This video is an accompaniment to a written drive review at HybridCars.com.


Available in three trims, the Prime Plus including $895 destination fee is $27,995, the Prime Premium is $29,695, and the Prime Advanced is $33,995.

With 10 months having passed since its U.S. release, Toyota’s Prius Prime plug-in hybrid is proving clearly more popular than the 2012-2015 Prius Plug-in Hybrid it replaced.

Called the “Prime” because it’s the range topper, the part-time EV derived from the hybrid Prius Liftback delivers 25 miles of all-electric driving range, a superlative 54 mpg, and its sales are threatening the perennially leading Chevy Volt.

Priced from $28,000, the Prime is eligible for a $4,500 federal tax credit, and state incentives where available and can seem like a no-brainer next to the Prius-sans-plug. How so? For one, the EPA rates the Prime 2 mpg better than all but the Prius Liftback Eco 2 trim, and its net price can come in couple-few thousand below comparable Prius Liftback trims assuming government kickbacks.