Compare the2022 Hyundai Kona ElectricVS 2022 Toyota Prius Prime

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Kona Electric are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Prius Prime doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Kona Electric has a standard blind spot warning system which uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them and moves the vehicle back into its lane. Only the Prius Prime Limited offers a blind spot warning system.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Kona Electric has a standard rear cross-path warning system, which uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. Only the Prius Prime Limited has a rear cross-path warning system.

Both the Kona Electric and the Prius Prime have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors and available rear parking sensors.

For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, with its optional vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its available headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Kona Electric the rating of “Top Pick” for 2021, a rating granted to only 136 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Prius Prime last would have qualified as a “Top Pick” in 2019.

The Kona Electric comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Prius Prime’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 2 years or 24,000 miles sooner.

Hyundai’s powertrain warranty covers the Kona Electric 5 years and 40,000 miles longer than Toyota covers the Prius Prime. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Prius Prime ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

The Kona Electric’s corrosion warranty is 2 years longer than the Prius Prime’s (7 vs. 5 years).

Hyundai pays for scheduled maintenance on the Kona Electric for 1 year and 11000 miles longer than Toyota pays for maintenance for the Prius Prime (3/36,000 vs. 2/25000).

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2021 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are better in initial quality than Toyota vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai 8th in initial quality, above the industry average. With 8 more problems per 100 vehicles, Toyota is ranked 13th.

The Kona Electric’s electric motor produces 80 more horsepower (201 vs. 121) and 185 lbs.-ft. more torque (291 vs. 106) than the Prius Prime’s 1.8 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid.

As tested in Consumer Reports the Hyundai Kona Electric is faster than the Toyota Prius Prime:

The Kona Electric’s maximum EPA estimated driving range is 258 miles on a full charge. The Prius Prime can only travel about 25 miles before it has to start its internal combustion engine.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Hyundai Kona Electric higher (10 out of 10) than the Toyota Prius Prime (7). This means the Kona Electric produces up to 11.8 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Prius Prime every 15,000 miles.

For better stopping power the Kona Electric’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Prius Prime:

The Kona Electric stops shorter than the Prius Prime:

For better traction, the Kona Electric has larger tires than the Prius Prime (215/55R17 vs. 195/65R15).

The Kona Electric’s tires provide better handling because they have a lower 55 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Prius Prime’s standard 65 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Kona Electric has standard 17-inch wheels. Only 15-inch wheels are available on the Prius Prime.

The Kona Electric has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The Prius Prime’s suspension doesn’t offer gas-charged shocks.

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Kona Electric is 1.4 inches wider in the front and 1.4 inches wider in the rear than on the Prius Prime.

The Kona Electric’s front to rear weight distribution is more even (54% to 46%) than the Prius Prime’s (55.5% to 44.5%). This gives the Kona Electric more stable handling and braking.

The Kona Electric Limited handles at .83 G’s, while the Prius Prime Limited pulls only .76 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Kona Electric is 1 foot, 5.3 inches shorter than the Prius Prime, making the Kona Electric easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The Kona Electric has .2 inches more front headroom, 1.3 inches more front shoulder room, .5 inches more rear headroom, .6 inches more rear hip room and 1.5 inches more rear shoulder room than the Prius Prime.

The Kona Electric’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Prius Prime’s parking brake has to released manually.

The power windows standard on both the Kona Electric and the Prius Prime have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Kona Electric is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Prius Prime prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the Kona Electric has a standard rear wiper. The Prius Prime doesn’t offer a rear wiper.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Kona Electric’s available headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Prius Prime’s headlights are rated “Acceptable.”

The Kona Electric has a standard automatic headlight on/off feature. When the ignition is on, the headlights automatically turn on at dusk and off after dawn. The Prius Prime has an automatic headlight on/off feature standard only on the XLE/Limited.

Standard air-conditioned seats in the Kona Electric Limited keep the driver and front passenger comfortable and take the sting out of hot seats in Summer. The Prius Prime doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats.

The Kona was chosen as one of Car and Driver’s “Top Five/10Best Trucks” in 2019. The Prius Prime has never been a Car and Driver “Top Five/10Best Truck” pick.

The Hyundai Kona outsold the Toyota Prius by 52% during the 2021 model year.