The 2017 Toyota Prius Prime is the pinnacle of Toyota’s groundbreaking hybrid, and now the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has rated the Prime at 133 MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent) while running in EV mode.
This rating is higher than that of its most obvious rival, the Chevrolet Volt, which is rated at 106 MPGe when the engine isn’t running.
The Prius Prime, like all Prius models, can use both the gasoline engine and the electric engine to move the car, while the Volt is all-electric for motivation, with the gas engine acting as a generator.
The plug-in hybrid Prime can travel 25 miles on pure electric power alone, and up to a maximum speed of 84 mph. The Volt, on the other hand, can travel 53 miles before the engine needs to fire up and start charging the battery. All of these are EPA ratings.
The Prime’s number outpaces the company’s estimate of 124 MPGe.
The Prime has the same 1.8-liter, Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder engine and electric motor as other Priuses, but it can be plugged in to recharge, unlike the regular Prius that is a pure hybrid. The 8.8 kWh battery pack is twice the size of the previous Prius plug-in hybrid.
Check out this TFLcar video of the first drive of the new 2017 Toyota Prius Prime:
