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The Toyota Prius Is the 2024 MotorTrend Car of the Year

EverydayBeast

thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
screenshot-2023-04-03-at-5-52-21-pmb-642c929659440.png

Good for toyota.

“And now, for the first time since 2004, the new Toyota Prius is our Car of the Year.”
 

sankt-Antonio

:^)--?-<
Strange. Hybrid’s are generally on the decline. Benefits have been reduced for them in a lot of places, it’s costly to build them etc. Isn’t that good looking inside and out.

At least it’s sexier than the previous model.
 

LordOfChaos

Member
It's certainly the most improved. And keeps most of the fuel economy while giving it the same 0-60 as the new Integra for some reason lol (but that has the same 0-60 as my ILX, because it is the ILX with a rebrand)

The 2025 Camry in all hybrid now seems nice too. In EV circles it's popular to hate Toyota as missing the boat, but isn't reducing emissions by a huge amount across the whole line through hybrids with a fraction the battery use of going full EV still a net good, it takes all kinds.

 
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Thaedolus

Gold Member
Strange. Hybrid’s are generally on the decline. Benefits have been reduced for them in a lot of places, it’s costly to build them etc. Isn’t that good looking inside and out.

At least it’s sexier than the previous model.
I dunno, I just bought a Toyota hybrid and it’s the shit. Fully EV isn’t ready for what I need out of a long range road tripper
 

lachesis

Member
It is a lot sexier than what I have (2017 Prius Prime). Mine's paid off and I only have to fuel like once in a few months as it's just my daily commute.

Gives me great discount on George Washington toll, and does the job of getting me to point A to B - basically most practical vehicle I could really think of for commutes. Takes regular gas, and it only takes 10 gallons - yet it will give me 500+ miles. Boring, sure, and sometimes I get snubbed by my dates for driving a boring ol' car - but whether you are in a hot BMW (which I had before) or dinky Prius in a stop and go traffic in NYC - it really doesn't make any difference during commute.

New one is very tempting, and would have bought this in a snap if I was looking into buying a new commute car - but as I'm riding off the benefits of having paid off my vehicle and it's still running fantastic... so I'm just salivating.. :( Also, as good as a vehicle looks - looks get outdated pretty quick, as well as the techs and all.

So instead of getting a new Prius.. I'm hoping to get a good used Miata for weekend drives in near future, while running my Prius Prime to ground while I'm literally grinding for work, save $.
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
It is a lot sexier than what I have (2017 Prius Prime). Mine's paid off and I only have to fuel like once in a few months as it's just my daily commute.

Gives me great discount on George Washington toll, and does the job of getting me to point A to B - basically most practical vehicle I could really think of for commutes. Takes regular gas, and it only takes 10 gallons - yet it will give me 500+ miles. Boring, sure, and sometimes I get snubbed by my dates for driving a boring ol' car - but whether you are in a hot BMW (which I had before) or dinky Prius in a stop and go traffic in NYC - it really doesn't make any difference during commute.

New one is very tempting, and would have bought this in a snap if I was looking into buying a new commute car - but as I'm riding off the benefits of having paid off my vehicle and it's still running fantastic... so I'm just salivating.. :( Also, as good as a vehicle looks - looks get outdated pretty quick, as well as the techs and all.

So instead of getting a new Prius.. I'm hoping to get a good used Miata for weekend drives in near future, while running my Prius Prime to ground while I'm literally grinding for work, save $.
Same scenario, but in the UK it is discontinued (no new model has come out in quite a while), so holding on the 2017 Prius we have quite dearly.
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
It is a lot sexier than what I have (2017 Prius Prime). Mine's paid off and I only have to fuel like once in a few months as it's just my daily commute.

Gives me great discount on George Washington toll, and does the job of getting me to point A to B - basically most practical vehicle I could really think of for commutes. Takes regular gas, and it only takes 10 gallons - yet it will give me 500+ miles. Boring, sure, and sometimes I get snubbed by my dates for driving a boring ol' car - but whether you are in a hot BMW (which I had before) or dinky Prius in a stop and go traffic in NYC - it really doesn't make any difference during commute.

New one is very tempting, and would have bought this in a snap if I was looking into buying a new commute car - but as I'm riding off the benefits of having paid off my vehicle and it's still running fantastic... so I'm just salivating.. :( Also, as good as a vehicle looks - looks get outdated pretty quick, as well as the techs and all.

So instead of getting a new Prius.. I'm hoping to get a good used Miata for weekend drives in near future, while running my Prius Prime to ground while I'm literally grinding for work, save $.
Same scenario except I'm still driving around in a 2013 Prius C. 8 gallon tank, gets about 450 miles to a tank, about 60mpg on average commuting in eco mode. I fill up once a month. Car's been paid off for several years now, and it still runs great. In my case, I've owned it for over 10 years, and I'm still just now at 75,000 miles - so I'm not likely to need a replacement any time soon.

I've been contemplating upgrading the in-dash system though. Bluetooth still works okay, but it takes about 4-5 minutes to "boot up" and connect to my phone. The model I have doesn't have a rear back up camera (even though this same model in Australia did, and mine's got the rear headers for video input). Occasionally the in-dash system will just totally crash, and I have to power down the engine and restart it if I want to revive it (usually if it crashes I just leave it totally off until I get to where I'm going). All that said, it works surprisingly well for something that's 11 years old. I'm just not sure if I want to fight it for the next 10 years I'll likely own the car.
 

JayK47

Member
I guess it is good to see they can manage one year without giving to an EV POS. I almost swore off Toyotas due to issues I have had with my 2009 Corolla, but if they are going to be one of the few manufactures of gas engine cars, I may have to buy another one.
 

hussain007

Neo Member
Toyota is going to come out best from all the mainstream car makers on full electric vehicles mostly because they don't give a shit about them.
Toyota's distinctive approach, prioritizing hybrid technology and emphasizing reliability, could carve a strategic niche in the dynamic electric vehicle market, setting them apart from competitors.
 

Cyberpunkd

Member
Strange. Hybrid’s are generally on the decline. Benefits have been reduced for them in a lot of places, it’s costly to build them etc. Isn’t that good looking inside and out.

At least it’s sexier than the previous model.
How are they on decline if unless you live in SF driving an EC long-distance is an exercise of frustration and careful planning where to stop in order to charge the car? Get out of your bubble.

Situation is even worse in Europe. No, hybrids are probably the best thing for 99% of people.
 

Tams

Member
It's certainly the most improved. And keeps most of the fuel economy while giving it the same 0-60 as the new Integra for some reason lol (but that has the same 0-60 as my ILX, because it is the ILX with a rebrand)

The 2025 Camry in all hybrid now seems nice too. In EV circles it's popular to hate Toyota as missing the boat, but isn't reducing emissions by a huge amount across the whole line through hybrids with a fraction the battery use of going full EV still a net good, it takes all kinds.



Toyota haven't missed the boat. They don't believe full EVs are the solution for car owners that want more than to do short urban driving. And I agree.

The Prius was the first successful hybrid, so they certainly know what they are on about.
 

Dural

Member
I dunno, I just bought a Toyota hybrid and it’s the shit. Fully EV isn’t ready for what I need out of a long range road tripper

How are they on decline if unless you live in SF driving an EC long-distance is an exercise of frustration and careful planning where to stop in order to charge the car? Get out of your bubble.

Situation is even worse in Europe. No, hybrids are probably the best thing for 99% of people.


Yep, bought a Pacifica PHEV last year and it's been great. My wife's work is ~34 miles roundtrip and she can almost make it without using any gas at all, I think she uses maybe 4 miles on gas. We need a people hauler as we have four kids and used it on a 3000 mile road trip last fall (averaged close to 30 mpg). Current EVs just aren't there, we need better battery technology. Plus I could buy two of the vans for the cost of one EV that can fit the whole family.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
The resale value on EVs and Hybrids is pretty awful right? Don't $9,000 dollar batteries need to be replaced around the 100k mile mark?
 

haxan7

Volunteered as Tribute
Not surprising since the new Prius is basically completely overhauled. It's fun to drive and fast now.
 

sankt-Antonio

:^)--?-<
How are they on decline if unless you live in SF driving an EC long-distance is an exercise of frustration and careful planning where to stop in order to charge the car? Get out of your bubble.

Situation is even worse in Europe. No, hybrids are probably the best thing for 99% of people.
Hybrids are going to loose tax benefits in 2030 (Germany), the cars also use more gas when driven with the ICE on the Autobahn/Highway i.e. long-distance travel. EV range is minimal at best, but at the same time car companies have to build basically two systems in their cars, ICE (which is going to be even more expensive once Euro7 hits) and all the EV components.

In Germany, many companies have policies now where, to get all benefits on your company car, you have to drive your Hybrid 50% of the time in EV mode. With a car that has 60km EV range. Yeah :/

Actually madness and not sustainable for real mass market penetration. They eat the cost to reach CO2 fleet goals, for now.

--> So more expensive to build and more expensive for the consumer, more expenses for servicing since more stuff needs service, no tax benefits in the future, higher gas / mile cost as efficiency in ICE mode drops on the highway.

In a few years time EVs with 900-1000km WLTP range will hit the affordable segment. For people who lease cars and get a new one every three years it can make sense to use them now, buying and using it for 10years is already potentially a bad idea, every year that passes is going to make them less and less attractive.

Therefore they are in decline.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
Man, I never thought Toyota will build an attractive looking Prius one day, definitely not after the atrocious previous generation. It's probably the best looking compact car on the market right now. Too bad the non plug-in model isn't available worldwide. We only get the more expensive model in our country.
 

Blade2.0

Member
I'd probably get this as a next car. I just want a plug-in hybrid that can get me 100 miles on a charge and 250 with gas. I could just not use gas at all until I go on long trips.
 

Tams

Member
Hybrids are going to loose tax benefits in 2030 (Germany), the cars also use more gas when driven with the ICE on the Autobahn/Highway i.e. long-distance travel. EV range is minimal at best, but at the same time car companies have to build basically two systems in their cars, ICE (which is going to be even more expensive once Euro7 hits) and all the EV components.

In Germany, many companies have policies now where, to get all benefits on your company car, you have to drive your Hybrid 50% of the time in EV mode. With a car that has 60km EV range. Yeah :/

Actually madness and not sustainable for real mass market penetration. They eat the cost to reach CO2 fleet goals, for now.

--> So more expensive to build and more expensive for the consumer, more expenses for servicing since more stuff needs service, no tax benefits in the future, higher gas / mile cost as efficiency in ICE mode drops on the highway.

In a few years time EVs with 900-1000km WLTP range will hit the affordable segment. For people who lease cars and get a new one every three years it can make sense to use them now, buying and using it for 10years is already potentially a bad idea, every year that passes is going to make them less and less attractive.

Therefore they are in decline.

Are we though? Battery technology has barely improved in the last two decades now.

And that completely ignores the fact that powergrids and charging networks are fine now with a minority of vehicles being EVs, but should they become the majority...

Also, the price of EVs has barely come down at all. Even the cheapest is far more expensive than a cheap ICE vehicle. And that ICE vehicle is still likely to be good well beyond an EV. My boss currently drives a Volvo heading towards 300,000 miles on the clock.
 

sankt-Antonio

:^)--?-<
Are we though? Battery technology has barely improved in the last two decades now.

And that completely ignores the fact that powergrids and charging networks are fine now with a minority of vehicles being EVs, but should they become the majority...

Also, the price of EVs has barely come down at all. Even the cheapest is far more expensive than a cheap ICE vehicle. And that ICE vehicle is still likely to be good well beyond an EV. My boss currently drives a Volvo heading towards 300,000 miles on the clock.
The automotive world pushed battery tech further in the last 15 years, than the whole sector did in the last five decades. We have chemistry now for every segment, some for cheap cars, some for high performance cars and the first carmakers are releasing partially solid state batteries (Nio).
BMW has a solid state tech demo car (converted iX SUV) that crossed the US with 600miles of range on a single charge.

2025 imo will be a pivotal year for EV's. Its when a lot of companies are set to release their next generation EV architectures. Ford, BMW, Audi, Mercedes, VW, with an intent to make money off of.

The Automotive world always moved in seven year intervals. With the releases timed to one or two years apart from each other, for competitive reasons.
The first wave of EV's from legacy carmakers was basically to make something on the cheap and score some CO2 credits, in the next wave they all have to make it work as a "only/first" household car and be competitive with ICE cars in every way.
 

daffyduck

Member
Same scenario, but in the UK it is discontinued (no new model has come out in quite a while), so holding on the 2017 Prius we have quite dearly.
Not discontinued across the pond, but good luck to anyone looking to buy one.
Long waiting lists and dealer gouging, which also applies to the EVs people are supposed to buy.
 

BlackTron

Member
My trepidation with hybrids is that if the battery dies, which is a big heavy and unique battery that requires invasive installation, the entire car is bricked until you replace it. I want a way to start the normal gas engine in the car without replacing a 2-3k battery if required, like say with a normal car battery. Even if it's just to drive the car to where I'm gonna have it replaced, or to use the car to come up with the 3-4k I will need to cough up for the battery + installation. I just hate the idea my whole car will brick if something goes wrong with the battery like a damned PS3 controller.
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Not discontinued across the pond, but good luck to anyone looking to buy one.
Long waiting lists and dealer gouging, which also applies to the EVs people are supposed to buy.
Well, it is. They do not sell any new Prius (Steven Eagell is one of the biggest ones in the area and they do not have new Prius models :(…). If I wanted to stay Toyota and I wanted to change I would need to change model completely…
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
My trepidation with hybrids is that if the battery dies, which is a big heavy and unique battery that requires invasive installation, the entire car is bricked until you replace it. I want a way to start the normal gas engine in the car without replacing a 2-3k battery if required, like say with a normal car battery. Even if it's just to drive the car to where I'm gonna have it replaced, or to use the car to come up with the 3-4k I will need to cough up for the battery + installation. I just hate the idea my whole car will brick if something goes wrong with the battery like a damned PS3 controller.
Be more afraid of the small 12 V battery fucker. Keep the heat on in the winter without the engine running and well… 😂.

Main battery wise yeah, hybrid and EV have the same issue. In theory the hybrid ones should be a bit better with this but…
 

Dural

Member
My trepidation with hybrids is that if the battery dies, which is a big heavy and unique battery that requires invasive installation, the entire car is bricked until you replace it. I want a way to start the normal gas engine in the car without replacing a 2-3k battery if required, like say with a normal car battery. Even if it's just to drive the car to where I'm gonna have it replaced, or to use the car to come up with the 3-4k I will need to cough up for the battery + installation. I just hate the idea my whole car will brick if something goes wrong with the battery like a damned PS3 controller.

Honestly not too worried about that, it's not like the battery is going to be completely dead anytime soon. It will just loose more and more range causing the ICE to be on more. Not sure if the manufacturers have some sort of error that won't allow it to run once depleted below a certain level, but that would likely take well over 10 years (the battery and EV system and battery in my van has a 10 year/100,000 mile warranty).
 

BlackTron

Member
Honestly not too worried about that, it's not like the battery is going to be completely dead anytime soon. It will just loose more and more range causing the ICE to be on more. Not sure if the manufacturers have some sort of error that won't allow it to run once depleted below a certain level, but that would likely take well over 10 years (the battery and EV system and battery in my van has a 10 year/100,000 mile warranty).

I'm not saying it will happen anytime soon, but it will happen. Hopefully within your warranty period, or you sell/trade in the car first. A Prius battery is supposed to last 10 years/150k miles. So basically it's likely to die shortly after your warranty, as intended.

I drive a 2008 that still runs great, I just keep it in good shape. When I got it, I gifted my 2005 to someone who desperately needed a car. They still drive it. Aside from the point of Toyota's being fucking tanks, these cars would be useless now if they were hybrids and needed a Prius battery to start. If you could somehow fall back on the gas engine without a 4k battery installed, that would be different. To me that is both a financial and logistical liability I prefer to sidestep.

I would rather just buy a used car, than buy a new Prius to get a warranty on a battery. Spending a lot of extra money and future utility/opportunity cost to save a few bucks on gas.

I still think the Prius is a cool car, always did. Even test drove a first gen as a new driver (I went with Scion TC instead). I'm not saying the car is garbage just that the hybrid thing has some flaws to consider too and despite the "savings" could cost you more money in the long run (directly or indirectly) unless you plan well.
 

Nvzman

Member
I'm sorry the new Prius still looks disgusting, wtf is that front grill. And it's literally shaped like a portable vacuum.
Never will understand Toyota bootlicking, they make the most boring economy cars on the planet with crap interiors, but because once upon a time in the 90s/very early 00s they were incredibly reliable (which hasn't been very true since then, they got notably worse in assembly starting in 05-ish and a lot of other manufacturers caught up), people still think they are indestructible so therefore amazing. Sorry but no.
 
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