New Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid: its incredible official electric range unveiled

The Toyota Prius, the hybrid par excellence, has been renewed for the fifth time and has already caused a stir for being the first generation unanimously recognized for the beauty of its line. But she is not just a physical.

We will have to wait a few more months to see it arrive in France, but the fifth generation of Toyota Prius will begin marketing in Japan on March 15 in hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions, knowing that, on this side of the planet, we we will only be entitled to the latter. Its arrival in the dealerships of its country of origin lifts the veil on a certain number of new data which remind, if necessary, that if Toyota still has a long way to go to convince in the field of the electric car , no one comes close to him when it comes to hybridization.

However, the owner of the petrol / electric tandem showed humility in the first place, announcing an electric range of 69 km, an already respectable figure since up 50% compared to the replaced model, but not enough to disturb its fat morning on a Saturday to write an article on Automobile-Propre.com. The official figures according to the WLTP standard now revealed, on the other hand, are enough to make you jump out of bed with enthusiasm: 87 km! We then begin to familiarize ourselves with the top of the category, until we look at the small print at the bottom of the document : this is the homologated distance with 19-inch rims. Be reasonable (and probably improve the comfort in passing) by choosing a finish with 17-inch elements and we then easily exceed three digits of electric range with 105 km!

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Knowing the electrified car market like the back of your hand, you will certainly agree that it is impressive, but not extraordinary, arguing that a Mercedes C300e claims the title of champion with 111 km on the same exercise, and you will be perfectly right . The big difference, however, is that the German, to achieve this, does so with a huge 25.4 kWh battery, which, as a reminder, is not far from the 26.8 kWh of a 100% electric Dacia Spring. can do 230 km without emission. The Japanese, it is satisfied with a useful capacity of 12.6 kWh, which demonstrates its incredible efficiency. This time, this last figure is close to what the freshly restyled Peugeot 508 PHEV announces, but the Frenchwoman will only be able to get 64 km from it before hearing her combustion engine snort. Remember, however, before a comment does it for me, that the two sedans fixing on either side of the Rhine are 15 cm longer than the compact Nagoya.

This frugality has multiple positive consequences: one thus saves on the cost of purchase, the mass of the assembly and the ecological impact of production and this makes it possible to put into perspective what one imagined until then as a big flaw: the weakness of the recharging power which peaks at only 3.5 kW, requiring 4 hours at best to fill up with electrons, compared to the autonomy recovered.

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