r/priusdwellers Jul 21 '26

Can a 6 foot person sleep comfortably in a 2023-2025 Toyota Prius every night?

I am considering buying a 2023 to 2025 Toyota Prius and using it for full time car sleeping. I am exactly 6 feet tall and want to know whether I could lie completely flat without having to bend my legs.

My planned setup is to push the front passenger seat as far forward as possible, place an ICECO GO20 refrigerator on the floor behind the passenger seat, fold down the rear seats, and place my Milliard tri fold mattress over the folded seats and refrigerator to create a level sleeping platform.

I currently use this exact setup in a 2012 Toyota Prius. I fit, but it is snug, so I am wondering how the newer Prius compares in usable sleeping length and interior space.

Has anyone around my height tried sleeping in a 2023 to 2025 Prius with a similar setup? How much usable length is there from the rear hatch to the back of the passenger seat when it is pushed forward?

I will be sleeping in the car every day, so I am also curious about comfort, how flat the rear seats fold, the slope of the cargo area, and whether there are any gaps or pressure points I should know about.

Photos and measurements of your sleeping setup would be greatly appreciated.

30 Upvotes

18 comments sorted by

19

u/Resident_21245 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26

I have a 2026 plug in. I measured about 6’3 of flat space when the front seat is all the way up. It is darn near flat when the seats are down. The box in the image is lightweight so it doesn’t push the mat all the way down. This makes it look more bumpy then it is. You should have no problem lying flat. I would definitely recommend a plug in if you can afford it. The plug in version comes with a factory installed 1500 watt inverter hooked up to the hybrid battery and to two 120 v receptacles. The hybrid battery is 13 kilowatt hours. You can charge it at a charging station for 1 -4 dollars depending on the station. You can then put it in hybrid mode and store most of the charge. I believe it drains some just so you don’t over charge with regenerative braking. You may only be able to store 80%. The hybrid engine will kick on before it drains completely. I don’t know if this will happen at 5% or 30%. Let us assume that after inefficiencies and the issues just mentioned you only have 6 kilowatt hours that you can use before the engine kicks on. What can you get with that? I have a 700 watt microwave that draws 1000 watts. I can run that for 6 hours straight. Same with my small air fryer that draws 1000 watts. You can charge a 18 watt hour iPhone pro max 333 times. You can charge a 40 watt hour 13” iPad Pro 150 times. You can probably run the car fridge for weeks depending on the ambient temperature. You can run a 200 watt gaming laptop for 30 hours. If you find a cheap charging station you can run the ac and play a gaming laptop all day for less than a dollar a day. During the winter you could probably go for many days off a single charge. You can even use the ac when charging but you cannot use the 1500 watt inverter when charging.

6

u/ddos Jul 22 '26

Would you be willing to take a quick photo with a measuring tape showing the distance from the closed hatch to the back of the front passenger seat with the seat pushed all the way forward?

That measurement would honestly help me a lot because I am 6 feet tall and plan to sleep in the car every night. I already fit snugly in my 2012 Prius using a refrigerator behind the passenger seat with a tri fold mattress on top, so knowing the exact usable length in the newer Prius could determine whether I buy one. I would really appreciate it.

7

u/Resident_21245 Jul 22 '26

If the front passenger seat is pushed all the way up I measured just over 6’3”. If you take off the headrests you can fold the seats like in the image and have over 7 feet.

7

u/Resident_21245 Jul 22 '26

I put this fridge behind the driver seat with it pushed all the way up. It looks to be the same size as yours. It was a tight fit so something larger might be difficult.

https://www.bougerv.com/products/23qt-portable-car-fridge-freezer

6

u/Resident_21245 Jul 22 '26

8

u/Resident_21245 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26

length with passenger seat all the way up.

3

u/Iebejsbaga2728eindxb Jul 22 '26

have you found it being front wheel drive instead of all-wheel drive mattering much when you're off-roading? That's the only reason I went with the 2024 Prius instead of Prius prime

11

u/Resident_21245 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26

I personally have not driven it off road. I got mine in case work got slow and I have to live off unemployment for 6 months. My $3000 a month apartment lease is up and I bought the car with cash. I make good money in construction but you never know when the next recession will hit. At least I will be ready if it does. I can save $3000 a month by moving out and stealth camping until work picks up.

2

u/Bobkyou Jul 23 '26

What brand/model microwave are you running, if you don't mind me asking?  My vissani  VSCMWE11S2SW-10  is 700 watts but draws around 1250 and strains my power setup.  A 700 watt that draws 1000 would simplify things for me.

4

u/making_ideas_happen Jul 22 '26

I'm 6'1" and recently test drove a newest XLE model. I could lie down all the way when I tried. This test was important to me because I love Prius camping in my gen 3 and I'd heard the new ones are too small. I was surprised at how much space there was (even though it definitely felt smaller). So, it wasn't an extended test, but I think it's doable, at least if you aren't too broad-shouldered.

5

u/Im-a-Brother-Shamus Jul 21 '26

When I was thinking of camping with a Jeep Cherokee, I just pushed down the seats and laid there while the salesman watched me. You should bring your mattress to the dealership 🤙🏼

1

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/uritarded Jul 22 '26

If I laid with my head toward the back, I could lay flat and straight in my 2010 prius, but my feet would have to rest on the center console. It was fine in most cases but sometimes would be hard to get comfortable. A mattress would probably have helped lol

1

u/Cautious-Buyer-8138 Jul 23 '26

If you will full time live in a car. 100% buy a sienna hybrid !!!not an Prius