Released around the turn of the millennium, the Toyota Prius represented the first-ever mass-produced hybrid car. And while the Japanese model played a pivotal role in ushering in today’s hybrid and EV segments, the Prius has always been viewed as fairly uninspired from a design and excitement standpoint, with its engineers seemingly putting a premium on utility and function over form. Toyota, however, is now looking to change this reality, with the debut of the all-new fifth-generation Prius.
Known as the XW60, the 2023 Toyota Prius hasn’t merely been treated to a simple facelift and instead has been completely redesigned from the ground up. Equipped with a markedly lower drag coefficient, the new bodywork builds on today’s modern EV design language with futuristic-looking LED strip headlights shoehorned into the left and right sides of the hood. This sleek new headlight arrangement also sits above a new bezel-framed grille design. Offered with optional roof-mounted solar cells, this design puts an ultra-sleek spin on the Prius’ classic wedge shape, plus sees the hybrid gain new larger 19” tires and an all-new three-dimensional linear rear lighting setup.
Offered in battery electric vehicle (BEV) and fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) variants, the 2023 Toyota Prius is powered by a 148-hp hybrid 2.0-liter engine that’s paired with a 120-kW (160-hp) transaxle front motor. Thanks to the use of a new 13.6 kWh lithium-ion battery, the fifth-gen Prius also affords over 50% more range than the outgoing model. Despite being 1.8” shorter in length than its predecessor, the 2023 model year vehicle is 0.866” wider and boasts a wheelbase that’s been stretched by 1.96”. The latest Prius’ ride height has also been lowered by almost 2”. Also benefitting from a complete redesign, the interior of the car features what Toyota calls a new “Island Architecture” with a freshly-designed driver module complemented via a floating instrument panel.
Though pricing has yet to be revealed, the 2023 Toyota Prius is expected to go on sale next year.
