2024 Prius Prime SE | Does it Drive as Good as it Looks?
If my friend or partner or whoever got a Prius Prime the current gen this 2024 then uh ladies and gentlemen 2024 Prius Prime SE first things first I’m sure a lot of you thought when this first got announced what how is that a Prius it looks so
Good nice sporty rear end the overall the car looks way more premium higher price point than it actually is this around $34,000 because there are three Prius primes and of course the prime meaning plug-in hybrid technology in Toyota’s lineup this is the SE there’s the xse above and then the highest is
The xse premium so with this trim we have 17in wheels wrapped in 195 section with tires low rolling resistance tires you actually get a little bit more range with this versus the higher-end trims that have 19in wheels got to love those Boomerang headlights I mean some people
Are compar comparing it to similar lines to the sf90 Ferrari which I think is hilarious a Prius being compared to a Ferrari it looks really nice they did a fantastic job styling this and let me make another superar reference because look at the front sloping windshield and even how the roof line
Curves this way this really low acute angled windshield on miden engine supercars right obviously I’m being a bit tongue and cheek right now but this looks really nice and sleek and premium and even though they don’t have you know these like fancy uh you know air curtains by the wheels and such you
Still have a really low coefficient of drag really good looking car the blue is a little bit dark for me but man these lines are surprising now the roof line sloping down sporty but here’s the thing getting into the rear I’m 6’1 and you know my head is touching
The top liner so you are losing a little bit of practical it over prior gens but it looks way way better keep in mind these doors they’re not actual buttons it’s like an electronic release a little bit of a pause of a split second you get used to it not a big
Deal but I’ve been living with this car for the last few days here in San Diego and I want to clarify some things because I think there’s a lot of misunderstandings about the Prius the first thing is the interior so with this really long sloping windshield
You do have very long a pillars and that does compromise your visibility quite a bit you’re going to notice that as soon as you get in not the best visibility but the driving assist that Toyota has in this latest Suite they’re quite good they’re actually quite seamless and
Quite unobtrusive now I’ve been driving this in charge mode here to recharge the battery cuz I haven’t been plugging it in so you can force charge it where it will run the 2 L inline 4 and that’s up from the 1.8 L inline 4 from the
Previous gen and that 2 L inline 4 can charge the battery like right now when I’m parked the engine is running and we just went from 34 to 35% now that engine makes 160 horsepower and combined with the electric motors there’s two one drives the front wheels and one actually
Pairs with the CVT you’re getting a total output of 220 horsepower that’s 99 more horsepower than the prior gen so definitely a much needed boost on this trim we have the smaller 8in screen in the uh xsc and xsc premium you can get the 12in now here the gauge cluster this
Is what I want to talk about because a lot of the time people are putting the steering wheel up and actually blocking the gauges but proper driver ergonomics and Porsche has this beautiful video on getting proper uh driver posture you want to generally have the steering wheel lower than how most people place
It and Porsche even says that frequently people will place the steering wheel too low to the point where they can’t actually see the gauges right here right so people want to put a little bit lower but then they have to put it higher than they would naturally
Go based on the design of the vehicle so what I like is the gauge being behind for two reasons number one I can have the steering wheel nice and low where it’s actually ergonomic my hands are right around shoulder height maybe teeny bit lower and the steering wheel nice
And compact but the other thing and I’ve talked about this in my Mazda cx50 video is that the screen being further away requires less accommodation from your eyes so when you need to focus on something closer you have these ciliary muscles in your eye and they need to
Contract which is why when you’re reading you know your book or more likely your phone way too close for long periods of time you feel that eye strain because your ciliary muscles are working really hard not good for your eyes so having the gauges right here versus
Further back is actually easier on your eye not only are your ciliary muscles more relaxed but now when you’re switching from viewing this to viewing something further ahead there’s less of a change in accommodation that’s the term accom commodation of your eyes when you need to focus far to near versus if
It was really close which is also why having a regular rear view mirror is generally nicer for your eyes versus a screen because when you have a camera here or a a screen that’s uh displaying what’s behind you then your eyes need to focus really really close versus here I
Can actually just use the mirror and see far away my eyes are relaxed all right enough of that you do have some nice little red accents for the Prime Trim in this SE trim we only have a single climate not dual climate but I like the the feeling of these buttons
This little Cliff right here nice texture nice uh engagement to them and the piano black is on the section that you don’t really touch that often I will say that the gauge cluster here a little bit cluttered takes a little bit of time to get used to cuz there’s a lot of
Information and now we’re going to switch this to sport mode going to go to auto evh rather than forcing the charge and of course the shifter like all previous Priuses is a little bit funky but you get used to it and we’re off a lot of people criticize Toyota saying that they need
To focus more on BS battery EVS versus hybrids and Toyota pushes back saying hey there’s a issue with resource allocation and for every one Bev they can make something like 70 to 90 hybrids when you look at the the carbon impact that’s obviously going to be much
Greater with the plug-in hybrid with the Prius Prime on this SE trim you can actually get 44 miles of battery only before then the hybrid kicks in and that’s what most people want because that range anxiety when you have 200 300 miles and it’s going to change based on
Temperature it’s range anxiety emphasis on anxiety whereas when you have the hybrid you have the best of both worlds and Toyota’s newest technology here super seamless I mean even even previous generations of Prius they have done a great job integrating the transition from Battery to petrol and here I’ve
Been driving for a few days the only thing that really gives it away is the sound of the engine because it’s a buzzy four-cylinder not the smoothest engine but again the way that they tune that transition from Battery to petrol really really seamless if you’ve driven the previous
Gen Priuses the first thing that will strike you is that this one actually looks good good it’s actually a nice looking car and the second thing is that in this Prime configuration making 220 horsepower it’s now it’s not fast but it’s no longer slow it’s not sluggish 0
To 60 in 6.7 seconds and with the EV mode only you’re around 11.2 seconds but when you need to overtake or anything that is really required of you in daily driver duties you’re not suffering with this drivet train anymore And it’s soft and comfortable The Styling looks sporty but I’m not sure if you can tell even taking these sweepers Here getting a good amount of body roll because the car is tuned to be soft and comfortable and a good daily driver speaking of driver assist now I was able to try out the traffic jam assist and it was fantastic they have these sensors right here to make sure
That you’re paying attention and it’s not overly uh you know it’s not too strict of a nanny but it allows you to much more um easily navigate traffic jams with without that annoying you know go stop G stop it’ll go all the way to a stop and keep an adequate distance you
Can control that very easily right here with this button as you can see I’m going that’s the closest and that’s the farthest like that those little AIDS they really help with the overall drivability of the vehicle and overall I’ve been really impressed because a friend of mine had
The previous gen and I would kind of rag on them for like you know Priuses have a reputation they drive a certain way I have driven their car a few times and you know if you’re a car Enthusiast I mean even if you’re not a car Enthusiast we all know the
Stereotype they’re in the left lane going 20 under the speed limit when everyone else is overtaking them on the right and driving this I was like you know what if my friend or partner or whoever got a Prius Prime the current gen this 2024 then uh I would have no qualms
About it because it actually drives pretty well we’re going to do a separate Canyon carving review which you can find Linked In the description but I’m going to say for daily driver duties it drives quite well we’re soon going to explore how it handles the twisties when you push
It but the nvh it’s pretty average for the class the drivetrain tuning is excellent the inputs are pretty one to one natural and they fall into the background the one thing that might surprise you initially is that the steering has a very fast ratio and it’s
A small size so it gives you a sportier initial turn-in feel than you might expect but it’s very boosted very light and surprisingly you do get a little bit of texture in terms of feedback no no real loading up up of the steering wheel I mean I guess once you get past Center
A tiny bit but uh you know the feedback is quite limited fast ratio steering rack small steering wheel though makes it a pleasure to Use and when you’re getting such great fuel efficiency in your daily driver at this price point 34k makes a lot of sense I will say though there are a few annoyances so one thing is that at this SE trim it doesn’t have auto headlights so I need to turn on and off the
Headlights every time which I feel like auto headlights is such a simple feature that we should have right I mean they’re giving you a heated SE uh sorry a heated uh steering wheel standard in all these Prius Prime trims but I would prefer auto headlights over a heated steering
Wheel if you do want the heated front and rear seats you have to go to the higher trims the xse xse premium also no phone charger in this SE trim you have to go higher up for that But you still largely get the things that matter like the uh Wireless Apple carplay and you don’t get a panoramic sunroof but on the xasy premium you can actually get solar panels which you know maybe a couple miles boosted range if you parking in the Sun and if you’re
Driving it’ll actually help power the 12vt system but I think for the cost conscious the SE at 34k it’s pretty good value the xse is going to be 3,00 more than that and of course whether that $3,000 premium is worth it is up to your personal preference I think at 34k you
Are getting a good amount of vehicle here we’re now going to test this on the canions if you want to see how it handles at the limit when it’s being pushed check out that video linked below my friends let me know what you think of the redesigned Prius Prime I think it
Looks fantastic overall a big home run for its intended purpose but let me know your Thoughts with a comment down below big thanks to Toyota for giving me the opportunity to review this car subscribe if you haven’t already my friends much love and I’ll see you all in that next one
Overall the 2024 Prius Prime SE looks way more premium than its actual price tier. Some folks have even compared it to the SF90 Ferrari! Of course this is too far of a stretch, but it only encapsulates how much better this car looks compared to its previous generation. It has also improved its powertrain from 121 to 220 horsepower, which is not fast, but a much welcomed 99 more than prior gen. But will these changes be enough to overcome its reputation? Join the conversation and leave your comment down below.
#ToyotaPartner @toyotausa
🎥 Want Your Car Reviewed? Fill Out the Form: https://jubbalandcars.com
🏆 Jubbal & Cars Driving Index: https://jubbalandcars.com/jcdi
LINKS FROM VIDEO:
Mazda CX-50 Long-Term Owner Review https://youtu.be/60498bHvnz8
📹 My POV Filming Gear: https://kit.co/kevinjubbalmd
My Other YouTube Channels
🩺 Med School Insiders: https://youtube.com/medschoolinsiders
👨⚕️ Kevin Jubbal, M.D.: https://youtube.com/kevinjubbalmd
Follow Me on Social!
📸 Instagram – https://instagram.com/jubbalandcars
🐦 Twitter – https://twitter.com/jubbalandcars
🗣️ Facebook – https://facebook.com/jubbalandcars
🎵 Tiktok – https://www.tiktok.com/@jubbalandcars
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Introduction
02:26 POV Review
11:50 Final Thoughts
