2024 Toyota Prius Is Not Boring Anymore

The Prius Has Evolved, But How?

Let's start off by saying we used to make memes about the new Prius, and now kids on TikTok are making car edits with the Prius. Just to give you an idea of how much cooler it is, mostly because of the design but also because of what's going on inside, So, let's check that out.

We really want to talk about the inside because of the amount of amenities and features. To give you guys an idea, this is an XLE, which is around $31,000. 

Interior Features And Amenities

Off the bat, you get nice ambient lighting. It'll blink at you if, like, traffic in front of you starts to go away and you're not paying attention, which is a nice dynamic feature of ambient lighting, making utility out of it.

Let's talk about the screen of the 2024 Toyota Prius. A large 12.3-inch touchscreen has Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and Toyota's new Entune interface. We  don't know if that's what it's still called, but it also has built-in Wi-Fi, which is really nice. It's the same kind of display as you see on the Crowns, the Camry that's coming out right now. Nice Prius lettering with a physical volume knob, and you got AC vents, great. All your AC controls are buttons, which is nice to see. 

Coming down, you get a compartment with USB-C ports, but you also get this nice hidden compartment. So, that's like Toyota's way of appealing to the TikTok crowd, we guess. But we like it, it's cool.

You also get cup holders over here. This slot is a clever way of packaging their wireless charger. We have an iPhone Pro, the Pro Max, the larger model. It goes in, it fits nicely with some good room, so you can fit larger phones, and the charging actually works with the case on. We've tried it, we've used it, and we have a good experience from that standpoint. 

You can also find a nice little slot pass-through just behind the mobile charger. So, if you want to feed a slot out of one of the two USB-C ports, you can easily do that. It also fits nicely. The packaging for wire is also nice in the car. Good on Toyota engineers for thinking about that.

So, on the driver's side, we want to start with the door panel. With all your switchgear here, you don't get any memory seat settings on this trim level, but you do get power seats. They are power-controlled on the driver's side, not the passenger side. No JBL sound system upgrade on this one as well.

But we do want to talk about the steering wheel; that's really the big focus here. We like it a lot. We know people have mixed feelings about it. We really like the shape of the steering wheel, and the thickness of the wheel as well feels really nice in your hands. What we like about it is the visibility of the center screen. It's not a heads-up display, and it's not like a traditional gauge cluster; it's in between.

They've done that in the past with Prius, and we think it's a perfect implementation because of the way we have the steering wheel positioned. We get a very clean sightline on that, but we also get really good visibility up front, unobstructed by any of the little packaging or clutter you would normally see about it. You get a tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel with a really wide range of motion. They know people of all shapes and sizes are going to fit in this vehicle, and they accommodate that.

Good headroom, especially with the sunroof, and then amazing legroom because these seats go really far back. As far as optional buttons, you do have an automatic high beam, windshield heater, or whatever turns on the heating elements in the windows, a heated steering wheel, which is nice, and your button for your fuel gauge. What this one does not have, which you'll see on other higher-model Priuses, are the 360-degree surround-view camera and the park assist, with which this thing could park by itself like you've seen on the Toyota Crown.

The Prius Prioritizes Safety And Comfort In The Second Row As Well! 

Inside the second row, one thing we want to tell you of how cool Toyota is that behind the seat belt they have a little "#SafetyFirst," which we think is really adorable. It's a nice little Easter egg, and there are a lot of hashtags around here, which we think is funny. Gives it some personality. We know that was one thing the Prius used to be lacking, but we don't think it lacked personality. We don't think anyone liked the personality of the old Prius. This one's got a cool personality; we think they're trying to make it a little more hip. 

Nice armrests, nice cup holders, and USB-C ports. You can also get heated seats on the outboard seats with a button if you get that option on a higher grade. You do get seatback pockets just on the passenger side, not behind the driver. But honestly, after closing the door, there is a very nice-sounding door; it feels heavy, feels really well-insulated, and just got a lot quieter inside the cabin just by doing that. 

You get really good legroom and really good headroom, even with the way the roofline is shaped. But honestly, we're really big fans of the back seats. They're not reclining in any way, so just keep that in mind, but again, the four second-row seats on this vehicle are amazing.

The Performance Capabilities Of The Prius

But let's talk about the important stuff with the powertrain. Very light hood. You get your new hybrid engine, and what does that get you? It gets you 197 horsepower and 139 lb-feet of torque. This thing is pushing near Honda Civic Si numbers. You can get the Prius Prime, which gives you a little more horsepower, but we're not talking about that here. This is the regular front-wheel-drive hybrid powertrain, 57 miles per gallon in the city and 57 miles per gallon on the highway if you get the base model with the base wheels. This has 19-inch wheels, which we'll talk about later, so you get a little less, but it's still in the 50s, which is crazy to think about with that amount of power. 

Driving this thing day to day, you really don't feel like you need more power for stop-and-go traffic and for actually getting up to speed, because the 0 to 60 time on the Prius used to be 10 seconds; now it's 7 even so it's a lot faster, still not fast, but we mean honestly, that's respectable numbers for a daily driver, and it's honestly something we should really appreciate considering what the old Prius used to do.

Unmatched Design Elements Contributing To The Prius’s Sleek Exterior

Let's talk about the outside styling. The Hammerhead design on Toyotas has been killing the game. The red color is honestly a nice colorway. And we want to start with the headlights—the Hammerhead design with the nice wraparound LED daytime light with a headlight unit tucked in and integrated looks super clean. We love the depth and how much it looks angry because of how much it sticks past the headlight. It's super cool, and it's also functional and aerodynamic. The entire bottom part of the front fascia has very clean slats feeding air to cool, and whatever is needed while also maintaining that aerodynamic profile.

You get a nice gloss black around the wheel surround, but these are the 19-inch wheels. You can get smaller wheel packages that are going to be more efficient, but honestly, these look really good and they fill the wheel arch nicely. 

This car sits a lot wider and a little longer in wheelbase compared to earlier Priuses, so yeah, it makes the appearance look really good. You do get these nice lines on the hood, but you get one pretty much continuous line that goes all the way to the windshield, and this is a really big windshield, so we do want to point that out. It does feel a little weird, but you get used to it pretty quickly. You get your nice camera over there for your safety systems; this has Toyota Safety Sense 3.0, so you get adaptive cruise control, Lane Keep, blind-spot monitoring, and a lot of stuff standard. It's a great package on the new Prius standard, no matter what trim level you get.

Let's talk about mirror caps with blacked-out paint match. You get nice little baby mirrors for visibility because of how they shape this roofline. Windows are great with blacked-out mirror surrounds or blacked-out window surrounds, which is great, and then that glass roof. This is a full glass; you get glass on the front, glass in the middle, and glass in the back. 

Speaking of the back, let's talk about these second-row doors because the door handle isn't traditional; it is more aerodynamic this way, but you have a little button you press, and it pops out very seamlessly. There is a lag to it when you press and pull, but if you press the button and then pull, you won't notice as much of a lag, so you've got to be patient with it. We don't think it's a big deal. 

There is a mechanical override if you push it; it's a pretty hard button to push. It takes a little bit of practice, but yeah, in emergencies, if you really need to open this, you can. Trust us, we've done it. It also has a nice swept roofline. The highest point of the roofline is in the back to accommodate rear passenger headroom. That's why we felt like in the back you get really good; not super-top people can fit there, but you get really good headroom.

We love the rear design. It is becoming so iconic as we start to see more of these on the road. It's a very, very distinguishing feature—the rear. The signature design, extending seamlessly from the top to the bottom with the light bar that stretches across and wraps around the Prius lettering, is truly impressive. It illuminates the Toyota logo brilliantly. For the Toyota logo, it is not the most prominent feature; it really is the Prius lettering. 

Honestly, it's the style design that they put in the back. Really clean; this nice contrast black portion that's gloss black also really hops with that. This is: you get your XLE, you get the LTD if it's limited, and you get the hybrid electric vehicle with that Beyond Zero badge that's new, replacing the blue that used to be around the Toyota logo. That's not what you're going to see on all hybrid electric vehicles from Toyota moving forward.

So, you do not get as much store space as the previous Toyota, so it's not as cool in that regard. We will be honest, it is kind of unfortunate; the load floor is a little higher. You can fold the seats flat, and you can lift this up; you get a good amount of room. But honestly, it's still really practical. The hatch is smaller; it's just a physically smaller hatch door as far as this piece or this assembly goes. You can get a power-opening hatch, but honestly, we'd stick with this; this will last you longer and be cheaper to repair and replace if anything ever happens. So, another cool little Easter egg you get over the side of the trunk is the ‘Hybrid Reborn’ mark.

The Key Takeaways From The Prius XLE

The 2024 Toyota Prius stands as an example of innovation and modern design. With its impressive exterior, advanced features, and efficient hybrid powertrain, it represents a significant leap forward from its predecessors. Whether you're drawn to its eco-friendly performance, modern technology, or spacious interior, the Prius offers a complete package for drivers seeking a reliable and forward-thinking vehicle.