Audio By Carbonatix

The turn of the millennium. It welcomed a collective sigh of relief for those terrified by the prospect of Y2K. But it also set the stage for the Toyota Prius to reach the American market. Now, 25 years later, the Prius is a quarter of a century old.  

Break out the silly hat, cake, and candles, because the US-market Toyota Prius is 25 years old 

It’s true. The first market-ready Toyota Prius rolled out to the American public in 2000 and hit the road as a 2001 model. That makes the 2026 Toyota Prius 25 years old. Do you feel old yet? In that time, the Prius has evolved across five generations and cemented itself as perhaps the most famous hybrid car of all time.  

Of course, the Prius has come a long way in its 25 years. After all, it’s old enough now to rent its own car. When the first US-market Prius hybrids hit the road, they impressed with fuel-sipping EPA city and highway mpg figures.

But the Prius also had a bit of a long-running image problem. It was the butt of admittedly unevolved, albeit plentiful jokes. That said, it also became an environmentally conscious statement for the Hollywood elite à la yellow “Livestrong” bracelets in the early-to-mid 2000s. That, incidentally, also opened it up to jokes. The Prius’ image seemingly couldn’t win. 

Now, however, the story is different for Toyota’s longest-running hybrid. For the 2023 model year, the Toyota Prius got an overhaul. Gone were the sci-fi-ish creases and unfortunate shape. In its place, Toyota reshaped the fifth-generation (XW60) Prius from an uninspired lump into an athletic pseudo-wedge with a modern squint. It’s, dare I say, handsome these days.

But the new look doesn’t mean the Prius has lost its primary selling point, namely, fuel economy. The base, front-wheel drive (FWD) Prius LE manages 57 mpg combined. That’s one ahead of the 2022 model, the final iteration of the fourth-gen model. Better yet, the Prius gained muscle for the fifth-gen model, bumping maximum output from a paltry 121 horsepower to 196 in AWD trims.