Hello all, I'm looking to buy a new hybrid. Wanted folks opinions on Prius, vs Corolla Hybrid, vs Prius Prime. Also, how long does it generally take to get a car when you order online? I'm favoring the Prius because Corolla Hybrid safety rating was lower than Prius, especially with regard to headlights. Also favoring Prius because it ranks higher on storage space than Prime. Still, I like the idea of plug-in if this applies in cold north of Minneapolis -- saw a video that said Prime uses gas engine to keep the car warm in cold weather, so actually can do worse than Prius when it comes to mileage. Any opinions greatly appreciated.
of course, price will come into play. availability is very low these days, so that will affect pricing and delivery times. best to search dealers for in stock vehicles, or ask how long a factory order would take. they have cars coming in all the time, and can give you estimates from toyota. prime is a great vehicle in most any climate. mn is fine, do you have a garage? if you can make use of 20-30 miles of ev, you give up 3" of floor depth in the hatch, and no spare tire. but most prius have no spare, so you have to research which models do if you want one. i would think prime would get better mpg's than the standard prius, except perhaps the eco.
I have no direct experience with the Corolla nor the regular Prius. However, I would like to point out that the regular Prius must use the waste heat from the engine to heat the cabin in much the same way that the Prime does when the outside temps get extremely low. That should indicate that under some circumstances both will have the same mileage.
My thoughts re the Corolla Hybrid are two fold. First, it’s only available as a “stripper” model… a lot of the options you can get on the regular Corolla and on the Prius are simply unavailable. Second, I hate the old style gear shifter, which takes up way too much room in the console.
The Prius is also available with AWD-e. Not the most powerful system (7hp rear motor but decent amount of torque) but enough to get you moving and with barely a fuel penalty.
I too considered the same three cars last fall and finally decided on the Prime. It came down to which was best for my primary use as a commuter to work and guilt towing a fifth wheel in the summer with a gas guzzling F250. iPhone ?
Thanks for the responses. I do like the idea of a spare tire (just in case), but I must admit that I recently signed up for AAA, and always carry a can of tire filler because over 65, I'm not likely to be trying to change a tire on my own anyway. I didn't pick up on the items not available with the Corolla, so I appreciate that observation -- might as well get the Prius Eco in that case (though I could really care less about pairing the iPhone -- in fact, consider it to be a real security concern). Yeah, the display on the Prius is one of the reasons I started looking at the other cars -- really don't like everything (including the speedometer) placed where I have to take my eyes off the road to see it. But, I also didn't like the way the Corolla display blocks a portion of the front window. I guess I'll look at availability of Prius, Prime and, possibly AWD. I really need to get a new car before I have to spend over 3K to fix the 2006 I currently own. Thanks everyone for bringing up pros and cons. Not hearing anything regarding reliability differences, so I'll assume that they are all as trouble-free in the first 5 years as my 2006 has been.
Ehh, about 5mpg in the real world, or somewhere around 10%. All AWD models also have a NiMH battery pack instead of Lithium - but you can argue about which is best all day long here. Obviously no spare, and you are hauling a bit more weight around. I wouldn't call it "barely any penalty" - it is a penalty. I feel like somehow it's even worth for a Prius because the reason you get one is MPGs and getting a less-MPG-y Prius than the maximum MPG Prius seems a little counter productive - might as well go for something else. As for other comments in this thread. The Corolla is not any more efficient, while being less practical because in their wisdom, Toyota chose to offer the Corolla Hybrid as a relatively low spec sedan variant only - no hatch, no higher trim levels. Probably (definitely) to not step on the Prius. For me me to go Corolla - I would either have to REALLY love the sedan shape (I don't), or it be considerably cheaper than a comparable trim level Prius - so is it? Prime vs the non-Primes is a little more straight forward. For a while there was a point where the Prime was actually the cheapest Prius you could get because rebate. Even if you never plugged it in, unless you'd miss the extra cargo space, you wouldn't really miss out on anything by going this route. Of course in a more sane scenario where the Prime is more expensive... the question becomes "will you be able to plug it in?" and "will your daily routine fit into 20 miles?". If the answer is yes to both, then it's time to do some napkin math. If the answer is no - you're not missing anything going regular Prius.
2022 Prius fuel economy ratings on Transport Canada, in liters/100 km: Taking the "combined ratings", converting to mpg (US), shows a 6.25% drop, at least in their test cycles:
