Not content to lets its pioneering Prius hybrid nameplate decay into some kind of outmoded golden trophy of another era, Toyota lately has been improving the car so that Prius remains not only relevant in amid a new plethora of competing electric-car makes but actually re-establishes leadership in a segment of the U.S. car market that finally seems headed for the volume mainstream.
Prius sales actually declined by a whopping 20 percent in 2019 from a year earlier, more in percentage terms than the drop for any other Toyota nameplate in a year when overall Toyota brand sales eased by about 2 percent. But largely blame quiescent gasoline prices and proliferating competition from other companies’ new hybrids and all-electric cars for that ignominious distinction.
The car itself, Prius itself, has been getting better and better — most notably, with the addition of optional all-wheel drive and an improvement in the cabin materials, for 2019, while the 2020 version also adds a revised touchscreen and the introduction of Apple CarPlay.
“People have been asking for all-wheel-drive on Prius, especially in markets where Subaru has strength,” Ed Laukes, group vice president of Toyota division marketing for Toyota North America, told me. “People love Prius and the statement it makes, but they wanted something that was all-wheel-drive. All-wheel-drive has gone beyond something that’s just for snow-belt states; it’s considered a safety element as well. Parts of the country are ordering 100 percent all-wheel drive for that reason.”
Back when Prius was teaching Americans what a hybrid was, its only competition was the first version of the Honda Insight. That was so long ago, Honda has had time to drop that nameplate and then bring it back in a new vehicle several years later. There’s also now a Prius Prime plug-in hybrid.
Of course, in the fourth generation of its truly trailblazing Prius hybrid nameplate, Toyota hasn’t strayed far from the original proposition behind Prius when it was introduced to the U.S. market in 2001: provide economical, no-nonsense, high-mileage transportation in a vehicle whose spartan qualities underscore the owner’s devotion to environmental consciousness.
These days, Prius maintains fuel-economy leadership among hybrids by posting up to 58 mpg in the city and 53 mpg on the highway in the most efficient version of the nameplate, the front-wheel-drive L Eco. Ratings back off all the way to 52 city/48 highway in the new alll-wheel-drive version. Relying on Prius’s 1.8-liter, four-cylinder engine; an electric motor; a continuously variable transmission; and the system’s 121 horsepower, that’s the kind of performance that generates thousands of dollars of fuel savings for loyal Prius customers who’ve stuck with ever-improving versions of the nameplate over the last two decades.
And while acceleration is relatively tepid, Prius never causes problems keeping up with or fitting into traffic. The car also retains its big “greenhouse” for maximum visibility.
Toyota also has been smart to steadily boost the amount of passenger and cargo space in Prius as its fans have aged and added offspring, and as competitors across the board have begun fielding their own capable hybrids. Prius seats five people comfortably, even for long drives. Cargo space in Prius is 25 to 27 cubic feet, which is more than ample even for most vacation luggage.
While cabin styling is nondescript in Prius as its strong minimalist base of owners might prefer it, Toyota continues to increase the quality of the materials. For one thing, that ensures a quiet cabin. Prius gained Apple CarPlay as a standard feature for 2020, complementing a touchscreen and menu layout in Prius that already was pretty intuitive. A larger, seven-inch display now is standard on lower trims.
And while Toyota has stubbornly stuck with the center-dash instrument panel in Prius, which has never caught on with other models because it is outside the driver’s direct line of sight, that is one of the few parts of the Prius proposition that have tripped up Toyota.
The U.S. car market is more likely to move Prius’s way as it eases further into electrification than away from a nameplate that has been synonymous with EV leadership for 20 years. But Toyota has to keep giving Americans reasons to check out “the original” hybrid as well as its competitors.
