2022 Toyota Prius

The 2022 has six trims. The standard trim is the L Eco featuring headlights with bi-LED projectors and low and high-beam headlights with useful auto-off features. Other illuminating features are LED taillights and stop lights, as well as LED clearance lamps. In addition, the vehicle features a rear defrost and power windows. For wheels, the L Eco sports 15-inch, 5-spoke alloy with wheel covers. The front and rear tires are all-season with a pressure monitoring system. Aluminum wheels and wheel locks are optional on the L Eco. For the higher trims, such as the LE, the Prius adds an intermittent rear window wiper, and its AWD-e adds incorporated fog lights and LED accent lights. The XLE versions add 17-inch, 5-spoke alloy wheels with titanium wheel inserts and rain-sensing windshield wipers. For the XLE, a special Nightshade edition adds black-painted 15-inch wheels or black-painted 17-inch wheels with black exterior trim elements. The highest trim, the Limited, has premium lights with an Adaptive Front-Lighting System (AFS). The AFS comes with auto-leveling headlights. An optional power tilt/slide moonroof with sliding sunshade and 15-inch forged titanium-finished alloy wheels adds style to the Limited trim. All Prius trims are four-door hatchbacks.

The Prius trims all have the same engine configuration as a 1.8-liter gas/electric hybrid with a lithium-ion traction battery. Running on a 4-cylinder aluminum DOHC (double overhead camshaft), the Prius engine has multiple valves for each cylinder to boost efficiency, power, and torque. The vehicle is 16-valve and features variable valve timing with intelligence (VVT-i).

For its performance, miles-per-gallon rating varies by trim, such as the LE AWD-e with 51 city, 47 highway, and 49 combined miles per gallon. This is in contrast to the higher gas mileage of the L Eco with its 58 city, 53 highway, and 56 combined miles per gallon. As for power, the 2022 Prius outputs 121 horsepower and 105 pounds of torque. Overall, the Prius has been optimized well over the years and performs quickly and reliably, on the highway or in stop-and-go city blocks.

For its interior, the Prius has different options depending on the trim level. The LE Eco and LE AWD-e1 have black- or ash-colored fabric. Optional colors for the higher trims are Moonstone and Latte. For passenger space, the Prius has five seats, and for cargo, the Prius has up to 50.7 cubic feet of space when drivers fold down 60/40-split folding rear seats. The seats themselves range from basic cloth for lower trims to heated seats for the higher tier trims.

The standard safety characteristics for the Prius are features such as adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, and automatic emergency braking. The adaptive cruise control adjusts vehicle speed to maintain distance between the Prius and the vehicle ahead of it. Lane departure warning alerts drivers if the vehicle drifts out from its lane. Automatic emergency braking applies the brakes if drivers can't respond quickly.