If you’re shopping for a fuel-efficient car and looking to dip your toes into the EV craze without suffering from range anxiety, you should look at the Toyota Prius Prime. Experts rank the Toyota No.1 for best gas mileage, best plug-in hybrid, and best resale value among plug-in hybrid cars. So let’s take a closer look at the Toyota Prius Prime.

The Toyota Prius Prime

Toyota advertises the 2023 Prius Prime with a starting MSRP of $32,350 and estimates an all-electric driving range of up to 44 miles on a full charge. The Prius Prime SE’s 220-horsepower hybrid powertrain features a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine and electric motor combination that returns a projected EPA-estimated 127 mpge combined city and highway.

On gasoline-only, the Prime SE’s hybrid system still gets up to 52 mpg combined. However, XSE and XSE Premium models offer slightly reduced mpge and mpg fuel economy ratings. 

The 2023 Prius Prime offers innovative technology, such as Advanced Park for assisted parking in tight spots, to Traffic Jam Assist to avoid traffic delays with Toyota’s subscription-based Drive Connect. Other standard technology features include:

• Toyota Safety Sense 3.0, a pre-collision system with pedestrian detection, full-speed range dynamic radar cruise control, lane-departure alert with steering assist, lane tracing assist, road sign assist, and automatic high beams. 
• Blind spot monitor with rear cross-traffic alert
• Wireless smartphone integration with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto

Experts rank the Toyota Prius Prime No. 1 in three categories.

In a review of the “Most Reliable Plug-in Hybrid Cars for 2023,” iSeeCars ranked the Toyota Prius Prime in fourth place due to its 5.7-out-of-10 Reliability Score. However, that’s about the only category that sees the Prius Prime off the top step in the rankings, as it comes in No.1 for best gas mileage, best plug-in hybrid, and best resale value for a plug-in hybrid vehicle. 

Best gas mileage

As mentioned, the 2023 Prius Prime gets an EPA-estimated 127 mpge combined. The next closest competitor, according to iSeeCars’ is the Hyundai Ioniq Plug-in Hybrid with its estimated combined 119 mpge. The Honda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid rounds out the top three with 110 mpge combined. 

Best plug-in hybrid car

iSeeCars evaluated 12 million vehicles based on reliability, resale value, and safety before naming the Prius Prime as the best plug-in hybrid car. The Prius Prime received an iSeeCars score of 8.1-out-of-10 thanks to its excellent fuel economy, high resale value, and top-notch safety score. The Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid placed closely behind the Toyota with a 7.7 score.

Best resale value for a plug-in hybrid

The Prius Prime received iSeeCars’ top score for resale value for a plug-in hybrid with an 8.5. The runner-up in the category is the Honda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid, with a score of 7.9. Finally, the Hyundai Ioniq Plug-in Hybrid received the third-highest score for value retention, with a 7.2 score. 

Other highly rated PHEVs

A few other highly-rated plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) appear on the iSeeCars list of “Best Plug-in Hybrid Cars for 2023.” In second place behind the Prius Prime is the Pacifica Hybrid minivan, the only PHEV minivan available in the United States.

In third place is the top-ranked PHEV for reliability, the Hyundai Ioniq Plug-in Hybrid. Lastly, the second-most reliable PHEV Ford Fusion Energi rounds out the top four.