when they adjusted the seat and steering wheel to their desired position, the top of the steering wheel partially blocked their view of the display.
The Prius' rear door openings are kind of small, and you have to duck down quite a bit to get into the back. Once you do get inside, headroom is in short supply for anyone near 6 feet tall. That means you have to slouch down to avoid hitting your head on the ceiling each time the car goes over a bump. Rear visibility is poor because of the angled rear window and thick rear roof pillars.
Technology
9.0/10
How’s the tech? Our Prius Limited test vehicle had the upsized 12.3-inch center touchscreen. We like the clean interface, responsiveness and Google-powered navigation of Toyota's latest multimedia system. Wireless connectivity for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay comes standard, along with a wireless charging pad on higher trims. But be careful: It's not cooled, so after about an hour in there your phone will come out feeling toasty. If you prefer to charge more conventionally, there are six USB-C ports spread throughout the cabin.
The Prius' driver aids are also a highlight. The lane keeping assistance system keeps the hybrid centered in its lane effectively, and acceleration and braking are smooth when using adaptive cruise control. Another feature, Proactive Driving Assist, provides subtle hints to the driver in everyday situations. For example, if traffic slows ahead of you, the Prius will start to brake very subtly as you lift off the gas as a hint to start slowing down. It also flashes an LED strip on the dash if traffic in front of you pulls away. It would be easy for a system like this to be annoying enough to shut it off, but it never came across as overbearing during our testing.
Storage
8.0/10
How’s the storage? Open up the Prius' hatchback and you'll have 20.3 cubic feet of cargo space available behind the rear seats. This is more cargo space than you'll get from a similarly sized sedan's trunk, but it's less than what the Kia Niro offers. We couldn't fit a set of golf clubs lengthwise across the back of the Prius. The raised cargo floor might suggest some sort of underfloor storage, but there's none to be found.
Up front, the Prius has a skinny-but-deep center console bin and a helpful rubberized space under the dash to store small items. The available wireless charging pad is conveniently located next to the gear shifter. The cupholders are a touch larger than usual and will fit most water bottles.
Fuel Economy
9.0/10
How’s the fuel economy? The Prius' calling card is its efficiency, and this latest model still delivers. The EPA estimates you'll get 57 mpg in combined city/highway driving for the LE trim or 52 mpg combined for XLE and Limited trims (front-wheel-drive models). AWD models knock 3 mpg off each of those figures. On our real-world testing route, we observed 52.3 mpg, hitting the EPA-estimated 52 mpg combined number for the Limited FWD Prius nearly on the nose. There's a reason the Prius name and fuel efficiency go hand in hand.
Value
8.0/10
Is the Prius a good value? Toyota offers a three-year/36,000-mile standard warranty and a five-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty. But on hybrids like the Prius, the hybrid components are covered for eight years/100,000 miles and the battery itself up to 10 years/150,000 miles. Toyota also provides two years of free maintenance, something not often found outside the luxury sphere.
The Prius is an economical car, but the pricing on its higher trims has gotten to where it's no longer a frugal option. Opting for all-wheel drive pushes the price tag up even higher. At these elevated prices, some hybrid SUVs and midsize sedans come into play if you find yourself needing or wanting more room for passengers or cargo.
The Prius' interior quality has taken a step forward on this latest model, but there are still some obvious hard plastic panels. The doors feel a bit flimsy and make a tinny sound when you close them.
Wildcard
8.5/10
We like the the Prius' sleek and cohesive styling and how it's one of the quicker compact cars around and you can get over 50 mpg in most cases. Fuel economy remains the Prius main attraction, but the rest of the car is compelling as well.
Which Prius does Edmunds recommend?
We think the midlevel XLE trim level provides the best blend of value and equipment. This version's larger wheels shave the fuel economy rating from 57 mpg to 52 mpg in combined driving, but in exchange you'll enjoy improved comfort and convenience as well as access to appealing options.
Toyota Prius models
The 2024 Toyota Prius is a small hatchback available in three trim levels: LE, XLE and Limited. Each has a hybrid powertrain combining a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine and an electric motor to produce 194 horsepower. Front-wheel drive is standard. All-wheel drive (AWD) is optional, adding a second electric motor at the rear wheels and increasing output to 196 horsepower. A plug-in hybrid version of the Prius, called the Prime, is reviewed separately on Edmunds. Keep reading for our breakdown of the significant features you get with each Prius trim level.