Enlarge / After a confusing mess for the last generation, Toyota's stylists have done a decent job with the new Prius. I think it needs a front plate if you're going to have it a light shade like this silver. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)
Earlier this year, we spent some time with the new Toyota Prius. There was a lot to like about the new car, the fifth to bear its name—sleek looks and minimal fuel consumption are the highlights. Today, it's Prius Prime, the plug-in hybrid variant. Toyota might have been early to hybrids and uncomfortably late to battery electric vehicles, but the Prius Prime straddles the line between the two, offering a battery big enough for most daily driving and a highly efficient gas-burning powertrain for longer journeys.
Much of what I wrote about the not-Prime Prius applies to the plug-in, too. There are the same sleek looks, with a steeply raked windshield and a far more cohesive design than the model it replaced—that one looked like the result of two separate car designs that were later crashed into each other. I'm starting to think that the car needs a front license plate to look right—that little bump out on the fascia where a plate is supposed to attach looks rather obvious in the case of our Virginia-registered tester.
The $39,170 Prius Prime XSE Premium we tested doesn't look quite as racy as the blue car we had in May—mostly, that's down to the different design of alloy wheels. Smaller 17-inch wheels with aerodynamic covers are available with the Prius Prime SE ($32,350), but like the XSE Premium, the mid-range XSE ($35,600) also rides on the bigger 19-inch wheels. I mention this upfront because if you're looking for the most efficient option, the stripped-out base model on small wheels has a lower drag coefficient and runs more economically.
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