[h=1]Toyota Prius Prime Plug-in 54 MPG[/h]Let's not use fake-o "mpg" where we count electric as "mpg"
The 2017 Prius Prime makes a strong case for green car driving. | Eric Schaal
Everyone who drives an
electric vehicle immediately notices two things: the acceleration and the fuel economy. Driving an EV means instant power from a stoplight, and the feeling is addicting. Likewise, finishing a trip with
100 mpg or better makes you want more. Both elements are major selling points for consumers.
Yet plug-in hybrids and all-electric models still post small sales numbers. Which leads us to the two things everyone dislikes about EVs:
charging a car and paying so much extra for the battery. Once you start talking about installing a charger in the
garage and paying thousands extra to go electric, you lose about 95% of the car-buying public.
Then Toyota released the second generation of its plug-in hybrid, calling it Prius Prime. With this model, you would charge the car when you had a chance and travel 25 miles getting the best economy around. When you couldn’t charge, you would get the best economy of any car without a battery on the standard (54 mpg) hybrid system. Plus, there was another kicker: It cost the same as the regular Prius after the
$4,500 tax credit.
In other words, the 2017 Toyota Prius Prime represents a small revolution in electrified vehicles. An eight-day test.