When 2023 Prime Phev is test driven with main (charging) battery depleted, will the Prime perform and sound just like its cousin - the already tested 2023 Prius hybrid? Yea I know weight difference but wondering if the Prime might outperform the Hybrid when strictly in motor/gasoline power mode. I'm excluding the faster 0 to 60 time of 6.6 seconds since that's time improvement might be due to battery. But if I was driving the cheaper hybrid model and then started driving the Prime (with drained charging battery) would I see a difference between the two - or no difference at all. It would be nice to think the Prime has a few more bells and whistles over current hybrid, other than just 32 to 38 miles of pure battery mileage.
it would sound the same, mpg's would probably be about the same, what else? acceleration might be similar, but iirc in the past, there have been unexplainable differences. with the battery charged though, i think gen 4 prime is quicker in ev mode than hybrid model
The gen4 Prime is EPA rated about 2mpg better than the noplug. That might be true of the gen5. The extra weight could change how the car handles.
They will, most likely, feel and sound extremely similar. I had Corolla 2019 hybrid and switched to Prius PHV 2021 and there certainly is a difference in CVT tuning, engine noise etc. PHV is quieter when it comes to engine, engine switching is more smooth and brake pedal is tuned better as well, but that is the old platform and the new one seems pretty much identical for HEV and PHEV version. I am really curious how will the PHEV version compare to HEV in terms of material and weight - "old" one PHEV has a carbon boot and few unique parts compared to HEV, but this time the difference might be really negligible. Hopefully PHEV would not just be Prius with a bigger battery, but we have to wait, there is no information regarding PHEV differences I know of.
The PHEV Prii were all just a Prius with a bigger battery and plug. There were other differences to the gen4 one that weren't simply feature and style changes for sake of making them different. They were to support the EV role, like the heat pump, or to offset the extra weight from the battery. Since some of those were continued in the Rav4 Prime, and are being produced for BEVs, I would expect differences for the EV role to continue. I expect features to be close to the Prius NP for cost savings. We know the style is the same except for accents.
