Item: Toyota Prius Plug-in
Rating: 2
Author: What Car? Team

The only engine option available. Performance is initially sprightly, but a 0-62mph time over 11sec isn’t particularly good these days.

1.8 PHEV

Hatchback

Toyota is a company undergoing a quiet revolution, as it works hard to replace its sensible but somewhat bland reputation with one for being a bit more daring, in areas such as the styling of its cars and its enthusiastic leadership of cutting-edge technology, such as hybrid systems.

That process seems to be working for buyers, with the hugely popular and striking-looking C-HR SUV in particular attracting a great deal of interest. The latest version of the hybrid Prius is also rated highly by What Car?; it’s the first Prius to go on sale that our testers have felt can truly compete all round with existing petrol or diesel rivals.

However, it’s worth noting that this period of transition is also a work in progress, and that many of the firm’s cars are still rated as being no more than average among class rivals by our testers.

TOYOTA

PRIUS

Entry-level Business Edition Plus trim gets a rear-view camera, keyless go, a DAB radio, a wireless phone-charger, LED headlights and heated front seats, as well as Toyota’s full suite of ‘safety sense’ active safety systems.

Business Edition Plus

1.8 PHEV Business Edition Plus 5dr CVT

18-phev-business-edition-plus-5dr-cvt

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Toyota Prius Plug-in

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Introduction

Performance & drive

Interior

Passenger & boot space

Costs & verdict

As with all plug-in hybrids, the Toyota Prius Plug-in's fuel economy will vary dramatically depending on how diligently you keep&nbsp;the battery charged&nbsp;and how many short, electric-only journeys you make.

Even on a long-distance trip, though, you can achieve 60mpg if you drive in a relaxed style. In fact, with a fully-charged battery, close to 100mpg is possible, even if your journey exceeds the official electric-only range, which is 25 miles. The range is likely to be even longer around town, where average speeds are lower.

All that is&nbsp;great news for private owners because running on electricity is much cheaper than burning petrol. However, there are a growing number of <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/best-plug-in-hybrid-cars-2021/n22743">plug-in hybrids</a> with far greater electric ranges – the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/skoda/octavia/hatchback/review/n39">Skoda Octavia iV</a>&nbsp;for example – and they in turn have a lower benefit-in-kind (BIK)&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/check-your-company-car-tax-rate/n1255">company car tax rate</a>, making them cheaper to run than the Prius Plug-in.

You’re unlikely to feel hard-done-by on standard equipment <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/toyota">Toyota</a> gives you. Entry-level Business Edition Plus trim gets a rear-view camera, keyless go, a DAB radio, LED headlights and heated front seats, as well as a full suite of active safety systems. Excel cars add a premium JBL audio system, front and rear parking sensors, a parking assistance system and leather upholstery.

<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/the-safest-cars-on-sale-today/n19724">Euro NCAP</a> hasn’t tested the Prius Plug-in for safety yet, but it has almost every technology imaginable. You get automatic emergency braking <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/what-is-aeb-and-how-does-it-work/n3283">(AEB)</a> with pedestrian and cyclist detection, lane-keep assistance, adaptive headlights, road-sign recognition, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert&nbsp;and adaptive cruise control with Lane Trace Assist, which helps keep the car in your lane on a motorway.

Toyota as a brand finished in joint fifth place (out of 30 manufacturers) in our 2021&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/2021-what-car-reliability-survey-brands/n23418">What Car? Reliability Survey</a>. That's higher than almost every brand that sells hybrids, although&nbsp;Hyundai was joint third&nbsp;and Lexus came&nbsp;first.

The Prius Plug-in comes with a&nbsp;three-year manufacturer’s warranty as standard. It can be extended up to 10 years or 100,000 miles if you have your Prius Plug-in serviced annually at a Toyota franchised dealer. The battery pack in the hybrid system gets a separate policy that covers you for 15 years.

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The Toyota Prius Plug-in's extra battery capacity compared with a regular hybrid, combined with a modified gearbox, allows the car to use its two electric motors to drive the car forwards. It takes off the instant you flex your right foot and builds speed quickly. That said, while electric-only mode feels peppy around town, it’s rather sluggish getting up to motorway speeds.

When the 1.8-litre petrol engine is called into action (to save&nbsp;battery charge or when if the battery is&nbsp;depleted, for example), it starts without sending too much vibration through the steering wheel and is relatively quiet.

That calm is shattered if you need to pick up speed in a hurry, though. When you&nbsp;put your foot down, the engine revs frenetically to pick up speed, but acceleration is still rather disappointing: 0-62mph takes more than 11sec. The <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/skoda/octavia/hatchback/review/n39">Skoda Octavia iV</a>&nbsp;and other key rivals manage it in less than eight.

It's hard work getting it up to speed, and it can also be tricky to stop smoothly. That’s largely down to the regenerative braking system, which tops up the battery during deceleration using the car’s electric motors as a generator. When you engage it by sticking the gear selector into its ‘B’ mode, the effect initially seems strong before quickly trailing off, leaving you having to jump on the conventional friction brakes to make up the difference.&nbsp;

As for the rest of the Prius Plug-in driving experience, the steering, while not brimming with feedback, is precise for this sort of vehicle. The ride is a touch on the fidgety side at speed compared with the Octavia iV and the M Sport Pro version of the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/bmw/3-series/saloon/review/n91">BMW 330e</a> with its adaptive suspension.

Around town, severe potholes will thump through the base of your seat. The Prius Plug-in doesn't grip the road as tenaciously in corners as some of its rivals, and its economy-focused tyres filter too much noise into the car.

Fuel 

Gearbox

0-62 MPH

This engine is no longer on sale.

http://example.com

1.8 VVTi

18-vvti

OUR PICK

18-phev

Stop the Press! The Toyota Prius is dead – long live the Toyota Prius Plug-in. Around since the turn of the millennium, this hybrid is one of the best known in its field, but the game’s moved on, and so has Toyota.

These days, you need to have a car that can travel a significant distance under electric power alone to compete in the cut-throat company car market. For all the green credentials of the standard <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/toyota/prius/hatchback/review/n17175">Toyota Prius</a>, it can barely cover a mile on volts before the petrol engine kicks in.&nbsp;

That’s where this plug-in version comes in. It&nbsp;gets a bigger battery that can be charged up in two hours and provide enough power to its two motors for an official electric-only range of 34 miles.

Compared with a normal hybrid, a plug-in hybrid has significantly lower CO2 numbers. This is of particular importance to company car drivers because the&nbsp;benefit-in-kind (BIK) <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/check-your-company-car-tax-rate/n1255">car tax rate</a> is&nbsp;based on the emissions of the vehicle and how far it can travel on electricity alone.

The Prius Plug-in&nbsp;competes with the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/audi/a3/hatchback/review/n77">Audi A3</a>&nbsp;in 40 TFSIe form, the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/hyundai/ioniq/hatchback/review/n17205">Hyundai Ioniq</a>, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/skoda/octavia/hatchback/review/n39">Skoda Octavia iV</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/volkswagen/passat/estate/review/n17181">Volkswagen Passat GTE</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/toyota">Toyota</a> gives you an awful lot of equipment as standard. Indeed, the Plug-in&nbsp;has&nbsp;many extras that would embarrass the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/bmw/3-series/saloon/review/n91">BMW 330e</a>, <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/volvo/s60/saloon/review/n123">Volvo S60 Recharge</a>&nbsp;and other far pricier premium cars.

The question is, does this Prius Plug-in add up against the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/best-plug-in-hybrid-cars-2021/n22743">best plug-in hybrid&nbsp;cars</a>&nbsp;– or, indeed, other <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/category/family">family cars</a> you might be considering? Over the next few pages of this review, we’ll answer that question, and tell you how it compares for performance, how practical it is, how big its boot is, and how safe and reliable it's likely to be.

Once you've decided which car&nbsp;is right for you, you can find the best prices using our free <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/new-car-deals">What Car? New Car Buying service</a>. It has savings on most makes and models, including plenty of <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/toyota/prius/hatchback/deals">Toyota Prius deals</a>.

It's easy to find a comfortable position in the driver's seat of the Toyota Prius Plug-in, but the steering wheel could do with a little more range in its vertical and horizontal adjustment.

The car has quite striking interior. It looks high-tech and there are sections of trim that can be highlighted in black or light grey, partnered with matching leather. Unfortunately, elsewhere you get mostly hard plastics, and although <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/toyota">Toyota</a> does throw a few soft-touch surfaces into the mix, it would be nice to see rather more in a car this expensive.

The layout of the dashboard is unconventional, doing away with traditional instruments directly in front of the driver. Instead, there are two 4.2in colour screens that sit on the dash, slightly to the left of your sight line. The right-hand screen covers basics such as speed and fuel level&nbsp;while the left one shows secondary data, including a highly detailed fuel economy analysis.

In addition, all versions of the Prius Plug-in feature a head-up display that projects information on to the windscreen. This shows your speed, sat-nav instructions and other information clearly in your line of sight, helping you to keep your eyes on the road.

Lower down, an 8.0in touchscreen operates the infotainment system, and it’s flanked by supplementary physical sub-menu buttons. Proper buttons help to make it easier to use on the move, but the touchscreen itself is a little slow to respond at times, and the menu layout isn’t as easy to use as the one found in the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/audi/a3/hatchback/review/n77">Audi A3</a>.&nbsp;

Fortunately, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto smartphone mirroring is standard so you can connect your phone to the screen and bypass the infotainment system. The standard sound system is fine, but a 10-speaker JBL is available with top-spec Excel trim. All versions get a wireless phone-charging pad.

The Toyota Prius Plug-in is too expensive by half. It works well as a short-range, pseudo-electric vehicle, but not well enough elsewhere

The Toyota Prius Plug-in has&nbsp;plenty of space up front for tall adults to get comfortable and rear leg room isn’t too bad at all.&nbsp;Head room is just as tight for adults as it is in the non-plug-in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/toyota/prius/hatchback/review/n17175">Toyota Prius</a>&nbsp;though – a consequence of the car’s steeply sloping roofline.

All things considered, plug-in hybrid rivals including&nbsp;the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/skoda/octavia/hatchback/review/n39">Skoda Octavia iV</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/skoda/superb/hatchback/review/n93">Skoda Superb iV</a> and <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/volkswagen/passat/estate/review/n17181">Volkswagen Passat GTE</a> have better-appointed, more upmarket and more spacious interiors. Those alternatives cost a similar amount to buy, too.

The Prius Plug-in isn't very practical for load-lugging compared with the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/best/best-family-cars-2022/n16996">best family cars</a>. Its boot is smaller than in the regular Prius because of the larger battery, which leaves a&nbsp;particularly shallow load space.

If you need more carrying capacity, you can expand the boot by flopping the rear seatbacks down. Helpfully, the car’s charging cable is stored in a little compartment at the rearmost edge of the boot floor&nbsp;so you can get to it even if you've loaded up some bags or cases.

This version is no longer on sale.

Active

active

Business Edition

business-edition

Petrol/Electric Hybrid, Petrol/Plug-In Elec Hybrid

business-edition-plus

Excel-spec cars have a 10-speaker premium audio system, front and rear parking sensors, a parking assistance system and leather upholstery. A bit too pricey for our liking.

Excel

excel

While it’s reliable, stuffed with safety kit and packed with gadgets, the Toyota Prius Plug-in isn’t as nice to drive or as refined as some of its plug-in hybrid rivals - particularly the cheaper Skoda Octavia iV. Everyday practicality is hindered considerably by the hybrid battery pack, and it no longer has the cheapest company car tax rates in the class.

<h2>What we're looking for:</h2><ul><li>Plenty of practical space </li> <li>Low running costs </li> <li>A comfortable ride </li> <li>A healthy equipment list </li> <li>Quality materials and thoughtful touches inside </li> <li>Rock-solid reliability</li></ul>

Family cars arguably have the toughest brief of all: they have to be good at pretty much everything. They’re used as the daily drive, on the school run or work commute (often both), and have to be able to cope with a family’s clutter on weekends and holidays.

The Skoda Scala is a relative newcomer, but it's&nbsp;already carved out a name for itself in this segment.&nbsp;If you're looking for a moderately priced car that combines a supple ride, neat handling, a spacious interior and a capacious boot&nbsp;it's well worth a look.&nbsp;Alternatively, if you're looking for entertaining handling then the&nbsp;BMW 1 Series may well be for you. It's great to drive, rides well&nbsp;and also comes with a top-notch interior, featuring one of our very favourite infotainment systems.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Toyota Corolla&nbsp;is another great choice. This latest version of one of the world's best-selling cars of all time can be had with a choice of two different petrol-electric hybrid engines, both of which should mean&nbsp;potentially lower fuel bills. It's comfortable, well equipped and should be very reliable, too.&nbsp;

Family

<h2>What we're looking for:</h2><ul><li>Usefully long electric-only range</li> <li>Exceedingly frugal</li> <li>Cheap company car tax rates</li> <li>Smooth switching between electric and petrol power</li></ul>

If you're not ready to commit to a fully electric vehicle&nbsp;but have the capacity to charge your car at home or at work, a plug-in hybrid could be the perfect compromise. Electric batteries paired with a petrol or diesel&nbsp;engine means you'll never be left short of charge&nbsp;but can capitalise on cheap running costs, thanks to a surprisingly long electric-only range.

There's plenty of choice, too, whether you're after a sporty saloon like the BMW 3 Series, the 330e variant of which providing up to 36 miles of electric-only driving on a full charge, or a large load-lugging large SUV, including the Volvo XC90 T8, which claims an extraordinary&nbsp;113mpg.

Throw in competent handling and driving prowess, despite the added weight of the electric batteries, and a plug-in hybrid&nbsp;makes a compelling case for frugal buyers.&nbsp;

Plug-in hybrid

Toyota Prius Plug-in review

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Review of Toyota Prius Plug-in interior by the expert What Car? team. Compare in car entertainment system, driving comfort and visibility with similar cars.

It's easy to find a comfortable position in the driver's seat of the Toyota Prius Plug-in, but the steering wheel could do with a little more range in its vertical and horizontal adjustment.,The car has quite striking interior. It looks high-tech and there are sections of trim that can be highlighted in black or light grey, partnered with matching leather. Unfortunately, elsewhere you get mostly hard plastics, and although Toyota does throw a few soft-touch surfaces into the mix, it would be nice to see rather more in a car this expensive.,The layout of the dashboard is unconventional, doing away with traditional instruments directly in front of the driver. Instead, there are two 4.2in colour screens that sit on the dash, slightly to the left of your sight line. The right-hand screen covers basics such as speed and fuel level while the left one shows secondary data, including a highly detailed fuel economy analysis.In addition, all versions of the Prius Plug-in feature a head-up display that projects information on to the windscreen. This shows your speed, sat-nav instructions and other information clearly in your line of sight, helping you to keep your eyes on the road.,Lower down, an 8.0in touchscreen operates the infotainment system, and it’s flanked by supplementary physical sub-menu buttons. Proper buttons help to make it easier to use on the move, but the touchscreen itself is a little slow to respond at times, and the menu layout isn’t as easy to use as the one found in the Audi A3. ,Fortunately, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto smartphone mirroring is standard so you can connect your phone to the screen and bypass the infotainment system. The standard sound system is fine, but a 10-speaker JBL is available with top-spec Excel trim. All versions get a wireless phone-charging pad.

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