2024 Toyota Prius Prime Test-Drive Checklist: 5 Things to Consider
Practical Prius Prime tips and notes on how not to charge the car.
New-car test drives are like fine dining but with higher stakes. Fewer steaks, too. In both cases, the experience is heightened when you know what to look for as everything comes together. That’s especially true of the 2024 Toyota Prius Prime, the plug-in hybrid version of our 2024 MotorTrend Car of the Year. We like the Prius Prime, but the Prius doesn’t try to be all things to all people.
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There’s a lot to consider.
That’s where this guide comes in. If you’re Prius-Prime-curious and want a quick primer on this Toyota’s finer—and not so fine—points, keep reading.
1. Check the Driver Display, Then Step on It
By now, you probably know that the Prius is no longer a slug; passing a truck no longer requires as much planning. That’s true of every Prius including the regular-strength models, which have as-tested 0–60-mph times of 7.1 to 7.5 seconds. The previous model hit 60 mph in 9.8 seconds.
The more powerful Prius Prime plug-in hybrid moves even quicker. In a test drive, make sure you’re not in the EV-only mode to feel its full potential. Acceleration to 60 comes in just 6.3 seconds. This isn’t why you pick a Prius, but you don’t have to choose between efficiency and power anymore.
Then, if you find a Prius Prime with some EV range on it, do the opposite. Switch to the pure-EV drive mode and step on it. What you should feel is perfectly acceptable acceleration for most everyday situations. The Prius Prime will honor your request to stay in EV mode most of the time unless you exceed 84 mph or turn on the windshield defogger.
The car also occasionally turns on the engine if you’re on a hill (and the temperature of the hybrid system is high). When that happens, the transition doesn’t change how the car steers or rides, but you’ll hear the engine turn on.
2. Listen to Nothing
Blissful quiet is the best part of driving an electric car or plug-in hybrid. The 2024 Prius Prime XSE welcomes you to electric-car life with up to 39 miles of EPA-rated electric range, eliminating engine noise and making it easier to listen to music or have a conversation.
While you test-drive a Prius Prime in EV mode, imagine driving home through traffic in a quieter cabin. That’s the difference between the Prius and Prius Prime. You can make it home without the engine turning on in the latter, but the former only manages the feat for short distances or when coasting.
If you’re currently driving a gas car, this is one of the best parts about moving to a plug-in hybrid or EV.
3. Check Rear Visibility and Use Two Workarounds
Rear visibility isn’t good in the 2024 Toyota Prius, and that doesn’t change with the Prime model. It’s bad enough that I usually drive with the rear-seat headrests pulled out to maximize sightlines out the back.
Here's the thing: I’d rather have an attractive Prius with this compromise than a more conventional look without it. If you want better visibility, Toyota offers many hybrids to choose from.
The other option is to use the digital rearview mirror, a $200 option on the Prius Prime XSE Premium and Prius Limited. I’m not a fan of digital rearview mirrors like this one that change from a normal rearview mirror to a digital one at the flip of a switch. Like all digital rearview mirrors, the perspective differs enough from a normal rear view to be jarring. However, it’s still a good option to have. On a recent airport run, my parents’ heads in the rear seat and their bags in the cargo area didn’t impede my vision thanks to the view from the digital rear camera. Anyone with a big dog in the back seat, like us, will swear by this feature.
If you can’t handle the Prius’ closed-in feel, consider the Corolla or new-for-2025 Camry hybrids.
4. Get Out. Now Get Back In...
Driving a Prius, I sit lower than in most other cars and SUVs on the road. This really becomes a factor when getting in and out, so I recommend spending a minute entering the driver’s seat and then leaving again.
If this becomes an issue, the taller Kia Niro hybrid hatchback may offer both a more commanding driving position and easier entry and exit. Do that, though, and you lose the distinctly anti-SUV sleekness the Prius offers.
5. One Charging Drawback You Won’t See
A full 94 percent of Toyota’s plug-in hybrids were charged at home in 2023, which makes sense as the cars aren’t compatible with most EV chargers around town. The Prius Prime can’t handle public fast-charging, and that’s actually a perk in disguise.
Public charging is one of the biggest hassles of full EV ownership. From station reliability issues to poor charge etiquette, public charging isn’t always a great experience. It’s also typically more expensive and less convenient than charging at home if you’re fortunate enough to have a home-charging setup.
We’d take it one step further: We’d discourage anyone without dedicated home charging from buying a Prius Prime. If you don’t occasionally charge the car, it’s a waste of the car's plug-in-specific hardware.
We’ve seen slow chargers on the street and in parking garages, but the Prius Prime’s charge speeds limit their usefulness. It’s one of the car’s biggest drawbacks; the charge rate is 3.5 kW, though we’ve seen as high as 3.7 at home. Either way, a full charge takes about four hours when many PHEVs can charge twice as quickly. And because some slow chargers on the street can charge by the hour instead of the kWh, it means you’re partially paying for the car’s slow speed.
A loaded version of the more expensive RAV4 Prime charges at 6.6 kW, and full EVs like Teslas can “slow charge” at up to 11.5 kW. The Prius Prime’s most direct competitor—the Kia Niro Plug-In—charges at about the same speed, 3.6 kW.
When asked about the charging speed, Toyota said packaging a bigger onboard charger can be a challenge.
Take It All In
Toyota’s expansive 2024 Prius lineup ranges from basic $30,000 hybrids to fancier plug-ins like ours that cost more than $40,000. There’s no Prius for everyone, but these tips should help you home in on details that aren’t obvious at first glance.
For More on Our Long-Term 2024 Toyota Prius Prime XSE:
I’ve come a long way since I drove sugar packets across restaurant tables as a kid, pretending they were cars. With more than 17 years of experience, I'm passionate about demystifying the new car market for shoppers and enthusiasts. My expertise comes from thoughtfully reviewing countless vehicles across the automotive spectrum. The greatest thrill I get isn’t just from behind the wheel of an exotic car but from a well-executed car that’s affordable, entertaining, and well-made. Since about the time I learned to walk I’ve been fascinated by cars of all shapes and sizes, but it wasn’t until I struggled through a summer high school class at the Pasadena Art Center College of Design that I realized writing was my ticket into the automotive industry. My drive to high school was magical, taking me through a beautiful and winding canyon; I've never lost the excited feeling some 16-year-olds get when they first set out on the road. The automotive industry, singing, and writing have always been my passions, but because no one seeks a writer who sings about the automotive industry, I honed my writing and editing skills at UC Irvine (zot zot!), serving as an editor of the official campus newspaper and writing stories as a literary journalism major. At USC, I developed a much greater appreciation for broadcast journalists and became acquainted with copy editing rules such as why the Oxford comma is so important. Though my beloved 1996 Audi A4 didn’t survive my college years, my career with MotorTrend did. I started at the company in 2007 building articles for motorcycle magazines, soon transitioning to writing news posts for MotorTrend’s budding online department. I spent some valuable time in the copy editing department, as an online news director, and as a senior production editor. Today, MotorTrend keeps me busy as the Buyer's Guide Director. Not everyone has a career centered on one of their passions, and I remind myself all the time how lucky I am.
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