2024 Toyota Prius Prime Plug-In Hybrid at $43,000: Worth It?
How our yearlong review Prius Prime XSE Premium justifies its hefty price tag and the ways it doesn’t.
Fixate on a list of car features, and you often miss the big picture. As much as we like new technology and luxurious conveniences, a car is nothing but a rolling bundle of options if the driving experience is poor. That’s why we appreciate the 2024 Toyota Prius Prime, a plug-in hybrid that starts with a good driving experience and 39 useful miles of EPA-rated electric range before the gas engine turns on.
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Cool, but did we mention our XSE Premium test car has $9,000 of extras?
At about $43,000 for a loaded 2024 Prius Prime XSE Premium, that price point opens the door to many electric and hybrid alternatives. So just how premium is a Premium Prius at $43,000? After thousands of miles behind the wheel, we’ve determined how it justifies that price tag and the many ways it falls short.
How the Prius Prime XSE Premium Is a Value at $43,000
Just Drive It
Yes, the Prius is now good to drive. From the standard model to the Prime plug-in hybrid, the Toyota is entertaining and much quicker than you expect for a car that once took over 13 seconds to reach 60 mph. Sure, the car is a little loud at highway speeds (especially the non-Prime cars), but the driving experience remains one of the best aspects of owning the new Prius.
Good Design
As an exercise, pretend you don’t know the Prius is a Toyota. Cover up those badges and remove any predisposition you have to Toyota or Prius. Now take a fresh look at this car. Nice, right? We’re not saying anyone needs a 10-ton metal sculpture of the Prius like Audi built of the TT coupe, but Toyota did well here.
Especially with the 19-inch wheels, which are standard on most 2024 Prius and 2024 Prius Prime trims, the car looks as good as or better than almost any other car under $50,000.
Big Screen Infotainment, 360-Degree Camera
Larger infotainment screens are proliferating throughout the new car world, and the 2024 Prius Prime is no different. A 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen is standard on our XSE Premium and available on the midlevel XSE. We wish the screen were tilted toward the driver but still appreciate its size and horizontal orientation.
Using Apple CarPlay on a stretched-out screen is much easier than squeezing a map, audio info, and directions on a tinier display. Horizontal screens mounted toward the top of the dash keep your eye as high up as possible, versus long vertical units like we’ve seen in the previous Prius Prime, Ram trucks, and Subarus.
The 360-degree camera is part of an Advanced Technology package, which also adds Advanced Park. The Panoramic View Monitor, which is just a 360-degree camera by another name, works well as long as you’re under 8 mph. The physical button’s location becomes second nature when you drive this car every day. You’d be surprised how many automakers make finding this harder than it should be.
A Power Liftgate? On A Prius?
One feature you won’t find on many non-SUVs at $43,000 is a power liftgate. It’s standard tech on the XSE Premium and one of our favorite features on this hatchback. Make sure to stand out of the way, though, as the Toyota will beep at you and stay open until you do.
Gas Savings
Gas-price spikes don’t hurt as much with the 2024 Prius Prime. Experiencing a sudden increase in prices? Just plug in more. The perk here isn’t just that home-charging is slightly cheaper than gassing up; it’s also the quiet electric driving experience and the convenience of avoiding the gas station for a while.
While the XSE and XSE Premium trims get 39 miles of electric range, the lighter base SE manages 44 miles before the gas engine turns on.
Where the Prius Prime XSE Premium Doesn't Feel Like $43,000
No Dual-Zone Climate Control, No Rear Air Vents
Hope you like whatever temperature the front passenger likes, because the Prius only offers single-zone climate control. We’ve gotten used to that, but we wish rear air vents were available at any price. The 2025 Camry hybrid and 2024 Kia Niro plug-in hybrid both offer the feature.
Boring Door Panel Designs
The color red is a theme for the 2024 Prius Prime’s interior. The ambient lighting on the lower dash illuminates in the hue, and there are shades of it on the seats in SE, XSE, and XSE Premium trims. Where we’d appreciate some design attention—with or without hints of red—is on the door panels. There’s nothing functionally wrong with them, but the higher up in price you go, the more we want special design details. And here, especially compared to the new 2025 Camry XSE, they’re boring.
Shock! This Isn’t an SUV’s Interior
Small, cozy, or even cramped—no matter how you put it, there’s no getting around the 2024 Prius Prime’s interior space. Especially with this new-for-2023 Prius design, you simply aren’t going to get the interior functionality of an SUV.
Sounds obvious, but we’re not just talking about the cargo space, which is a fair 20.3 cubic feet. For comparison, you get about four more cubes in the Honda Civic hatch, which also has more headroom and legroom for rear passengers. The same is true for the Kia Niro plug-in hybrid; it’s got more interior space for the rear seat but only has 19.4 cubic feet of cargo space.
Some call this right-sizing, while others will just see “small” in a negative way. We like the idea of not instantly going for the largest vehicle you can afford, but we do wish the low-to-the-ground car were somehow easier to get out of.
Small Driver Display
For about $43,000, we want a larger and more customizable driver display. As a taller driver, I’ve never had a problem seeing the 7.0-inch screen above the steering wheel’s rim, but others at MotorTrend have had that issue.
For me, the problem is not just about how small it is, though the Camry and RAV4 have a 12.3-inch screen at this price. We also find fault with the way the digital real estate has been used. There are a couple ways to customize the display, but it feels like it’s just for pure informational purposes. There’s not enough fun in it. No theatrical graphic animation when you enter the car, no fresh and interesting design options as you find on Kias and Hyundais, and no pared-down setting to remove enough of the visual clutter.
A Value at $43,000?
From a value point of view, the 2024 Prius Prime XSE Premium is extraordinary in some ways and underperforms in others. We expect this Toyota to do what Toyotas do and hold its value over time. What’s different about this Prius is the way it also looks great, drives well, and delivers efficiency.
A few features are missing, though, and they’re ones you can get elsewhere in the Toyota lineup. Within the Prius Prime’s lineup, the jump from XSE to XSE Premium is nearly $3,500. That jump won’t make sense for many, but, for now, it’s the only way to get a better sound system and a power liftgate. Those two features alone are enticing, and a 360-degree camera is an option only on that top trim.
The Prius Prime XSE Premium’s features-per-dollar value isn’t as great as it is on the XSE. Even so, the car itself is compelling enough that those with the resources should consider the XSE Premium if you plan to own this car for a long time to come.
For More on Our Long-Term 2024 Toyota Prius Prime XSE:
- We're Testing a 2024 Toyota Prius Prime XSE for a Year: Will We Get EV Envy?
- That's Progress: How the 2024 Toyota Prius Prime Compares to the Original 2001 Prius
- 2024 Toyota Prius Prime Test-Drive Checklist: 5 Things to Consider
*EPA blended PHEV (charge-depleting) mode testing, with vehicles set to their default drive and brake regeneration modes. **Includes one tire replacement due to bubbling on one tire, as well as installation of a catalytic converter shield. Stay tuned for more on the latter.
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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