Toyota Prius
Remember when the Prius was darling of the Hollywood eco-warrior and it became a buzzword for this previously unseen class of car; the hybrid? Well, it was over 25 years ago that the first Prius was sold outside of Japan (first gen was sold in Japan from 1997), and since then it’s fair to say that the automotive landscape’s changed a tad.
It’s nigh-on impossible to buy a new car now that isn’t a hybrid of some description and in a bizarre twist, cars like the Prius aren’t hailed as the saviours of planet Earth they once were as that mantle’s been adopted by all-electric cars. So, what has Toyota done to keep the Prius relevant?
Plural of Prius………anyone?
This is the fifth generation Prius and the UK wasn’t even pencilled in to get it; hence why it was on sale in its native Japan for a whole two years before it hit our shores. But on first glance, isn’t it a stroke of luck that we were eventually invited to the party. You see, looks have always been way down the list of Toyota’s priorities when designing Priuses……..Prius……..Priui – we’ll stick with Priuses. But when its forward-thinking chairman, Akio Toyoda declared some years ago whilst he was CEO that Toyota would make ‘no more boring cars’ – that kind-of laid the groundwork for this latest generation of the darling of the minicab driver to spice things up a bit.
Things have changed a little……
And spice things up they certainly have. Gone are the dowdy looks and the slightly awkward lines and proportions. In their place is a sleek, fastback-esque silhouette that, dare we say, even gives off its fair share of attitude. The headlights are flashy, dual-level affairs and the A-pillars essentially follow the angle of the bonnet; the end result being a single line from nose to roofline. Even the rear door handles are hidden to give off coupe vibes.
……..Inside too
The visual upgrades continue inside the Prius, too, with obvious efforts made to steer away from the dull swathes of featureless plastic previous gen Priuses came with. The dashboard is dominated by the ubiquitous central touchscreen, in this case a 12.3″ affair with graphics and usability streets ahead of the systems they’ve replaced. The driver gets a 7-inch screen that houses a speedo and other Prius-relevant info such as charge rates, power usage etc.
The driver and front passenger get supportive enough seats but don’t be expecting Recaro-grade bolsters. What’s very welcome is the amount of glass-housing the driver gets to look out of and what’s even more welcome is the single, steering wheel mounted button to silence overspeed warnings etc.
Go to match the show?
Not that speed and performance has ever really been the Prius’ forte, but Toyota has seen fit to jazz things up in that area, also. 0-62mph comes around in a not-too-shabby 6.8s but it’s around the twisty bits where major upgrades have been made. It’s no Golf Gti, no, but thanks to more sophisticated suspension components, this latest Prius resists the urge to understeer and responds well to steering inputs without all feel being killed off by over-assistance. Yet it doesn’t sacrifice real-world comfort, either, with little fuss made over road imperfections and undulations.
That’s not to say this latest Prius is giving off hot-hatch vibes, though. Ultimately it’s a plug-in hybrid and its priority is getting as far as possible whilst using as little fuel as possible. Yes, its 0-62mph time is impressive enough but the Atkinson cycle engine mated to an e-CVT transmission aren’t exactly the most subtle when pushed for that performance and your eardrums will thank you for keeping acceleration altogether more sedate.
How economical is it?
Driven how it was probably intended to be, the Prius returns some seriously impressive mpg figures. Ok, we can ignore its 135-177mpg WLTP claim as that’s frankly ridiculous but it does give around 61mpg without trying to hypermile everywhere. Add to this its 44-53 miles of electric-only range (wheel size dependent) and the Prius shows off what it was originally designed for.
Should I buy a Prius?
So, this 5th-gen Prius has massively upped its game in pretty-much every department, but it does come at a cost. Prices start at £38k for the Design spec model and top out at £40k in Excel spec guise. Now, we know that sounds quite a lot for a Prius but when you consider the likes of the Golf PHEV is similarly priced and arguably lacks the pedigree of the Prius, it’s actually quite competitively priced.
By Ben Harrington
The 2026 Toyota Prius is available now, priced from £37,895. For full details go to: www.toyota.co.uk
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