TIME magazine included the Toyota Prius in its list of "The Dozen Most Important Cars of All Time," placing it alongside the Ford Model T and Volkswagen Beetle as one of the vehicles that fundamentally changed automotive history.
The recognition has nothing to do with styling or performance. The Prius won its place by forcing the entire industry to rethink how cars are powered.
When Toyota launched the first-generation Prius in Japan in December 1997, it became the world's first mass-produced hybrid vehicle. Other manufacturers had experimented with combining gasoline engines and electric motors dating back to 1898, according to Toyota UK, but none had solved the engineering problems required to build them at scale.
Toyota cracked it. The Prius paired a 1.5-liter gasoline engine with an electric motor and a nickel-metal hydride battery, delivering 57.6 mpg combined in its first iteration. That fuel economy figure crushed every conventional sedan on sale at the time.
The technology worked, but nobody knew if anyone would buy it. Japan did. The Prius won Car of the Year Japan in 1998 and sold over 40,000 units by May 2000. Toyota expanded production to 3,000 units monthly and prepared for export.
The global launch came in 2000, hitting North America shortly after Honda's two-seat Insight beat it to market by a few months. But the Insight used a simpler assist system that couldn't drive on electricity alone. The Prius could, and buyers noticed. Sales climbed steadily through the 2000s as gas prices spiked and environmental awareness grew.
By the time the third generation arrived in 2009, the Prius had become a cultural phenomenon. South Park dedicated an episode to mocking Prius owners. Celebrities drove them to award shows. The car became shorthand for fuel efficiency whether you were praising or ridiculing it.
IEEE, the world's largest technical professional organization, designated the first-generation Prius an IEEE Milestone in October 2025, recognizing its technical and commercial impact. A plaque at Toyota's Technical Center in Japan credits the vehicle with spurring other automakers to accelerate hybrid development.
That acceleration is visible across showrooms today. Nearly every major manufacturer now offers hybrid versions of mainstream models. The Toyota Corolla, Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonata, and dozens of other sedans and SUVs come with optional hybrid powertrains that trace their conceptual lineage directly back to the 1997 Prius.
Toyota has sold approximately six million Prius units globally and over 20 million total hybrids across all models, per Car and Driver. The company became the undisputed global leader in hybrid technology, a position it still holds.
The fifth-generation Prius, redesigned for 2023, won MotorTrend's 2024 Car of the Year award. The latest version gets up to 57 mpg combined, handles better than any previous generation, and actually looks good. Reviewers consistently note the car has shed its reputation for being slow and boring.
The archetypal green car is no longer the efficiency leader. Battery electric vehicles and newer plug-in hybrids post better numbers. But the Prius remains the vehicle that proved alternative powertrains could work for millions of regular buyers, not just early adopters willing to compromise.
Ford didn't invent the automobile. Volkswagen didn't invent the compact car. Toyota didn't invent the hybrid. But each of those manufacturers built the version that changed everything by making the concept accessible, affordable, and mass-producible.
That's why the Prius belongs on the list. Not because it's the best car, but because it moved the entire industry in a direction it wasn't ready to go. And once it went, there was no turning back.
