2023 Prius Turns Heads at LA Auto Show
The New Look Of The Prius
This is the best-looking Prius ever and the most fuel-efficient one.
By Glenn Oyoung
Tue, Dec 6, 2022 06:36 PM PST
All images courtesy the manufacturer.
Quick gearhead exercise – I’ll name an OEM brand, and you think of an adjective. Ferrari… sexy. Rolls…stately. Aston Martin…shaken-not-stirred. How about Prius…thrifty? Eco-friendly? Driven purely by its styling, the word for Prius to me was wonky. That is how I would describe the styling of the Toyota Prius, from the first generation available Stateside circa 2000 up until the most recent generation. This changed at the LA Auto Show when the incoming 2023 Prius and Prius Prime turned heads and took the show by storm. Read that again – the Prius took the LA Auto Show by storm based on its looks alone.
Having worked in the transportation electrification space, I respect that the Prius is the car that made hybrid drivetrains commercially viable – and, by extension, laid the groundwork for today’s EV boom. I chalked the wonky, Apple Magic Mouse-like look (later imitated by other OEMs) up to the laws of physics and the need to make the car as aerodynamic as possible in pursuit of higher mpgs and saving trees, looks be damned.
Toyota’s design team in Japan has now made the tradeoff unnecessary. Thanks to the second-generation TNGA-C platform, which underpins Toyota’s newer compact cars and CUVs (think CH-R, Corolla Cross), the 2023 Prius has a 1-inch wider stance and a 2-inch lower roofline. The result is a lower-slung, athletic look and a bunch of former Prius #haters reconsidering their adjective choices in the exercise above.
Functionally, the 2023 Prius will deliver even more mpgs thanks to a more powerful and efficient hybrid system – to the tune of 60% more horsepower (196hp) and a whopping 57 mpg combined. As a result, this is the best-looking Prius ever and the most fuel-efficient one. On the plug-in side of the aisle, the Prius Prime features a larger lithium-ion battery which affords over twice the EV-only range (50 miles).
We’ll be looking forward to getting our hands on the new-and-much-improved Prius to provide a full review.
For more information, visit toyota.com.
About The Author
Glenn Oyoung is a marketer based in Los Angeles. Glennās lifelong passion for cars is rooted in playing with Hot Wheels, and has continued into 1:1 scale. Heās the former marketing director of American Racing, author of āvehicular alphabet booksā āC is for Carā and "P is for Petersen" in collaboration with the Petersen Automotive Museum. His passion for cars extends to his role as the founder of the monthly car meet Carcadia at Route 66, the most diverse car meet in the San Gabriel Valley.
