Thinking of buying a new Prius, but....

In MPG anything from 38 to 56 may be typical with the 19", as a conservative all-year average I would say around 47

 

I would stick with something that doesn’t identify you with idiots

 

We have a 2017 LE and a 2021 AWD and love them. My wife is giving her 2017 to our oldest daughter soon so has been researching replacing it.
She narrowed it down to a Prius, Camry Hybrid, Corolla Cross Hybrid, and a Corolla Hybrid.
She was ready to order a Prius from the dealer but, right now, Toyota isn't selling them or allowing orders for them until this tailgate recall is resolved.
So, yesterday, she put in an order for a 2024 Corolla AWD Hybrid SE. (They had an LE so we went on a test ride....very nice car, especially at that price.)
Expected wait time is 3-4 months.

 

We didn't get the same model you're considering, but I think my comment applies.

We got ours because it was a nice hatchback. Exactly the size and shape we wanted. We didn't really want hybrid, that part came along for the ride.

We figured out that we could disable all the hybrid energy flow readouts and treat it like an ordinary car, so we do.

And it generally gives us 40-60mpg depending on the season- very sensitive to heat and AC usage, but a lot of small cars are like that.

 

I drive my fwd XLE like any normal car. I routinely get 52-54 mpg. I live in a rural area so that likely helps with mileage. These cars have decent power so have fun with it.

 

I'm an AWD Limited, so I'm going to get the worst mpg of all the trims. I'm typically getting 40-45 in the winter and 45-50 in the summer(current tank is something like 48.7mph after 350 miles). I can get above or below those ranges depending on exact conditions(wind, temp, speed, short trips vs long, etc.), but most tanks land somewhere in the middle of them.

I don't hypermile, but I will drive 5-10mph below the speed limit if I'm not in a hurry. What bothers me are the idiots that won't pass even when there's plenty of room. If there's enough oncoming traffic where people behind me can't pass(like what you encountered), I'll accelerate to at least the speed limit(maybe even +5mph on a busy day). But if there's minimal/no oncoming traffic, I'll slide a bit to the right so the car behind can see that the road is safe to pass. It feels like 9 times out of 10, they just sit there as open window after open window goes by.

In my area: (just to give you context for my mpg numbers)
Interstate speed limit is 75mph - I drive 75-80mph
Highway speed limits are 55-65 - I typically drive +/-5mph; occasionally -10mph on a very quiet day
City speed limits are mostly 25mph - I drive 25-30mph

Driving at or under the speed limit when I've got time to spare is the only out of the ordinary thing I do. Other than that, it's driven like any regular car.