The new Toyota Prius Prime is the sportiest and most powerful version of the Prius ever made. Could this plug-in hybrid be right for you?

While other automakers push EVs, Toyota continues to deliver a more practical choice. The Prius Prime is a PHEV providing the perfect blend of efficiency, electric driving range, and gas engine performance. This combination makes the Prius Prime useful and enjoyable on any road, whether you’re facing your daily commute or ready to enjoy a weekend getaway to one of your favorite destinations.

Here are several reasons you’ll enjoy and admire the new Toyota Prius Prime.

This Toyota comes with an impressive electric driving range

The biggest selling point to PHEVs is the electric driving range, but many PHEVs can only travel at low speeds and up to 25 miles before using the gasoline engine. The Prius Prime can travel up to 44 miles in the base SE trim and 39 miles for the higher trims before engaging the gas engine. This PHEV can also accelerate up to 84 mph using only the electric motor and batteries, which makes it even more useful during your daily drive.

The Prius Prime has a solar roof

A roof made of solar cells sounds like an experimental item, but it’s part of what you can have in the Toyota Prius Prime. This solar roof sends power to the auxiliary electrical items while driving, ensuring the hybrid battery pack is used for driving and not powering other vehicle features. While parked, this solar roof sends power to the batteries to add more diving range for your ride home. Although this feature isn’t powerful enough to fully recharge the batteries while parked during a work day, it’s a step in the right direction.

Efficiency is the name of the game

Several PHEVs focus on the all-electric driving range, expecting this to be enough for most drivers, but the Prius Prime is different. This Toyota car continues to deliver impressive efficiency figures after the batteries have been depleted. The Prius Prime SE still returns 53 city/51 hwy while other trims achieve 50 city/47 hwy mpg using only the gas engine. This means you’ve got an extremely efficient hybrid car to drive, regardless of which system is generating power for the drive.

The sporty Prius design

The new Toyota Prius Prime is the sportiest version of this car ever made. For generations, the Prius has been considered the hybrid, efficient, wedge-shaped car that was only looked at for its efficiency. Now, this Toyota can be considered one of the most attractive and impressive hybrid cars offered. The lower, wider, and more detailed appearance gives this Toyota a great look that anyone would be proud to drive on the road.

More power to go with the design

The all-electric driving range and impressive fuel mileage figures might make some think this new PHEV is slow and only made to be efficient, but that’s not the case at all. The Prius Prime is now the most powerful version of the Prius ever made. This new model makes 220 horsepower from a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine and electric motor combination. While that’s not enough to blow the doors off any sports cars, it is more than enough to make it fun to drive and quick to accelerate off the line.

The Prius Prime handles beautifully

Although you won’t get sports-car responsiveness out of this Toyota hybrid, it has a much better steering and handling system than before. Add that to the lower center of gravity and wider stance, and you’ve got a hybrid that handles well, giving you the quality drive desired on any road. You’ll love the way this car feels and how much fun it can be when you toss it about on a winding road.

Toyota upgraded the cabin

The new Toyota Prius Prime has a modern interior with a conventional design and upscale materials. The digital gauge cluster has been repositioned to sit in front of the driver, and the dashboard controls feature more buttons than expected, which is a welcome quality for many drivers. The standard infotainment system measures eight inches, while the higher trims receive a 12.3-inch screen. Overall, this new look makes the cabin feel great.

Plenty of room for your stuff

The Prius Prime may be small, but the sleek shape and hatchback rear give this PHEV the practicality desired when you need to carry some gear with you. The rear cargo area measures 20.3 cubic feet, which is much larger than the trunk of any sedan and bigger than most other hatchbacks. This could be one of the best qualities of the Prius Prime when you need room to carry your stuff with you.