• Rear headroom tight
• Boot smaller than rivals
• Front cabin feels airy

How much space is there?

You sit lower in this Prius than before – a welcome change that gives the car a more planted, coupe-like driving position. There’s plenty of space up front, with decent legroom, wide seats and good visibility. The dashboard is low and doesn’t intrude, while the infotainment screen is perched high, keeping your eyes closer to the road.

Things aren’t quite so rosy in the back. Rear legroom is perfectly acceptable, but that sloping roofline does restrict headroom – especially for taller passengers. Kids will be fine, but six-footers may find it a bit tight, particularly on longer journeys.

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It’s not a patch on the Skoda Octavia iV for rear seat space, but it holds its own against the Peugeot 308 or Vauxhall Astra. Just don’t expect SUV-like accommodation – this is a style-first hybrid hatch.

Toyota Prius Plug-in boot space and storage

Boot capacity stands at 284 litres with the seats up – not disastrous, but less than ideal. For comparison, the Volkswagen Golf PHEV manages 273 litres, while the Octavia iV offers a far more practical 490 litres. Blame the battery packaging and the sloping tailgate for the compromise.

There’s a bit of underfloor storage for charging cables, but no clever double-height load floor or variable boot floor. The sill is on the high side, too, so heavier items need hefting in. Drop the seats and you do get a decent flat load area, but it’s not cavernous.

Interior storage is fine, though. There’s a generous central cubby beneath the armrest, door bins that take a bottle, and a reasonably sized glovebox. No complaints here.

Is it easy to park?

Despite its sleek lines, the Prius Plug-in is surprisingly easy to manoeuvre. The rear screen is small, but you get a reversing camera and front/rear sensors as standard on all models, plus a useful top-down view.

Excel versions add blind spot monitoring and a 360-degree camera system, which helps in tight spots. The steering is light at low speeds, and visibility over the nose is decent thanks to slim A-pillars. It’s no city car, but it’s no barge either.

Safety

• Awaiting Euro NCAP score
• Excellent driver assistance
• Strong safety tech standard

The fifth-generation Toyota Prius Plug-in is yet to be tested by Euro NCAP, so there’s no official safety rating to report at the time of writing. That said, Toyota has a strong track record in this area, and we’d expect the Prius to perform well when it’s eventually assessed.

All models come with Toyota Safety Sense as standard, which includes autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, lane-keeping assistance, adaptive cruise control and traffic sign recognition. It’s one of the most comprehensive standard-fit safety systems in the class.

These systems generally work well, although the lane centring can be a little overzealous on narrow roads, and the eye-tracking can be annoying. Excel models also benefit from a 360-degree camera and blind spot monitoring, which add useful reassurance in town and on the motorway. We’ll update this section as soon as crash test results become available.