2025 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid XSE Premium Review: Stunning Style With Exemplary Efficiency

The Toyota Prius has always delivered exceptional fuel economy. Since the first version of this electrified hatchback hit the market in the mid-1990s, the car has always been laser-focused on maximizing the number of miles you can stretch each gallon of gasoline. The problem is, however, that this incredible efficiency meant driving a car that’s about as stylish as a pair of oversized elastic-waist jeans and less fun than getting oral surgery.

But no more! When the Prius was redesigned a few years ago, the car was absolutely transformed, losing the alien spacecraft styling it was known for since day one, trading that in for a design that’s sleek and subtle in a way you’d never expect from a Toyota. The current-generation Prius is not only gorgeous to behold, but the vehicle is as economical as ever, more premium than you’d expect, and still priced to sell. The super-efficiency Plug-In Hybrid model, especially in range-topping XSE Premium trim, isn’t cheap, but it won’t decimate your budget, either. The example provided for evaluation here checks out for $44,32,4 including $1,135 in destination fees, a totally reasonable sum for all the great features – and incredible efficiency – this fabled hybrid provides.

2025 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid XSE Premium First Impressions

What can I say? The latest and greatest Prius is absolutely stunning. In fact, I’d argue this is the best-looking Toyota ever designed, a hot take I won’t back down from. Unlike other vehicles manufactured by this Japanese automaker, the Prius has no tacked-on trim, the body is free of superfluous swoops or sculpting, and the grille is perfectly sized, unlike nearly every modern Lexus. Compared to its predecessor, this generation of the Prius is super clean and sleek, plus the proportions are nicely balanced.

Exterior Dimensions

This example of the Prius Plug-In Hybrid is dressed in Supersonic Red paint ($475 extra), a vibrant hue that contrasts nicely with some black accents around the wheel openings, front fascia, sideview mirror caps, and rear hatch. The wheels are also treated to a black finish that really pops next to their frosty machined faces.

As you’d expect for a Toyota, the paint quality is superb, smooth, free of defects, and with minimal orange peel-like dimpling. The gaps between the swing panels and other body components are tight and consistent around the car, reinforcing the craftsmanship. Overall, with its sleek design and excellent build quality, this Prius looks like it could have been created by a German manufacturer or even Volvo, the styling is that tasteful and restrained.

Driving Impressions And Performance

Dynamically, the Prius Plug-In Hybrid is buttoned-down and impressively refined. This is a small, reasonably affordable car, so there’s no expectation for this Toyota to deliver luxury levels of refinement, and yet the Prius comes very close.

This liftback’s interior remains impressively hushed, even at extra-legal speeds on the highway. The Prius’ steering lacks any feel (just like practically every other vehicle these days), but the ratio is quick and crisp, helping the car feel agile and sportier than you might expect. This example’s 19-inch wheels are just about perfectly sized, fitting the vehicle nicely without being too small or laughably oversized. Also, those rollers don’t negatively impact the ride quality much at all. The Prius feels firm over bumps and ruts, but the body is well controlled, and the suspension does a superb job filtering out roadway harshness and grit, so it never reaches the passenger compartment.

Acceleration And Braking

Despite the focus on fuel economy, the Prius Plug-In hybrid offers surprisingly potent performance. The car’s drivetrain features a 2.0-liter Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder engine as well as an electronically controlled continuously variable automatic transmission (eCVT), a bit of engineering wizardry that melds two motor-generators with a special planetary gearset to provide transmission functionality with no fixed ratios.

Now, on its own, that engine is good for 150 horsepower and 139 pound-feet of torque, respectable figures, but this car’s net system horsepower is considerably more impressive. The Prius Plug-In Hybrid is graced with an excellent 220 hp, enough to provide unexpectedly quick acceleration, an estimated 0-to-60 time of around 6.7 seconds, and a fantastic performance when you factor in the fuel economy, which we’ll cover shortly.

That sprightly performance is achieved with the help of the engine; when the 13.6-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack is charged up and you’re running exclusively on electricity, the Prius’ acceleration is significantly dulled. This car moves, and the performance is adequate for everyday driving, but you will never win any drag races. For the best acceleration, internal combustion is required here.

Performance Specifications

The Prius’ powertrain works exceptionally well, and this car’s braking performance is excellent, too. The transition from regenerative to friction braking is seamless, and the pedal itself feels firm and easy to modulate. What more could you ask for? Well, how about an enhanced regeneration setting?

As in Past iterations of the Prius, this example also has a “B mode” that you can shift into with the gear selector. This setting is just like drive, but with enhanced regenerative braking when you lift your foot off the accelerator. I definitely prefer this mode, but other drivers might want less aggressive regen, and the Prius gives you a choice.

2025 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid XSE Premium Fuel Economy

When it comes to fuel economy, the 2025 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid is exceptionally efficient. The car is rated at 48 miles per gallon combined when operated as a conventional hybrid, that is, when the gasoline engine is helping propel the car.

If you’re driving exclusively off the battery pack, this Toyota should return a staggering 114 miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe), a figure that’s considerably better than some pure EVs. As for electric range, the Prius Plug-In Hybrid is rated at 40 miles on a full charge. In mixed driving, roughly 50 percent highway and 50 percent backroads while fully charging the car, I’ve been getting 60.3 mpg, an awesome showing. Lower trim levels are even more efficient than this top-end trim.

Those impressive fuel economy figures can help drivers save big money. The estimated annual fuel cost for this Toyota – assuming you drive 15,000 miles per year and gasoline costs $3.50 per gallon – is just $800. Additionally, according to the EPA, the Prius Plug-In Hybrid is expected to save owners $5,500 in fuel costs over five years compared to the average new vehicle sold today.

Interior Design And Comfort

Moving inside, the Prius’ cabin is stylish and well-built. The low dashboard is made of attractive plastics, both hard and soft, and most of the controls are easy to reach and operate. Front and rear, this vehicle’s seats are soft and supportive, plus the driver’s chair power adjusts in eight ways and has a memory setting. In the XSE Premium model, the front buckets are also heated and ventilated for year-round comfort.

This car’s steering wheel is heated, too, a nice touch. The wheel also has an unusually small diameter, though you get used to this quickly. This design trait was likely done to improve the visibility of the digital instrument cluster.

Interior Dimensions

This Prius is fitted with a whopping six USB ports, more than there are seats, though be warned, they are all of the type-C style. If you’ve got an older cable, make sure to bring an adapter or upgrade to something newer. For life-sized adults, the Prius’ backseat is a little tight. The backrest is a skosh too upright for optimal comfort, and the headroom is snug for six-footers, but if you’re shorter than that, this isn’t a bad place to spend time, plus the outboard positions in this example are heated.

Technology And Ease Of Use

As for technology, the Prius offers what’s expected, though it does not distance itself from rivals in any meaningful ways. The 12.3-inch touchscreen runs a familiar and responsive infotainment system. This is not my favorite setup around, but it gets the job done. Wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are both supported, great features to be sure, though I’ve had repeated issues getting my iPhone connected to the multimedia system. Restarting the car quickly corrects this problem, though why it happens in the first place is a mystery.

Rather than some touchscreen nonsense, the Prius has a traditional volume knob, which is great. What’s kind of a head-scratcher, however, is the placement of this dial; it’s all the way on the passenger side of the screen, a big reach for the driver. Yes, there’s a volume rocker on the steering wheel, but this design choice is still very curious.

Aside from the main screen, there are two other displays in the Prius. There’s a digital rearview mirror, which takes a video feed from the rear-facing camera to provide a dramatically wider field of view to the back of the car, a feature I happen to love. There’s also a 7-inch digital instrument cluster. These electronic gauges are not particularly attractive, and changing what’s displayed is rather unintuitive, but the bigger issue is the placement of the screen. It’s mounted high on the dashboard to pull double-duty, to replace both a traditional instrument cluster and a head-up display. This is a good idea in theory, but in practice, the steering wheel rim blocks much of the screen if the column isn’t lowered, an odd design choice.

Cargo And Storage Space

When it comes to interior storage and cargo space, the Prius has an advertised 20.3 cubic feet of junk-hauling room in the trunk. Fold the 60/40-split rear backrest down, and that figure increases to a more-than-respectable 26.7 cubes.

Throughout the cabin, storage space for smaller items is decent. The center console has a respectable amount of room underneath the armrests, and there’s a storage cubby ahead of the cup holders complete with a hidden bin underneath. Naturally, the Prius has door pockets, too, but they’re all unusually small.

2025 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid XSE Premium vs. Its Competitors

As you might imagine, this version of the Prius competes with other plug-in hybrid vehicles. This includes a wide range of cars and SUVs like the Kia Sportage, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, and Lincoln Corsair Grand Touring. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of smaller cars fitted with plug-in hybrid powertrains, meaning there are precious few direct competitors for this Prius to tussle with, though there is one.

2025 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid XSE Premium Compares To The 2025 Kia Niro PHEV SX Touring

The Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid and Kia Niro PHEV are well-matched rivals. Both vehicles offer decent performance, have good all-electric range and provide excellent fuel economy. The entry-level Prius Plug-In Hybrid starts at roughly $34,570 including destination fees, and in comparison, the Niro PHEV can be yours for around $35,885 including $1,395 for delivery, meaning the Toyota is slightly more affordable. Between these two, the Prius is probably the smarter buy for most drivers because it offers a little more than the Kia.

Performance

When it comes to performance, the Niro PHEV has 180 system hp and 195 lb-ft of torque. That’s enough to get this hatchback from 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in an advertised 9.8 seconds. The car’s battery pack clocks in at 11.1 kWh, a little smaller than the Prius’, which results in less electric range, an estimated 33 miles according to the EPA. All this means the Toyota is quicker, has more range and greater all-electric efficiency, though, both hybrid powertrains are rated at 48 mpg combined.

Comfort

These plug-in hybrids are comfortable and well equipped, but the Niro PHEV has an appreciably larger interior. This Kia is graced with a maximum of 54.6 cubic feet of luggage space, significantly more than the Prius provides. Beyond that, the Kia has several additional inches of headroom and legroom in the backseat, a boon for passengers. What’s interesting, though, is that the Prius’ wheelbase is 1.2 inches greater and its overall length 7.1 inches longer, making it all the more impressive that the Niro PHEV is more spacious inside.

Technology

Not surprisingly, these two cars compare very favorably when it comes to technology. Both have wireless charging, support Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, they each have tons of USB ports, and there is no shortage of driver aids. Lane-keeping assist, adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and forward collision warning are all standard in both of these plug-in hybrids.

Our Recommendation For Which Model You Should Buy

So, which of these fuel-sipping vehicles should you buy, the Prius or the Niro? Both will certainly get the job done, but the Toyota is probably a slightly better choice. Not only does the Prius look absolutely fantastic, but this car is super-efficient, pleasant to drive, plenty refined, and won’t break the bank, even if you opt for the top-shelf model. Toyota also has the best reputation in the business for building reliable cars and trucks that just don’t quit. The Niro PHEV comes very close to what the Toyota offers, but if you want more passenger room or cargo space, this Kia has the advantage in these areas.