All-New 2023 Toyota Prius vs. 2022 Honda Insight: Oh, How Far the Mighty Have Come

Let’s start at the very beginning because the Prius, while an extremely popular vehicle in today’s day and age, used to be quite controversial back in the late 90s and early 2000s.

We got our first taste of a hybrid concept vehicle from Toyota in 1995 at the Tokyo Motor Show, although as some of you might remember, that initial Prius, codename NHW10, was only sold in Japan as the carmaker was still unsure whether it could prove successful on a global scale.

Alas, the first-gen Prius was not to be denied, and so it became the world’s first mass-produced gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle. What’s funny is that neither the original nor the updated NHW11 model looked particularly quirky, but we’ll get to the second-gen car in a second.

The updated Prius went on sale across the globe nearly 23 years ago. In the United States, it featured three available specifications (Standard, Base, Touring) and more power than before so that people in America could use it at highway speed and over longer distances.

Fun fact, while the Prius was indeed the world’s first mass-produced hybrid car, the two-door first-generation Honda Insight stole that title as far as the U.S. market was concerned, edging out the Toyota by a few months.

Anyway, in the early 2000s, the Prius was fully redesigned as a compact-sized liftback, with the carmaker’s engineers focusing on efficiency and aerodynamics. The XW20 Prius had a drag coefficient of just 0.26, which is solid even by today’s standards.

The problem with focusing so much on practicality and efficiency was that you ended up with a quirky-looking passenger vehicle that only an eco-conscious mother could love. The same could be said about the third- and fourth-generation cars too, which, aside from looking more modern, still failed to get our blood pumping in any way.

To be fair, you could also say the same about the Honda Insight (across its first two generations); however, with the third-gen Insight, Honda went in a completely different direction, designing it as a four-door sedan, basically. It’s a shame that it got discontinued earlier this year (production ended back in June), although it was never going to keep up with the Prius sales-wise.

On top of that, Honda isn’t as stubborn as Toyota with regards to EV adoption. The fully electric 2024 Honda Prologue SUV should be a massive hit with buyers worldwide. Toyota, on the other hand, wouldn’t even push all its chips on the table with the bZ4X, choosing instead to take less of a gamble by teaming up with Subaru.

Still, the all-new fifth-gen Prius is bound to be the car of choice for many individuals and young couples going forward. If you want to get the best bang for your buck, you might as well go for the plug-in hybrid variant because you’ll at least be meeting the future halfway.

Based on the company’s second-generation modular TNGA platform, the all-new Prius is available both as a 1.8L/2.0L hybrid as well as a 2.0L plug-in hybrid – you will probably have to wait a few months before getting the latter, which by the way packs as much as 220 hp to go with a 50% improvement in range.

Other highlights for this vehicle include an available solar charging system for up to 777 miles (1,250 km) of range per year, a more modern and intuitive interior, and, naturally, a more athletic and sleeker exterior, which a lot of people will appreciate. As far as I'm concerned, this is the first Prius ever that doesn’t necessarily look like it was manufactured with ride-sharing in mind (not that ride-sharing was available way back in the day, but I'm sure you get my drift).

Should I trade in my 2022 Insight for a 2023 Prius?

Now that’s a good question, and I can give it to you straight, or I can maybe dance around it a little bit. Ah, what the heck, let’s just rip the band-aid off in one fell swoop: No, you probably don’t need a new Prius if you’ve already got a third-gen Insight because it would not make for a considerable enough upgrade. I know... what a plot twist, right?

Let’s face it, you’ll likely own an electric car soon enough, and if you like Hondas in general, you might as well wait for that 2024 Prologue SUV. It should prove to be a lot more “future proof” than any Prius.

However, if you live in an area without a good charging infrastructure for electric vehicles (or plug-in hybrids), then just hold onto that Insight because it’s a pretty darn good car, all things considered. It’s practical, safe, gets decent mileage, and it feels slightly more upscale than a Civic. As for any future owners/interested parties, you might want to start looking for one on the used car market.