Canada Prius Prime trim level details

From facebook... Prius Prime (up on a pedestal)... off limits to our grubby fingers. On the other hand, text indicates that 2023 Prius hybrids are available to sit in.

 

Sitting, there shouldn't a difference between the two. What needs confirmation is whether that is true of the cargo space. It should be, but seeing how much space the old Prime's lower capacity, air cooled battery took up, it doesn't feel possible.

 

Nice! I will be there tonight (hoping the weather cooperates).

Too bad it is roped off, but not surprising since it has not officially been released yet. I am sure the standard Prius must be available to sit in, and unlike 4th Gen it is essentially identical anyway, from a looks and comfort point of view.

Did that Prime have the solar roof, like I believe it did in Montréal (as I assume it is the same vehicle)? I remember seeing a post about that which is odd, given the digital board only talked about the glass roof and no mention of solar. Perhaps they are still deciding if they will offer it in the Canadian market? I may ask the Toyota rep and see what they say about it (for what that’s worth…).

 

What do you mean by standard Prius, the base LE level? That’s not coming to Canada, at least not currently.

 

Non plugin

 

Gotcha.

 

That rear window is indeed pretty slim.

 

Drash, I went to the car show today and got a couple of Toyota folks to measure the solar cell area on the Prime that was on a display stand (see below). It was 35.75" side to side by 37.75" front to back. What a gorgeous machine.

 

I was there yesterday and have a bunch of pictures similar to what is already shared.

I agree with the headroom - I am 6’2” and found the front completely fine, and the rear was “ok”… my hair was touching the roof (what I have left anyway, LOL), but a little slouch and no issue. I won’t be sitting back there anyway. I did find the ingress/egress a little more tight than my Gen 3 - which is expected given the lowered roof - but nothing that would change my decision to get one. Could be a challenge for a bigger person with mobility challenges though.

I was a bit surprised about the trunk space - it looked smaller in person than it appeared in images, and I found that “floor panel” extremely flimsy. The vehicle did have a sign saying it was pre-production and all finishes may not be final, so it is possible that may change? The good news though is the under floor styrofoam has a number of storage cubbies for emergency supplies, washer fluid (?), etc, so the space it not entirely wasted, though it would be interesting if someone makes an aftermarket version which is thinner to drop the floor a bit lower, keeping in mind there are some high voltage cables below, of which to be careful.

I did ask the Toyota rep (who didn’t seem very knowledgeable) about the solar panel on the Prime, and they said that “is for California, not here”. (?) I told them I heard the US wasn’t getting it either, and sort of got a shrug… so who knows. Doesn’t matter to me, I would probably prefer the glass roof anyway, given the expected cost difference (assuming solar roof will be a ~$1000+ more than the glass roof? Just a guess).

What was cool at the show is they were giving EV/PHEV test drives next to the Toyota area (and they had a RAV4 Prime there, among others… you can see in the background of the red Prime picture shared above); had I been there earlier I could have driven one, but the test drive area was already closed when I got to that area (near closing time). Ah well.

 

I agree, especially for areas that experience winter/snow.

Personally, I prefer the benefit from the glass roof anyway, compared to maybe getting a few km/miles of energy per day, in some seasons? Further to that, I presume with a solar roof it would be even important not to leave the car fully charged so the energy has somewhere to go, which is one more thing to think about, with minimal benefit anyway.

Do we know if the Prime will have a “Max charge” setting so it only charges up to a specified %? I am not sure if the last Prime had that (don’t think so?), I know my PiP certainly doesn’t, with the tiny battery…

 

Genius on Toyota’s part to address the long standing complaints about the rear view’bar’ by eliminating the lower window

 

I keep reading that the hatch is smaller, not a good sign

 

But that tiny battery is mighty!

 

Very unfortunate that Toyota did that. It certainly added some rear view and it was a great place to advertise Toyota's hybrid racing exploits.

 

The gen 4 Prime solar system actually had its own separate battery to charge, which would then dump that charge into the main battery when the car was on. The PV only supplied power to the 12V side while the car was running, which would help some with efficiency.

Other places have clouds and weather, including Japan. Canada's latitudes means you are getting less solar energy before those can hinder things.

The old Prime doesn't have a max charge option. I'd guess the new one won't either, but say so without knowing how it is in the Rav4 Prime and bZ4X.

No {split rear window} for you.

 

I just looked back at my own post from Jan. 17. Brave words spoken, but the Toyota rep I spoke with at the show yesterday wasn't very knowledgeable, so there was no heck grilled. Have to look for another opportunity, I guess.

 

It certainly is. But it could be a ploy to get people to buy the Limited trim with the digital mirror, as that is the natural fix to the tiny rear window and lack of rear wiper.

I am curious to know how effective the rear camera washer is, when it comes to “real problems”, like cleaning off road salt and sludge like we get in Canadian winters. It seems very few YouTubers have talked about this or tested it. Here is a close up I took last night.

886AA9CC-4767-4F80-A1FB-A41201FE62FE by Sarge posted Feb 23, 2023 at 12:00 PM

Yes, that sounds familiar, but I also recall hearing that the old solar system could only charge the 12v while the new version can also add some range? So there could be some differences in how it operates.

Regardless, while it is certainly a “cool” feature, the “payback” is likely non-existent (especially in a less-sunny areas), particularly when trade off is having the open airiness of a glass roof… which is why I think I would prefer to just have the glass roof instead (it would be nice if it opened too, but that’s fine). Just my opinion, to each their own.