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The 2023 Toyota Prius Prime is much better than the 2022 Prius Prime

Stop Saying Hybrid, and Start Saying Electrically-Boosted

It’s time we looked at the hybrid motor differently. Since 1997 when Toyota launched the Prius we’ve looked at hybrid cars and their dorky electric motors wrong. We’re pretty sure the words “That’s a cool Prius” have never been spoken aloud. But now that Ferrari, Lamborghini and others have realized the benefits of electrification, that …

It’s time we looked at the hybrid motor differently. Since 1997 when Toyota launched the Prius we’ve looked at hybrid cars and their dorky electric motors wrong. We’re pretty sure the words “That’s a cool Prius” have never been spoken aloud. But now that Ferrari, Lamborghini and others have realized the benefits of electrification, that image should change.

In a hybrid car, the electric motor supplements a small gas motor with extra power to boost range and lower emissions. The other tricks that also add power and boost range and loser emissions are superchargers and turbochargers. Those are considered performance enhancements for most cars. It’s time we started looking at hybrid cars as electrically-boosted performance machines, not dorky get-around commuters that we buy for stellar gas mileage.

Don’t call these hypercars hybrids

Ferrari SF90 Stradale Red
Ferrari SF90 Stradale | Martyn Lucy, Getty Images

Sports car manufacturers have discovered the magic power boost that an electric motor can add to a motor. Nobody would call the Ferrari SF90 Stradale a dorky ride. It’s a fast, sleek, expensive, and did we say fast sports car? It’s also electrically boosted, and it’s a plug-in at that. It’s doubtful you’ll see a $500,000 Ferrari pull up to the local charging station at Walmart, but it could happen.

The SF90 can sprint to 60 miles per hour from a stop in about 2.0 seconds. That’s seriously quick, and it does it with an electrically-boosted powertrain that starts with Ferrari’s 4.0-liter V8 and then adds three electric motors for an additional 217 horsepower and all-wheel drive. The car makes 986 horsepower, yet you can drive it silently and electrically if you want to.

Lamborghini’s newest hypercar, too, the Revuelto is an electrically-boosted beast that makes 1,001 horsepower. Its electric motors add 187 horses to the company’s v12. And, just like your RAV4 Prime, you can tool around the mall parking lot in a zero-emissions all-electric mode.

These hybrids burn gas and rubber

Formula 1 race cars have relied on hybrid electric motors to boost horsepower since 2014. Sure, that’s a weird racer-car system, and it relies on a dictionary’s worth of acronyms. But they’re the fastest cars on the planet.

Formula 1 drivers today rely on their electric motors to boost power. The electric motors can produce nearly 200 horsepower on their own, which is about as much as a Toyota 86 sports car makes. Overall, it boosts the turbocharged V6 engines to up to 1,000 horsepower. The trick with F1 cars that has yet to come to consumer vehicles, however, is that F1 drivers can store the battery’s electricity and then use it to pass like a boost button. Many drag racers use nitrous oxide to boost their gas-powered engines in a similar way.

However, F1 cars do get a huge boost in electricity from braking hard into corners. Drivers store that electric energy and then use it later. If you want to do a deep dive into F1 tech, check out MotorSport’s F1 expaliner.

They’re performance engines that surprise (even in family cars)

The 2023 Toyota Prius Prime is much better than the 2022 Prius Prime
2023 Toyota Prius Prime | Toyota

The Toyota Prius Prime, for one, should be considered a performance car. Its electric booster helps it make 220 horsepower. The new Honda Accord Hybrid, too, could be confused with a performance car. The booster helps it make 204 horsepower. The other bonus for these cars is that you get gas mileage north of 40 mpg.

So, the next time someone asks you, “Is that a hybrid?” you can say, “No, it’s electrically boosted like a Formula 1 car,” and then you might also hear, “That’s a cool Prius.”