cars news 10: Six Things You Might Not Know About the 2017 Toyota Prius Prime

Toyota kicked off the New York International Auto Show this morning in a big way with the reveal of the updated Toyota Highlander and the Toyota-ized 86 (née Scion FR-S) sports car, but it was a Prius that stole the spotlight. The new 2017 Toyota Prius Prime – the follow-up to the old Prius Plug-In Hybrid – sports a 22-mile all-electric range, and Toyota claims it can travel 600 miles with a full charge and tank of gas. Here are six other things you might not know about the new Prius Prime.

It is not secretly a Transformer. When asked if the Prius Prime was Optimus Prime in disguise, a Toyota rep immediately denied it and politely walked off. We’re still not convinced.

The front and rear weren’t changed because you told Toyota you thought the regular Prius was ugly, but so Toyota customers can better differentiate between the standard Prius hybrid and plug-in hybrid Prius Prime models.

The doors are just about the only shared body panels between the Prius Prime and the regular Prius. The nose and tail are obviously different, and the hatch of the Prime is actually made of carbon fiber to save weight.

The interior is drastically different, too. The Prius Prime sports an 11.6-inch tablet-style infotainment screen that replaces the normal Prius’ less-than-great infotainment display. Depending on its reception with customers, Toyota says it could proliferate through the lineup.

It also only seats four. Despite the fact that its chief rival, the Chevrolet Volt, went from a four-seater to a five-seat layout after finding customers missed the versatility, Toyota instead opted for a four-seat layout in the Prius Prime in a bid to boost room and backseat passenger comfort. A Toyota exec says its research shows that the middle seat is hardly ever used by customers, but admits that a middle fifth seat can be easily retrofitted in the future. We’re betting that the extra seat becomes available within a model year or two.

The Prius Prime will slot in above the non-plug-in Prius, and cost less than the version it replaces. It’ll come in Prius Prime 3 and Prius Prime 4 trims, with the possibility of a yet-to-be named version rounding out the lineup.