Prius Prime first impressions

I recently went from a 1st Gen 2001 Prius to a 2017 Prius Prime. I still have the 2001 Prius. I got it from my parents, and am keeping it for my son to drive when he finally decides to get his driver's license (what is it with kids these days, putting off driving? As soon as we turned 15 1/2 we rushed down to get our learner's permit).

Some comments:
A minor nit pick:
Some reviewers have complained about the transmission control being confusing, but it is actually pretty simple. Yet I have one nit. Everyone who's ever used a joystick in a video game, or driven a tank (okay, I've never done that), knows that you push it forward (or up) to go forward, and pull it back to go backward. But Toyota did it exactly backwards! It makes me pause a second every time I put it into gear.

Looks:
It is interesting that so many reviews of the Prime complain about its looks. When the 1st Gen Prius came out in the US it was universally panned for being excedingly strange and ugly. That turned out to be a good quality, though. Its unusually high mileage at a time when Hollywood stars wanted to show off their green credentials meant that they all wanted one, and its strange looks guarateed that it would be noticed. Ford actually came out with a hybrid at about the same time: the Escape. But it looked exactly like the regular Escape. It was not popular because why would you pay extra money for a car you couldn't show off?

Fashion is interesting. Now days the 1st gen Prius is considered very conventional.

I think the Prime looks great. I got the red because it was the only 2017 model they had, but it turns heads and gets comments from friends.

Plus Entertainment system:
I bought the basic Plus because of expense. But it turns out I much prefer the smaller screen system. I like buttons, and the Plus system has big volume and tuning knobs, and several air conditioning buttons. The Advance Prius does not, but it does have a large, distracting 11" screen. I can control everything I need without taking my eyes off the rode.

The sound system is not supposed to be as good, but that is the advantage of moving from a 2001 car to a 2017 car. The sound system is immensely better than the older Prius, so it sounds absolutely wonderful.

View:
The 1st generation Prius had a much better view out the back. Most newer cars have a restriced view because of improved aerodynamics. Fortunately there's a nice backup camera so it is not that big an issue when backing up.

Driving:
My point of comparison is the older Prius, and it is, of course, much better than the 2001 car: faster and more controlled--just fun to drive.

Mileage:
Interestingly, it has the second best electric mileage of any car sold in the US. Here's the federal top 10 electrics. The Prius prime has an MPGe of 133, which places at #2, better than Telsa or Leaf. Of course that is only for 28 miles. There's an advantage to only carrying the weight of a battery that meets your driving needs. Most of my driving is about 15 miles a day, so it is primarily electric. I've driven 190 miles now, and the tank is still full.

And of course the Prius can't be matched for mileage in hybrid mode.

Also, I have a thing about electric cars. I like to take long walks and bike rides around the neighborhood, and there's nothing worse than lots of smog producing cars driving by to ruin the experience. I've heard that in crowded rush-hour traffic in LA, there's so much carbon monoxide, it affects drivers' brains. Imagine if that were all..just..gone.

I used to love it in my 1st gen Prius when driving slow or being at a stoplight and having my engine just shut off. Now I can drive all over town without the engine running.

Overall I really love the Prius Prime.