2023 Gen 5 Prius & Prius Prime Launch Videos

Can you confirm if that 3rd video is the new 2023 Prius on Toyota's private Shiomyama test track? It looks like it based on the green fences and landscaping.

If so, that's insane. Toyota/Lexus develop some serious cars on that track.

 

Need a quick primer on what Gen5 versions USA gets. Hybrid? PHEV? Solar roof?

 

here's a good video that shows the inside and out.

 

yes

 

usa getting the solar roof?

 

Yes on the Prime XSE trim.

 

wow, that's uge!

 

I was wondering if they cleaned it up a bit over the European version. That one had a separate NiMH buffer battery plus its own inverter.

 

i remember that. wasn't that why they originally made a 4 seater here?

 

Yep, that’s where they stored the NiMH buffer battery. Should have added underneath the center console in the back.

 

Wasn't the original buffer battery and solar inverter where the regular HEV had its traction battery, on top of the fuel tank and significantly below the seat? (And, I believe you can get a Gen 4 PHV with solar and 5 seats in Japan today.)

AFAIK, the real reason why the Gen 4 PHV/Prime launched as a 4-seater was the change from a ~5 kWh battery to the 8.8 kWh battery it ultimately shipped with was so late in development that the suspension wasn't properly set up for it, and they had to limit the number of passengers to not risk overloading the suspension. Once they could update the suspension with the mid-cycle update, they could put a full 3-seat rear seat in.

 

Hopefully, our 52K mile tradein will not be crossing the 200K mile range, by the time it gets to us out in the boonies.

.

 

@bisco was correct, Toyota originally had the "solar battery" under the center console in the rear seats. Here's some disassembly pictures from the 2017 Prius PHV.


Here's the link fromToyota Tech:https://www.toyota-tech.eu/HYBRID/HVDM/EN/Prius_PHV_ZVW52.pdf

 

That was the main reason for the delay to 5 seats. They had to figure out where to put the solar battery and the inverter and brace the back seats for the extra weight of a 5th passenger. Since we never got the solar roof, we had a hole under the center console and it sort of took on a life of it's own that Toyota did not engineer for a 5th passenger.

 

So, Limited is XSE Premium now?

I see that it is self-driving at speeds below 25 mph now.

I also see that the 19" wheels are not standard across trims.

 

Sorry, that's weird or maybe the dealers didn't want to mess with training technicians on a very low sales item. But at least it didn't affect a 5th passenger. Maybe, not really, since nobody hasn't specifically verified if there's seating for three back there.

 

I found out in stop-and-go traffic tonight that this feature already exists with TSS 2.0 in my car. LOL It sets the maximum speedometer speed to 19 mph (a true speed of 17 mph) though. Otherwise, it works fairly well.