If there’s a single car trend dominating 2021, other than rising prices everywhere, it’s black. Not just black paint – that’s been an option (famously the only option at first) since the very first cars were sold. No, automakers this year like black paint with black wheels, black mirrors, black badges, and black upholstery.
Kia calls it the Nightfall Package. Nissan calls it a Midnight Edition. Toyota calls it a Nightshade edition. Ford defies the trend and offers its Ice White package, but everyone else is going for the Darth Vader fan demographic with a blacked-out option package this year.
A Thrifty Menace
To that end, there is now the 2022 Toyota Prius Nightshade Edition. It arrives on dealer lots this fall with a $30,470 sticker price, putting it between the upscale XLE trim and top-of-the-line Limited edition. Toyota also charges $1,025 for delivery.
“Available in either front-wheel drive or AWD-e versions, the new Prius Nightshade brings an unexpectedly bold style to the car that made ‘hybrid’ a household word,” according to Toyota.
The Nightshade model features black headlight accents, mirror caps, door handles, and shark fin antenna. The front-wheel-drive model rides on black 17-inch 5-spoke alloy wheels. The AWD-e gets 15-inch versions. Both, of course, are attached with black lug nuts. Can’t allow anything to shine while you escape the scene of your latest crime with money-saving fuel efficiency.
We joke about Lego Batman’s favorite hybrid, but the Nightshade edition is actually available with all the same black accents but painted in black, white, or silver.
Inside, it has black SofTex fabric on the seats and steering wheel. The rest of the equipment is borrowed from the upscale XLE trim, including a 7-inch touchscreen, a 6-speaker JBL sound system, and Android Auto/Apple CarPlay integration.
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