Toyota’s new Prius kicks sand in the face of EVangelist haters. It still outsells nearly every battery-electric vehicle model made. Here is a fun list of electric vehicles - even brands - the Prius outsells.
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There are about 40 battery-electric vehicle models on sale in America in 2024. Some have been on the market now for more than a decade, others are in their second generations, and many are new to the market. Just to keep things in perspective, we thought we would compare how many of these BEV models were delivered in higher volumes in 2023 than the Toyota Prius. The answer? Nearly none. Here’s a hint: You can count them on one hand.
The Toyota Prius is newly redesigned, quick, gorgeous, and still affordable. The Prius comes in variants with all-wheel drive, 57 MPG, or even a plug if you swing that way. The most energy-efficient Prius has a 127 MPGe rating, higher than most battery-electric vehicles, and a range of 600 miles, 45 of which are all-electric. Let’s take a look at all the automakers, brands, and battery-electric vehicle (BEV) models that the Prius outsold in 2023.
Before we begin, here are some Prius facts. 2023 was a new model year for the Prius, but Toyota doesn't make excuses, it makes cars. So, deliveries were robust. Toyota delivered 30,495 Prius Hybrids and 7,557 Prius Primes, which totals 38,052 Prius vehicles delivered in 2023.
Toyota Prius vs. General Motors’ BEVs.
The Prius outsold the GMC Hummer BEV by roughly 11 to 1. GMC says it delivered a paltry 3,244 Hummers in 2023. The Prius also outsold the Cadillac Lyric by about 3 to 1. Caddy says 9,154 owners drove home in a Lyric this past year. Chevrolet says it delivered 471 Silverado EVs. Prius outsold all the BEVs at Buick because Buick does not have any BEV models.
Now, if you are a Bolt or Bolt EUV fan, like I am, you are likely thinking the one of two Bolt models outsold the Prius. Maybe. GM doesn't break down the individual deliveries of the Bolt hatchback and the Bolt EUV. In total, GM delivered 62,045 Bolt and Bolt EUVs combined in 2023. So, unless they were perfectly evenly split, the likelihood is that the Prius outsold one or the other, possibly both.
Prius vs. All Of Nissan
The Nissan Leaf is a legend and is still one of the only affordable BEVs. We are not sure what the $60K Ariya BEV is. We do know that the Ariya and the Leaf combine for about 20K units in 2023. So, the Prius is roughly double the size of Nissan's US green vehicles in total.
Hyundai, Kia, Genesis
Hyundai’s top-selling BEV is the Ioniq 5, of which it sold 33,918 in 2023. So the Prius outsold that model. Hyundai sold 13,000 Ioniq 6 cars, so the Prius outsold that BEV model handily. We don't know how many Kona EVs Hyundai sold. Hyundai won’t say. So let’s assume the Prius outsold that one, too (or Hyundai would be crowing about it in its press releases.) We wish to acknowledge that Hyundai makes a slew of great hybrid-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles. If Hyundai would tell us how many, we would do a story on that.
Kia had a fantastic sales year. Its best ever, in fact. Our analysis is that the Prius outsold all of Kia’s BEVs combined. The EV6 is the leader in the Kia family but didn’t break 19K for the year. We love the Kia Niro line. Its total was 36,300, including all variants, so the Prius line outsold the Niro BEV as well.
Genesis makes the awesome GV60, the best luxury EV ever created, in this writer’s opinion. However, Genesis dragged its feet with its delivery data, so we will assume the Prius outsells all of the BEVs delivered by Genesis combined.
Honda BEVs vs. Prius
Honda doesn’t make any cars with a plug, so the Prius outsold all of Honda’s BEVs. However, we should acknowledge that the CR-V and Accord hybrids combine to nearly 300K hybrids in total. That is a massive number of hybrid-electric vehicles, and about half of what Toyota builds. Great job, Honda.
Subaru and Mazda vs. Prius
Subaru sold 8,872 BEVs and, as far as we know, zero Crosstrek Hybrids. Mazda has no hybrids and sold 100 MX-30 BEVs. So, in summary, the Prius line outsells all of Mazda and Subaru’s green vehicles combined by a roughly 4 to one ratio.
Volkswagen
VW moved 37,789 ID.4 BEVs this year. Therefore, the Prius outsold all of the BEVs sold by VW.
Audi vs. Prius
All of the e-Trons Audi sold in America last year tally up to less than 20K units. The Prius outsells all of Audi’s green vehicles by about 2 to 1.
Rivian vs. Prius
Rivian builds three models in its plant here in the U.S.: A truck, an SUV, and a van. In total, the company delivered roughly 55,000 units in 2023. We don’t know the model split because Rivian won’t say. Let’s assume it was 60% trucks and the rest vans and SUVs. If so, Rivian does not build a model that outsells the Prius.
Lucid vs. Prius
Our best guess is that Lucid delivered around 10,000 vehicles in 2023. Therefore, the Prius line outsells all of Lucid by roughly 3 to 1.
Volvo vs. Prius
In the US, Volvo delivered 13,609 BEVs in 2023. So, the Prius outsells the Volvo line of BEVs by about 3 to 1.
Mercedes vs. Prius
Mercedes has five BEVs on sale now. Our estimate is that in 2023, the company delivered roughly 37,000 in total. So all of Mercedes’ five models combined total roughly the deliveries of the Prius.
BMW vs. Prius
BMW’s four BEV models totaled 45,417 units in 2023. BMW does not provide a breakdown by model. Therefore, it is safe to assume that the Prius outsells every BMW BEV model individually. (Great job, by the way, BMW. That is a lot of luxury BEVs)
Ford vs. Prius
The Prius outsold the F-150 Lightning and e-Transit van, but not the Mustang Mach-E, which Ford sold 40,771 of in 2023.
Tesla vs. Prius
Tesla does not break down its model deliveries by market. Our estimate is that the Prius oursells both the Model X and Model S combined and that the Model 3 and Model Y are delivered in greater numbers than the Prius is.
In summary, of the approximately 40 battery-electric vehicle models on sale today, the Prius is delivered in a greater volume than three, possibly four, depending on how the Bolt and Bolt EUV sales are split. Notably, the Bolt and Bolt EUV have now been discontinued. Therefore, our analysis of the available data is that three US BEV models presently sell in greater volumes than the Toyota Prius. Of course, the Prius is growing in sales…
John Goreham is an experienced New England Motor Press Association member and expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can follow John on Twitter, and connect with him at Linkedin.
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