The Toyota Prius has become a household name for outstanding fuel economy. Like Kleenex for tissues or Google for search engines, it’s the first car that comes to mind when you think of a hybrid. Based on the official EPA fuel-economy estimates, the Prius is still the most efficient new car you can buy today, but not every trim level is equally frugal. We have real-world 75-mph highway fuel-economy tests to help break it all down.

What Are the Prius Hybrid’s EPA Estimates?

The EPA rates the 2027 Prius as high as 59 mpg city, 50 mpg highway, and 55 mpg combined. That’s for the base LE trim. Higher trims including the XLE and Limited with larger wheels and the available all-wheel-drive system pull those numbers as low as 51 mpg city, 45 mpg highway, and 48 mpg combined.

Prius XLE

Toyota also offers the Prius as a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) that can drive up to an EPA-estimated 44 miles on electric power alone. This model is heavier because of its larger battery pack, and therefore it gets slightly lower fuel economy. It is rated at 53 mpg city, 51 mpg highway, and 52 mpg combined for the SE trim level and 48 mpg city, 50 mpg highway, and 47 mpg combined for the XSE trim level.

What MPG Does the Prius Get in the Real World?

To find out how close the Prius can get to those EPA numbers, we measured four different versions in our own real-world 75-mph highway fuel-economy test. Here are the results:

• Prius Limited FWD: 49 mpg
• Prius Limited AWD: 43 mpg
• Prius PHEV SE: 49 mpg
• Prius PHEV XSE: 46 mpg

Car and Driver’s fuel-economy test incorporates real-world factors such as air conditioning use, weather, and higher speeds to better represent the reality of highway driving. Although it’s also called a “highway” test, the EPA test cycle does not exceed 60 mph. Our results are more realistic to what you might see when driving a Prius on a road trip.

The front-wheel-drive Prius Limited achieved the highest fuel economy of 49 mpg, and the all-wheel-drive model achieved a lower result of 43 mpg, which is further off the EPA’s rating.

Prius PHEV SE

The PHEV (previously called the Prius Prime) got closer to its EPA ratings in our highway test. Fuel economy can be impacted by wheels and tires, which usually change based on trim level. The SE trim wore a set of 17-inch wheels with aerodynamic covers, while the XSE rode on larger 19-inch wheels. Read more here about the differences between our fuel-economy results for these Prius plug-in hybrid models.

What Other Toyota Hybrid Models Get Good MPG?

If you want great fuel economy but need more space than the compact Prius offers, Toyota has several other hybrid models that also deliver outstanding gas mileage. Both the Toyota Camry mid-size sedan and Toyota RAV4 compact SUV are now exclusively available as hybrids. They are both roomier and more family-friendly than the Prius, and both are still great options to save money at the pump.

Toyota Camry

Toyota RAV4

The most efficient Camry achieves up to an EPA-rated 51 mpg combined, and in our real-world highway testing an all-wheel-drive XSE model achieved 43 mpg, which matches the AWD Prius Limited’s result in the same test. Buyers who want crossover ground clearance and extra cargo space space should look at the RAV4, which delivered 36 mpg in our real-world highway test. Toyota also offers a RAV4 PHEV that achieved 35 mpg in our real-world test in its rugged-looking Woodland trim level. The RAV4 Woodland plug-in hybrid also drove 38 miles in electric-only mode in our highway test.

The Prius uses its sleek design to cut through the air, but if you are willing to sacrifice a bit of efficiency, Toyota’s other hybrid models still deliver stellar fuel economy.

Jared Levenson (also known as Jared Rosenholtz) has been a car lover since birth, dreaming of the day he could be an automotive journalist. While completing his MBA, he attained that dream in 2015, starting as an intern for CarBuzz, working his way up to editor at large and head of video, a position that oversaw the creation of a TikTok channel with over one million subscribers. More of his current written work can be found on Autoblog and in video form on social media as Car Guy Jared.