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With great confusion and a steady check of my pulse, I write these words: The new 2023 Toyota Prius is an utterly beautiful car. Before you send the hate mail, just look at the thing. Toyota must have been tired of hearing all the hate for an objectively practical car perfectly suited for the world we find ourselves in today. Give me a minute to check the photos of the 2023 Toyota Prius one more time. 

2023 Toyota Prius hybrid car
2023 Toyota Prius | Toyota

Is there a new 2023 Toyota Prius coming?

After all these years, a Prius is finally coming that doesn’t look like the bottom of my shoe. The 2023 Toyota Prius has the internet doing cartoon wolf eyes over its new glow-up (I’m sorry that I said “glow-up”). 

The truth is, getting this excited about the 2023 Toyota Prius getting a makeover has me questioning why this feels so exciting. Have we lost our minds? Why is the Prius making us this happy? We’ve changed. 

How good is the new Toyota Prius

A white 2023 Toyota Prius driving down the road from an aerial view.
2023 Toyota Prius | Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

Look, the new Prius looks, at minimum, 10,000x better than it ever has before, but does that make it a great-looking car? Maybe, but we can’t know for sure. This new Prius feels like if the second Hobbit film was pretty good. We would respond pretty differently only because the first was so bad. If you follow my needlessly nerdy reference, then you’ll see my point on the Prius. Do we like it because the model has been a pit where car design goes to die? It’s hard to know. 

One thing is for sure, when I looked at the first photo on MotorTrend, I smiled. It made me happy that the eternally lame Prius is having its day in the sun. I really mean that. This ugly duckling turned the snarky auto journalists (like me) on their big dumb heads and forced us to say, “alight, that’s pretty good-looking.” Hats off to you, Toyota. 

How much is the 2023 Toyota Prius

A 2023 Toyota Prius driving across a bridge
2023 Toyota Prius | Toyota

MotorTrend gives a price range of $28,545-$36,960. Assuming you can actually get your hands on one for this price, this is pretty reasonable, considering the model’s practicality and new looks. 

How fast is the 2023 Toyota Prius? 

The new Prius comes to us with a bit of added spunk. (I know; it just keeps getting better.) The base model front wheel drive configuration makes a zippy 194 hp. The up-market AWD version gets a little push up to 196 hp. 

How many miles per gallon does the 2023 Toyota Prius get?

Good looks are nice. Performance is cool. But none of that really matters when talking about the Toyota Prius. Only one thing truly matters, and that is the all-mighty MPG. According to Toyota, the 2023 Prius will achieve 52-57/52-56 mpg city/highway for FWD models and 49-53/50-54 mpg for AWD variants. 

It seems like after all these years, Toyota has finally worked out the balance of aesthetics, performance, and efficiency. Welcome to the dance floor, Prius. You’re a cool kid now.

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Staff Writer

Peter Corn

Peter Corn joined MotorBiscuit as an Autos Writer in 2020 and brings his quippiest Southern drawl to our table. Having, in his words, “helped” rebuild his dad’s 1959 MGA as a small child, Peter grew up loving vintage cars and trucks, adding motorcycles and all things 4×4 as he went.

Peter earned a Bachelor of Archeology and Creative Writing from the University of Alabama and has since melded his love of driving with storytelling. His voice, full of pleasantries and witticisms, can be enjoyed in The Gentleman Racer, The Vintagent, Gear Patrol, Iron & Air Magazine, and Classic Car Club Magazine.

Peter is a co-founder of both The Colloquial Magazine and The Fire Escape, the official podcast of The Colloquial. In an effort to increase his abilities in “ramping anything with wheels,” Peter has taken track training from Classic Car Club Manhattan and attended Rally School at Monticello Motor Club, where he was coached by eight-time Performance Rally motorsport champion Chris Duplessis.

On a lucky day, we get to hear Peter tell the story of his first car, a jewel of a 1958 Ford Fairlane, into which he dumped more time and money than made sense, but he has no regrets.