2026 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid | The Benchmark!
and so welcome back to another one you guys. If you’re new to the channel, my name is Andrew with Younger Toyota in Heggertown, Maryland. For more information on our inventory, please feel free to check out the link in the description box below. So, today we’re in the brand new 2026 Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid cuz this is a very goodlook car to start. And I kind of think the plug-in hybrid version of the Prius is kind of cool cuz you get the best of both worlds. You have a full EV car if you want it, but you also have the gasoline powered engine. So, it kind of works on both parts there. And by the way, there is a new trim level for the 2026 Prius plug-in hybrid then as well. So, ultimately in this video, we will be testing out and going over everything about this one. So, having said that, what do you got to say? Let’s just go ahead and jump right into it. And as always, let’s start with pricing. And so, as you can imagine, there are several different trim levels for the 2026 Prius plug-in hybrid. You got the SE starting at $33,775. XSSE for $37,025. Then the new trim level for 2026 is the Nightshade edition, which is the one that we have today, of course, starting at $37,795. And lastly, the XSSE Premium going for $40,470. But regardless of the trim level that you go with, the power plant on the Prius plug-in hybrid is going to be the same. Powering the beast is a 2 liter four-cylinder with two electric motors that puts out a combined 220 horsepower, which is more than the Civic SI, the Mazda 3, Subaru Presa, just to name a few. So, that’s kind of cool. 139 lb feet of torque. Power is going to be sent to the front wheels through an ECVT. 0 to 60 time is going to come in at approximately 6.7 seconds. We’ll test that out here in a little bit. But, as far as pure electric driving goes, you can operate in full EV mode for up to 45 mi. So that’s without the gasoline powered engine even kicking in at all. So this can be a full EV for 45 mi. So that is pretty cool. That’s pretty impressive actually for that. And then if you were to run out of that, that’s the cool thing about having a plug-in hybrid. If that EV runs out of charge, you have the gasoline powered engine as well, which is essentially your standard Prius, which gives you 52 m per gallon combined for the SE and 48 MPGon combined for all of the other trim levels taking regular unled fuel. That’s pretty impressive. We said that before we do any kind of fun acceleration test here in the Prius plug-in hybrid to do what I mentioned to you guys the drive modes. There’s a little toggle switch located just behind the shifter. But we’re to press that. I got custom, sport, normal, and eco. Adjusting things like the shift points, the throttle response, and the steering sensitivity. So, now that we got all of that out of the way, what do you guys say? Let’s go ahead and find a straightaway. Let’s put that acceleration here to the test and let’s see how quickly we can get our new 2026 Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid here up to speed. I think I found her straightaway here in 3 2 1 go. Wow. I feel like that was full EV mode. That was pretty cool, man. I like that instantaneous acceleration on the initial get up and go there. Like there wasn’t any kind of what I’m used to these days is turbo lag because everything’s turbocharged. So I love that. That’s plenty of an acceleration especially if you’re just zipping around city streets. Like that’s a really quick get up and go right there. So that was kind of fun. Like plenty of an acceleration there to merge you onto the highway. I like it. But to go along with that acceleration as always braking is equally important. So up front you will find 12-in ventilated front discs. in the back. 11inch solid rear disc as far as that 60s you’re stopping distance goes. It comes in at 130 feet. Not the best number on paper, but let’s go ahead and test out the brakes here. As far as braking feel goes, it’s okay. I mean, it’s not a super firm braking feel, but it’s not a soft braking feel either. It’s pretty much average. So, nothing too exciting about the braking. It’ll bring you to a stop. But then, touching on suspension and handling up front, you’re going to get an independent strut front suspension. in the back. Independent multi-link rear suspension, front and rear stabilizer bars. Overall, as far as ride quality goes, I’m gonna get out of sport driving mode real quick. It’s been pretty darn good in my short little test drive here today. I mean, it doesn’t have like an adaptive damping suspension or anything fancy, but honestly, it wouldn’t bother me. I’ll just put it that way. As far as steering feel goes, now I love the steering feel in the Prius. This is where they crush it. Like, it’s almost Mazda, like Mazda good. Like, this is an incredible steering feel. It instantly points you in the direction that you want to go. And I got it in normal driving mode right now. This isn’t even sport and it just like instantly wants to turn. Like this is going to be a fun car in the back roads. Like you wouldn’t expect it to be this good. It’s definitely more along the lines of sports car good than it is commuter car good for sure. This is a wonderful steering feel. I just want to overemphasize this because that’s what makes the Prius now so much fun to drive is the steering feel and the handling. So well done Toyota. You did an incredible job with the steering feel and handling on this thing. Then touching on cabin noise though. This is the perfect test. We’re going 55 mph here. So I’ll be quiet here for a second. I mean it’s like you would expect like a Corolla to sound like. So it’s perfectly fine for me. I don’t have any issues there. Then checking out rear visibility here. Looking out my rearview mirror. I can see perfectly fine out the back. So definitely should not have any issues there. The other thing though, touching on forward visibility here, is you do get rain sensing windshield wipers and that actually comes standard on all trim levels across the board. And that’s something that you don’t usually find standard on all trim levels. Usually, it’s like an upper trim level thing. So, that’s kind of cool that the Prius gives it to you across the board there. So, anyways, that pretty much rounds out the performance segment of this review, you guys. Let’s now go ahead and take a look at the exterior now of our brand new 2026 Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid. All right, so here she is, you guys. The new 2026 Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid finished in Karache, which I believe is a Japanese mustard, but dang does this thing look good. You cannot deny that. This is like a little Lamborghini or something. It looks absolutely amazing in Karachi. I definitely love this color. But anyways, let me start with what’s new for 2026 real quick, cuz we have it being the Nightshade edition. This is new for the plug-in hybrid Prius. Available colors for this particular trim level are the yellow that we have with us here today, windchill pearl, and midnight black metallic then as well. And essentially what this trim level does is it gives you a bunch of gloss black accents as opposed to the silver accents. So if you look at the uh Toyota logo on the front of the hood there, that is going to be gloss black instead of silver and the door handles and the wheels and it goes on and on. So a bunch of gloss black accents more or less. But as always, let’s go ahead and start with where this one is made. Taking a look at the VIN. First character is the letter J indicating that the Prius is built and assembled in Japan as it should be. You got to love that. But starting up front here to the sides by LED headlights with LED daytime running lights do come standard for all trim levels across the board. Get the automatic feature with those. You also get automatic high beams. So if you have your high beams on at night and since it’s a vehicle coming in the opposite direction, it’s going to automatically dim them back to low beams and when that vehicle is gone, it’s going to automatically bounce it back up to high beams for you there. But overall, like I said, very, very, extremely good-looking car. You cannot deny that the Prius didn’t always look this good, but it looks dang good. Now, let me know in the comments if you agree. But that pretty much rounds out the front end. Let’s now go ahead and swing around to the side. All right, so as we go around to the side of this one, gloss black window surrounds do come standard. Power adjustable heated side mirrors coming standard as well. And yes, they will be finished in a gloss black. Wanted to mention the rear door handle placement real quick as well because it is a little bit different. the you guys can see there’s no actual door handle on the bottom portion of the door here itself. It’s actually an electric door handle which is located just behind there. So that is how you’re going to go ahead and open up the rear door. So it’s a little bit different but did want to mention that since it is a little bit different. So then taking a look down at the wheel setup. 17-in alloys with covers for the SE trim level and then 19-in alloys for all other trim levels across the board varying slightly in the color and design. And of course, the last thing I wanted to mention to you guys is you have the charging port found on the passenger side in the back there. And that is how you’re going to go ahead and charge this one up. Whereas the other side is going to be your fuel tank. So, I did want to mention that real quick. That pretty much rounds out the side of this one. Let’s now go ahead and swing around to the back. Right. So, now since we are around to the back of this one, starting all the way to the top, there is a gloss black shark fin antenna. You do have clear tail lights. So, I wanted to mention that because that’s one of the distinguishing factors between the regular Prius hybrid and the plug-in hybrid. Um, I got the lighting on right now, so it’s going to look red because of the tail lights themselves, but that whole light bar in the back when the lights are not on is going to be clear for the plug-in hybrid, whereas with the non-plugin hybrid is going to be finished in red. I think the clear looks better, but that’s just my personal opinion. You also got the Prius lettering back there as well. And by the way, those tail lights are LED taillights. They do come standard. And then just below it all, underneath of it all I should say, there is a single exhaust outlet tucked away on the passenger side there. So having said that, I do believe you guys know what we have to do next. Here as always, here is that exhaust clip. All right, so now this wheel around to the back of the Prius. When it comes to opening that rear hatch, you actually can get a power hatch. It comes standard actually on that top trim level, the premium. So if you wanted a power hatch, that’s how you’re going to go ahead and get it. But having said that, you don’t need it. It’s not like it’s a heavy hatch or anything like that. But anyways, once opened up, car parking capacity comes in at 20.3 cubic feet. If that was not enough space, there is a 60/40 split, meaning the rear seats do fold down for quite a bit of extra space then if you needed it. There is some LED cargo lighting back there. I always like seeing that. There’s also a 120 volt power outlet I found back there, which I didn’t expect to see. So, that was pretty cool, too. And then if you were to lift up underneath of that cargo floor, there is a good bit of in flooror storage there as well. But then making our way up to the rear legroom, that comes in at 35.9 in. For reference, I’m an even 6 ft tall. This is how much space I had in the rear seats there. There is a rear center armrest with cup holders for the XSE trim level and up. Dual rear USB charging ports for all trim levels across the board. That was pretty cool. We also have a 120 volt power outlet back there, too. Again, didn’t expect to see that. No rear ventilation, though. It’s not something that I would have expected to see on the Prius. Anyways, no big deal there. But then making our way up to the front seats, manually adjustable cloth seats for the SE trim level. Power adjustable soft tech seating for the XSSE trim level and up. Also with that, heated front seats coming with the XSSE trim level and up. and that if you wanted ventilated front seats, go with the premium, but overall as far as seat comfort goes. It was plenty fine in my short little test drive here today. So, typically Toyota does pretty darn good with their seat comfort, so I didn’t have any issues there. Then, taking a look at the steering wheel, it is tilt and telescoping. It is softex trimmed for all trim levels across the board. We actually have a heated steering wheel with us here today, too. So, I’m not complaining cuz it’s actually kind of cold out today. The only thing was when I was driving this, the position of the gauge cluster is kind of right through the steering wheel. So, you do have a little bit of steering wheel in your view when you’re trying to look at the gauges, but other than that, it was plenty fine. But now, let’s go ahead and make our way to the startup. Let me start by showing you guys the key here. This is a Prius specific key. Prius Prime, it actually says that’s interesting. It calls it a Prius Prime when this is a uh Prius plug-in hybrid. The branding is kind of confusing, Toyota, with the Prius Prime on the key, but I don’t think they call it that. That’s so weird, actually. But anyways, lock and unlock. Pretty basic key there. But it is all keyless entry with the push button start. So, all I’m going to do here, simply put my foot on the brake and press that matte black engine start button located just to the left of the center air vents there. And so, once started up, what you guys are looking at is a 7-in LCD gauge cluster. The gauge cluster itself looks pretty darn good. Again, the only issue is it’s kind of hard to see through the top of the steering wheel. But other than that, I like the way it looks. It looks like uh like a Volkswagen ID4 or something like that. Basically, it’s got your digital speedometer. It shows what drive mode you were in up there. It also shows if you’re in hybrid mode or full EV mode. Gives you outside temperature, how many miles you have left until you hit empty, how much charge you have left until you have to recharge as well. So, overall, the gauge cluster, it does look pretty darn good. I don’t have any issues with that. But now, let’s go ahead and make our way to overall interior quality cuz this is kind of a mixed bag for me here. So, fixed glass roof coming on the premium trim level. However, that is optional on the other trim levels for an additional $1,000. So, that is an option we have with us here today. actually gives the front passengers and the rear passengers their own separate kind of power moon roof. So, I thought that was pretty cool. A solar charging roof is going to be optional for the premium if you were interested in that. Carbon fiber accents found on the dash for the nightshade trim level. We have that as located just underneath of this cool blue ambient lighting. I love the ambient lighting by the way in this thing. It looks absolutely amazing. They did a wonderful job with that. Audio dimming rearview mirror with home link controls for up to three different garage doors for the XSSE trim level and up. Wireless phone charger for the XSSE trim level and up. And that’s actually located just to the right of the shifter. Typically you find those just in front of the cup holders. But in lie of that, you actually have a little bit of storage. And then there’s hidden storage actually underneath of that. If you pull that out, it actually says # hidden compartment. So, that’s pretty cool that Prius did a little 007 thing right there. I like that. But anyways, like I said, cup holders just behind that. Uh just behind the cup holders, you have a lot of gloss black finishes. I do like that. And then within the center armrest, not a ton of space in there, but you do have a couple USB charging ports in there. I like that. I think that was pretty cool. As far as room for improvement goes, there’s maybe a couple things I would change. There is some matte black plastic in this thing. There’s a little panel just surrounding the uh door handles. That’s all matte black plastic. Also just surrounding the shifter immediately that’s matte black plastic. They could have put a nice design to that for example. Um still left it plastic but have a nice design to it or this carbon fiber finish that would have looked amazing around the shifter as well. Also with the ambient lighting although it’s amazing. Would have liked to have seen multicolor ambient lighting since we have a yellow exterior. Maybe I could pair that up with a yellow ambient lighting color on the interior like a lot of other vehicles do that offer ambient lighting. So I think that would have looked pretty cool. But having said that it’s still super bright. It’s still a really nice setup for ambient lighting. I just would want a little more color options there. Overall, I think Toyota did a pretty darn good job with the interior here. But now, let’s go ahead and make our way to the infotainment screen. There’s two options here. You can either get an 8-in color touchscreen display for all trim levels, but the premium, the premium is going to give you a 12.3 in color touchscreen display. That’s going to be optional on some of the other trim levels like we have with us here, cuz this is definitely a 12.3 in color touchscreen display. Bluetooth and audio streaming coming with that. wireless, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay. You can customize that custom drive mode up here if you wanted to. Gives you driving statistics up here as well. There’s energy flow statistics. So, thought that was kind of cool. There’s also your radio information, of course. So, when it comes to the sound systems, there are two of them actually. You got six speakers for all trim levels, but the premium premium is going to give you an 8 speakeraker JBL sound system. So, we do have that six speakeraker sound system with us here today. So, let’s go ahead and turn on the radio. Let’s see what we got playing this morning. And let’s test out the clarity of this one. When the bass hit, it was like rumbling my seat. Like that was really good. Surprisingly, for six speakers, that did incredible. Probably my top one or two sound systems when it comes to six speakers. Like, that’s a really good six speaker sound system. Well done, Toyota yet again. But last thing I wanted to mention to you guys on that infotainment screen at least is when you do put the Prius in reverse, you will find a rear view camera coming standard across the board letting you know who or what is behind you, which as always is going to lead us into safety. And so let me start with the very best part of this thing. IHS top safety pick plus. These are rare these days. So well done Toyota for that. That is the very highest rating given by IHS. So you got to love that. Front side current airbags do come standard in the back. rear side impact airbags as well. Also in the back, latch aka lower anchors and tethers for children for the rear car seats, rear child door locks, tire pressure monitoring system, but also coming standard, Toyota Safety Sense 3.0. That’s the fun stuff that gives you a pre-colision system with pedestrian detection, dynamic radar cruise control, lane departure alert, rear steering assist, lane tracing assist, road sign assist, proactive driving assist, and a blind spot monitoring system with rear cross traffic alert then as well. All coming standard. You got to love it. So overall, when it comes to my final thoughts, extremely safe vehicle. You can’t beat an IHS top safety ped plus. Plus, with all of those standard safety features, it doesn’t get much safer than that these days. So, that’s what I’m trying to say. Also, incredible design. This thing looks absolutely amazing. There’s no doubt about that. I don’t care what you say, this thing looks dang good. Very nice driving dynamics as well. I think the only thing I would change with the driving dynamics would be the uh the braking uh the braking feel, but other than that, incredible handling, incredible steering feel, pretty darn good acceleration as well, even though I just had it in the full EV mode when I did it. I’ve tested out the hybrid acceleration as well, though, and that was plenty fine. The other cool thing is this is this is an EV without the range anxiety. So, if you were to run out of that battery, like if you just have a short drive to work, you’re probably not going to run out of the battery and you just keep it in EV mode all the time. So, it’s an electric vehicle, but if you were to run out of it, you still have the gasoline powered engine as well, giving you like an overall combined 600 miles. So, that’s an insane range right there. That’s pretty cool. And so, but that is about it for this one, you guys. Thank you so much for watching. Feel free to follow Younger Toyota on social media stuff at the bottom of the screen. Be sure to hit the subscribe and the bell notification button if you’re into new car reviews and all of our fun YouTube shorts we put on our channel then as well. We do appreciate you guys watching more than you know and we will see you guys all in the next video. Bye.
In this video we will take you on a test drive & completely review the NEW 2026 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid!
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