Convert to 5 seater!

Easy peasy....

• A) Drive 4 seat Prime to dealer
• B) Trade in for 2020 Prime
  
• C) Voilà... 5 seater!

The 5th seat was a meh for us, but the 2020 Ltd had many features that were lacking on our 2018 Premium and, given an insane trade in valuation (higher than KBB) and other incentives, we opted to make the switch.

 

Back to the OP, it would be fascinating to see any/some generation Prius 3 person rear seat fit into the rear of a Prime.

Best case scenario would be a complete drop in with no modifications for seat mounting.



Rob43

 

I think it is possible from a can it be made to fit argument and even from a vehicle loading standpoint.

But I personally think the 5th seat is supposed to be reserved for small children and young teens. Just have a look at how narrow the waist must be in order to get a chest+lap seat belt to work.


source: 2020 Prius Prime Interior Virtual Tour

I think the car is better as a 4 seater. Everyone gets a proper seat, everyone is comfortable, and each passenger gets a proper safety chest+lap belt.

I think people in general tend to gravitate towards using the 5th seat for a full sized adult if given the opportunity and a full sized adult is probably not the passenger that the designer intended it to be used for.

edit: maybe they made the Prime a 4-seat vehicle so that Taxi companies would only use the regular Prius and not use up EV credits for the flagship Prius Prime? So that the Prime could be purchased by regular consumers rather than a large corporate entity.

 

so wait... no one has tried this yet?

 

Nope, more trouble than value

 

Looks like the op gave up pretty quickly

 

actually.. I just saw a video of someone who did it.. and... it doesn't look difficult at all. Im gonna try and source the parts used to see how much the damage would be. I really just want more overhead room when sleeping in the back, hoping for some gains some kind of way.

 

There are other recent postings asking this exact same question, for example:

I am also interested in to replacing the back seat to carry 3 across. I'd say there is quite a bit of interest, which is presumably one of the reasons why Toyota only provides 5-seater models from 2019 onward, including the new 2023 PHV (aka Prime) model.

Presumably the main question is where to put the AC/DC charging unit located under the backseat. (The battery itself is behind the rear seats.) In my case I also have CHAdeMO which might also require consideration. Some models have solar charging, which also takes up space under the back seat.

"Why would owners like a 5 seater?" some may ask? Well, for many reasons but for mainly for flexibility. Mostly I travel now with only 2 people and the backseat's backrest is permanently down to increase available room in the back i.e. effectively no back seat at all. However, sometimes I want to be able to transport people to sports, holidays, to events, ... and on those occasions I want 5 seats.

For me, the central pult at the back of our 4-seater is just wasted space and extra dead weight to lug around without purpose. But then I'm not everyone e.g.:

 

Would you mind posting the URL to that video, please?

 

perhaps this 5 seat conversion video

 

Thank you, drizzle. The conversion looks simple and probably not too costly assuming a suitable second-hand backseat can be found in reasonable condition and hopefully matching colours.

The video you refer to together with the following video show the battery and charging system in the 2017+ Prime and their locations:

The videos shows:

• the battery charging equipment under the back seat doesn't cause difficulties and can be left alone
• the battery charging equipment has an air-cooling system, so if a more powerful charging unit is installed e.g. 6.6kW or more (... would be great ...) then it should have its own air-cooling system, in which case it shouldn't have overheating problems (refer to the video at 10min 50s). This has been discussed elsewhere e.g.:

This thread regarding upgrading the 3.3kW charger is still active 3 years on.
PS: My Prius PHV (aka Prime) also has CHAdeMO charging, which charges the battery to 80% in about 1/4 hour at 17kW DC. (It won't charge beyond 80%). However, an upgraded AC charging system has many advantages e.g.:

 

That literally is the dumbest thing I have ever heard.

Most cars fool with the “capacity” so you can use either safely but Prime actually used obsolete p-metric in this day and age to just slink in for the capacity required.

 

Hi KevinNg, the answer to your original question is "yes" - it looks like you can easily convert the backseat to a bench for 3 people. Look at videos in posts #30 and #31 from 5 June 2023 above. If you do this conversion, perhaps you could post your experience? (If you're still following this thread ...)

 

I'm looking into trading my 2013 Prius Plug-in to a newer model. The - four seated - Prime 2016-2019 can be found at a cheaper price than the regular Prius in my country. Probably because of the limited seats and not all people have the possibility to charge their cars at home. And there is only that one 2022 Prime model - which has the five seats - and that one is just too expensive. Our family of five is very rarely in the car at the same time. But there are the few occasions per year we all travel to see relatives, etc. So I really want to explore the possibilty to buy a "cheaper" four seated Prime and convert it to a five seater. I looked at the video above and it all looked quite simple. There are no second-hand back seats from a Prime being sold in this region at the moment. Would a regular Prius backseat fit ?