Automotive Engineering - May 2023 - 15

ROAD READY
Toyota launches longer-range 2023 Prius Prime
The 2023 Prius Prime can travel up to 44 miles solely on battery power, versus 25 miles for the
previous-generation Prime.
Toyota's rollout of the 2023 Prius is a
two-phase affair. Although the company
didn't say it outright, the launch seems
targeted to address two distinct Prius
customers. Those who just want a stylish
hybrid got the fifth-generation 2023
Prius in all its sexy-new-sheetmetal,
6%-more-powerful glory. And for hardcore
hybrid fans, phase two brings the
Prime (e.g. plug-in) variant: big battery
for serious electric-only driving range,
same shocking new shape.
The conventional 2023 Prius has serious
newfound power. The plug-in hybrid
Prime - starting at just over
$33,000 in base SE trim - is about
more EV driving range, namely a 75%
boost to 44 miles (71 km) for the
17-inch-wheeled SE, 40 miles (64 km)
for the XSE and XSE grades with 19inch
wheels. Power for the Prime's 161hp
permanent-magnet AC synchronous
motor that drives the front wheels and
handles regenerative-braking duty,
comes from a 13.6-kWh lithium-ion battery
pack that has substantially greater
capacity. The previous-generation Prius
Prime's 8.8-kWh pack enabled just an
estimated 25 miles (40 km) of electric
driving range.
The Prime's pumped-up battery pack
is situated a little more forward and
under the rear seats than the previous
model, where the pack sat mostly under
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
the cargo floor, chief engineer Satoki
Oya told SAE Media. That and the repositioned
fuel tank and revised rear section
that comes with the second-generation
version of the Toyota New
Generation Architecture mean that allwheel
drive - available for the nonplugged
2023 Prius - unfortunately
can't happen for the Prime, Oki said.
More battery per pound
Even if the 2023 Prius Prime's underside
is too crowded for AWD, it seems
Oki's team nonetheless managed some
magic with the lithium-ion batteries
since the fourth-generation Prime's
pack was engineered. The outgoing
Prime's battery weighed a listed 265 lb
(120.2 kg), while the new Prime's pack
is claimed to have nearly 60% more
energy capacity yet weighs just 19 lb
(8.6 kg) more.
The power-dense battery matches
the Prime's overall muscled-up powertrain.
As with the conventional Prius,
the Prime uses a 2.0L Atkinson-cycle
I-4 (up from 1.8L in the previous-gen
Prius) that generates 150 hp versus the
1.8L's 96 hp. Total engine and electric
motor power for the new Prius Prime is
220 hp, compared with 121 hp for the
2022 Prius Prime. Even though there's
the inevitable curb-weight gain - the
new Prime in top XSE Premium trim
weighs 3571 lb (1620 kg), a significant
196 lb (89 kg) more than the previousgeneration
Prime's top trim 3375 lb -
the new Prime can make the 0-60 mph
(0-97 km/h) run in a reasonably brisk
6.6s, according to Toyota.
There's a price to be paid, though, for
more power, more weight - and more
electric driving range. Toyota's specs
say the most-efficient Prime SE trim is
rated 53/51/52 city/highway/combined
mpg and 127 mgp-e. The previous-gen
Prime was good for 55/53/54 mpg and
The 2023 Prius Prime upgrades to a 2.0L four-cylinder that generates 54 hp more than the
previous 1.8L's 96 hp.
May 2023 15
BOTH IMAGES: TOYOTA

https://www.sae.org/news/2022/12/2023-toyota-prius-overview https://www.sae.org/news/2022/12/2023-toyota-prius-overview

Automotive Engineering - May 2023

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