The outlook toward the humble Toyota Prius took a global shift when Toyota revealed the redesign for the 2023 model year . Once the butt of just about every automotive joke, the Prius suddenly started receiving praise for its new makeover. Moreover, some journalists and critics have even started touting that the Prius is cool now.
That comes down to the individual perspective, but one thing remains for sure: it's a Prius, and it's going to be great at Prius things. The Prius Prime is the plug-in hybrid version of the iconic hybrid that is now rapidly approaching its 25th birthday in North America, and when a 2024 Prius Prime SE landed on my driveway, I was actually pretty excited. Not just because of its refreshing looks and practicality, but also because I live in Southern California, and gas is quite expensive here.
Naturally, the first thing I opted to do was put Toyota's advertised range and fuel economy ratings to the test. Toyota says that the 2024 Prius Prime can deliver up to 52 MPG, with electric-only range of up to 44 miles. For many folks, that EV range alone would cover their day-to-day use and then some.
For my first test, I ventured off to San Diego from my location northeast of Los Angeles. In total, the trip worked out to be a little over 300 miles. Fortunately, I didn't run into a ton of traffic, which is a bit unusual for this location.
As a result, my average speed stayed around 70 mph. Combining that average speed with the fact that the trip back home is l.