{"id":31236,"date":"2023-07-27T09:04:11","date_gmt":"2023-07-27T13:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=31236"},"modified":"2023-07-27T09:04:11","modified_gmt":"2023-07-27T13:04:11","slug":"payne-thats-a-prius-toyota-hybrid-goes-from-nerd-to-knockout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2023\/07\/payne-thats-a-prius-toyota-hybrid-goes-from-nerd-to-knockout","title":{"rendered":"Payne: That’s a Prius? Toyota hybrid goes from nerd to knockout"},"content":{"rendered":"

Holly Oaks<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 The hybrid Toyota Prius \u2014 Pious to its detractors \u2014 has always been designed to stand out. To be a statement. For its fifth generation, it\u2019s chosen beauty.<\/p>\n

Like the goth nerd who blossomed into the prom queen, the 2023 Prius has ditched its polarizing design to become one of the market’s best-looking compact hatchbacks. Green is chic, and Prius now dresses in fashionable, simple wardrobe like a Tesla or a Mercedes EQ sedan.<\/p>\n

Pious? Call it Precious.<\/p>\n

\"Once\"Once<\/p>\n
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The beauty is hardly skin deep. The Toyota sits on a much firmer TNGA platform \u2014 light years from its original noodle-soft frame \u2014 for better handling. Its interior is more mature, too, adopting conventional tablet console screen and ditching the bathroom sink-white console trim.<\/p>\n

Signature design cues like the dash-mounted shifter and split rear window are gone. Yes, there\u2019s an instrument display at the base of the windshield, but this is\u00a0more familiar to the electric bZ4X<\/a>\u00a0than to the old middle-mounted display. All this mainstreaming is a recognition that Prius is no longer a freak \u2014 it\u2019s been joined by numerous other hybrids, including the Hyundai Elantra, Honda Civic and the Corolla and Corolla Cross Hybrid cousins.<\/p>\n