You may recall that there was recently some big news in the non-immortal-person Highlander world: Toyota has announced an all-new Highlander that is now a battery-electric vehicle. Even though this is sort of an odd, maybe inopportune time to release a new battery EV into the market, it makes a lot of sense as Toyota’s combustion-engined Grand Highlander, introduced in 2023, now outsells the current Highlander by about 2.5:1 .
Toyota has effectively made the old Highlander redundant, which means they’re free now to replace that model with something new, that fills a similar market hole but is radically different under the skin: a battery-electric crossover.
This new EV Highlander is Toyota’s first three-row EV to be brought to America since the founding of the country in 1776. Toyota seems quite excited about their new mass-market EV crossover, and good, they should be, though I think they may be getting a little PR-delulu when they write headers in the press release like:
“Highlander Reimagined for 2027, with All-New, Head-Turning Style, Elevated Comfort, and All-Electric Powertrain”
Nobody’s head is turning unless a Highlander accidentally clocks someone with a side-view mirror. I mean, it looks good, don’t get me wrong, but there could have been one parked at your local Target and you’d have walked right by it. That may sound harsh, but let’s just be honest here. Again, the redesign looks good, and the car now features what is becoming Toyota’s new corporate face, which was first introduced with the latest Prius redesign, and is a clean, largely grille-less affair with Toyota’s now signature thin LED light bar that angles up at each end into the DRLs.
Before I get too much more into telling you about the Highlander from what Toyota has told me, why don’t I show you what I found out based on questions you, our svelte and charming readers, asked me to find out yesterday, when I had about 20 minutes with the new Highlander:
And yes, before you even watch, I will tell you that I respected your inquiries and tried to show you as much as I could, including tasting the floormats. Here’s a still from the moment where I was cataloging the delicate dance of flavors to try and figure out how to best describe it to you:
That’s the look of a man who just licked a floormat. You’re welcome.
Since that’s sort of a deeply unserious moment, let me switch gears here and just dump all of those specs that I know you want, just to get it out of the way. We’ll start with the all-important battery size and range:
• XLE FWD with 77.0-kWh battery with a manufacturer-estimated 287-mile total driving range rating*
• XLE AWD with 77.0-kWh battery with a manufacturer-estimated 270-mile total driving range rating*
• XLE AWD with 95.8 -kWh battery with a manufacturer-estimated 320-mile total driving range rating*
• Limited AWD with 95.8 -kWh battery with a manufacturer-estimated 320-mile total driving range rating*
So, two battery sizes, ranges that range in range from a rangy 270 miles to a range-ranging maximum range in the range of 320 miles. Also: range.
Not bad numbers, nothing Earth-shattering, but certainly good enough for most of what these will be used for, especially if you’re able to charge at home. The Highlander has a NACS port for Level 3 DC charging, and Toyota claims that “under ideal conditions” when using DC fast charging, it can go from 10% to 80% in 30 minutes. Based on my experience with public chargers, I don’t know how much I’d rely on getting “ideal conditions,” but those are reasonable, if ideal, numbers.
In a way, this all feels very Toyota: careful, well-considered, and with reliability at the forefront. They may have been able to do faster more aggressive charging, but that would have introduced thermal issues and a cascade of related complications, and based on how Toyota’s technical ethos seems to work, I’m not too surprised they’re playing it a bit more conservatively.
When it comes to power, the AWD version has 338 combined horsepower from both driven axles, with 323 pound-feet of torque. The FWD versions make 221 hp, and 198 pound-feet of twisty-force. Like all these numbers, this feels competitive and certainly adequate but not necessarily surprising. If the acceleration is similar to Toyota’s bZ line of EVs, I think we can expect 0-60 number of around five to six seconds, given the extra weight of the Highlander. That’s plenty quick.
Toyota provided this absurdly dark picture of the interior, shot from the third row, and while it’s hard to tell what’s going on there, I can tell you the interior has very nice materials and a pleasing, well-considered design. It’s not particularly unexpected and while there is a sort of diagonal line/hashmark visual motif going, it doesn’t have a whole lot of genuine distinction. It’s nice, and most of the target audience for the Highlander I think will enjoy it.
The third row is about as upright as a Methodist chapel pew but it’s pretty comfortable, and there’s a good amount of leg room, at least for a hors d’oeuvre-sized human like myself. There’s cupholders and USB-C ports back there, too.
All of the expected electronic and connectivity stuff seems to be here, including the all-important Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, along with Toyota’s suite of driver-assist tech. There’s a six-speaker audio system, a dashcam-like functionality using the built-in cameras, and the paddle shifters control the brake regen, which is a good use for those.
The doorhandles are powered, which I still maintain are stupid, and they have a manual release right in there, too, which, though I couldn’t get it to work, begs the question of why are they building two kinds of door opening mechanism in the same damn handle. Powered ones just aren’t that cool. Door handles are a solved problem. Just let them be mechanical, eph eph ess.
Cargo-wise, there’s a good bit of room in that boxy body; with the third row up there’s still a decent amount of room for the, oh, seven people’s luggage, if they pack light; if you watch the video, you can see that I can fit back there, too.
With the rearmost row down, there’s a nice flat load space that’s quite big, and the rear cargo opening is nice and wide and fairly rectangular, too. And yes, those are amber rear indicators! Nicely done, Toyota.
My only real storage disappointment is this:
There’s no frunk. And yes, I realize the Highlander has plenty of cargo room without it, but that’s not the point. This is an ethical issue; if there is a significant volume of potentially usable space for the owner, the owner should have access to use such space. And there is plenty of space under that hood. Companies like Hyundai and Kia and Volvo and others manage to carve out small but useful volumes of space under their hoods – why can’t the World’s Biggest Automaker do the same? Frunks are great for cables and a blanket and other stuff that would ordinarily be rattling around the main cargo area.
Maybe there will be aftermarket frunk inserts. Still, it’s disappointing.
I’m about to go to the official reveal in like 30 minutes, and there may be more I’ll find out. But the embargo for this lifts at 9:30 Eastern/6:30 Pacific, and the silly rules of the internet dictate we must have something up right away, so there you go. I’ll update if I learn anything revolutionary.
Oh I almost forgot! Get a load of these color names:
“Available exterior paint colors on the new Highlander further its expressive nature. Single tone colors include the all-new Spellbound, along with Wind Chill Pearl, Heavy Metal, Everest, Reservoir Blue, and Midnight Black Metallic. Two tone paint combinations are also available, pairing Spellbound, Wind Chill Pearl, Heavy Metal, or Everest with a black roof. Interior colors are clean and modern, with Black, Portobello, and an all-new Misty Gray available.”
I love color names. Spellbound! Heavy Metal! Everest! Too bad they’re all the usual boring slate of slate grays and whites and blacks, but there is at least one blue in there.
The biggest unanswered question, of course, is how much it will cost. A Toyota rep I spoke with suggested that a final price has yet to be decided, but I know it’ll be over $22,500 because of how he laughed when I said that string of numbers. If I had to guess, I bet these will start somewhere around $40,000 and probably get up above $60,000 for the top end. I’m just guessing, of course, but that seems likely.
https://images-stag.jazelc.com/uploads/theautopian-m2en/high_doorhandle.jpg
Should press vehicle paint be this wavy?
I was interested in the EV Highlander as a potential replacement for my wife’s Prologue when the lease is up. But the specs are unimpressive, both power and charging speed in comparison to the EV9.
The door handle thing is so mind-boggingly, infuriatingly stupid that I’m not sure I can ever buy another Toyota/Lexus product again. They made a regular door handle and put a stupid, less functional door handle … on top of it? Electronic door handles need to die in a fire that is generatred by the batteries of all the world’s Cybertrucks.
We have a 2016 Highlander XLE AWD and even with two kids, sports, all that, we Never, Ever used the 3rd row seating. I don’t think it’s been upright since we left the dealership in Nov 2016! Would love a Delete Option to knock some $$$$ off what will be a bloated sticker.
Interesting that Toyota went FWD for the single powered axle. For EVs seems like there’s a pretty good split between which axle is powered for 2WD options. HKG went RWD with the E-GMP platform, Tesla also goes RWD for 2WD. Chevy seems to go front wheel drive instead (Bolt, Blazer). Would be an interested deep dive into the tradeoffs/benefits of each option. Frunk space (or lack thereof) would be an obvious impact, but weight balance, driving dynamics would be cool to dig into.
Could hardly get through the video with the camera man’s finger blocking the shot. Jason stole Alanis’s gimmick of getting locked in the trunk.
I was wondering if anyone else was going to point out the gimmick infringement.
Damn, what EV did they bring in 1776??
Also damn you put in the work for that video. “Arf arf, I’m a dog” is not a Torch quote I’ve heard before but also entirely unsurprised to hear it.
Whatever it was, I bet it didn’t have a big “Retro” or “Vintage” badge on it.
Toyota sold a Yatai Grand from 1773 to early 1775. They stopped selling due to the newly imposed tariffs from the Crown. Oh, what could have been.
Take that, Mercedes Benz! So much for “first automobile”, more ammo for Torch!
Ahm. not quite sure how to put this do I will just dive in: Is it a huge vehicle or is Jason very short?
From the photo he needs steps to climb in…
Now one for philosophers : Why are so many electric vehicles, designed with energy efficiency as their raison d’être so flipping huge? Surely it defeats the purpose?
Depends on if you think 5’8″ is “very short” or not.
wait, Everest isn’t green!? that’s ridiculous.
Mt Everest isn’t green.
It’s kinda stone-brown/grey with white snow on top.
But Sir George Everest had blue eyes.
it’s the name Toyota has been using for one of their greens, that has been a pretty nice color really.
I wasn’t the only one thinking of Green Boots?
If the stupid electronic handles are the same Lexus has had for a couple years now (and looks like they are) the exterior manual override does nothing when the electronic one is still working. The interior manual override always works though.
Still overrides to solve a problem that would be better solved by not having fucking electronic handles.
Really surprised that they went EV only for the Highlander and made the Grand Highlander the only gas-engine choice.
But, the Grand Highlander is outselling the regular Highlander by a fairly wide margin. Probably because the regular Highlander in its current form isn’t all that spacious or practical. Our 2019, on the same basic platform as the 2020+, was nice to drive and ride in for the front four passengers. But the third row was useless for anyone besides small children, and with said third row up, there was no cargo room to speak of.
I see no reason to get this over a Kia EV9 but people will, because the Toyota cult is STRONG. Those that aren’t car enthusiasts or gearhead-type folks will always recommend Toyota or Honda and nothing else, based on their memories of the prior over-engineered reliability stalwarts of yesteryear.
The EV9 is definitely a better vehicle on paper. This Highlander has a respectable trunk, but the rest is meh.
My one pause on the EV9 is interior durability. The Car & Driver long-term review makes me thing the plastics are kinda crap in the rear.
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a61108648/2024-kia-ev9-land-awd-reliability-maintenance/
Would Toyota hold up any better? Maybe, maybe not? I know my former Honda Odyssey’s plastics could take a lot of abuse and not look that bad.
When I saw the Highlander title I was hoping that Torch Drives a Lull.
Imagine the hijinks in traffic.
No it’s a fucking Toyota and not even a hydrogen hybrid. Really that is gonna catch on sometime. You’ll see.
Jason,
One detail that should probably be mandatory in EV car reviews – is the heater a traditional resistor heater or a heat pump? We’ve seen in testing data in BEVs that much more efficient heat pumps can cut the cold weather range penalty significantly compared to traditional heaters.
https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/heat-pumps
The BZ has a heat pump, so I assume this does as well
My home has a heat pump.
Agreed. I would hate to see the electric consumption on my Ioniq 5 without it. Averaging well below 2.2 miles / kWh around town these days.
DOA. HEV and physical door handles within 18 months.
Why do automakers insist on doing cutesy bullshit like that for EVs? I don’t get it.
The Grand Highlander is Toyota’s 3 row HEV crossover.
Yes, the door handles are stupid.
They already have that.
Here’s the deal. I’m a car guy, 100%. I’ve been here and on The Old Site for almost two decades. I have forgotten more about automotive retail than most people will ever know. I am a well informed automotive consumer.
But I cannot tell you ANYTHING about the Toyota Highlander or Rav4. Because I read I know that both of them are among the best selling vehicles in the US market. What do they look like? I have no idea. How are they equipped? No idea. Have I ever seen one? Certainly, because I drive on US highways. Can’t tell you about the encounter, though. Have I ever seen a commercial or print ad for either of these product? Almost certainly, but I have no memory of the experience.
I freely acknowledge that Toyota makes fine products renowned for their fine engineering, exemplary build quality, and durability. I would dearly love to own a Land Cruiser (the real one, not the poser one they sell here now). I drive by two different Toyota dealers almost every day. The Highlander? The Rav4? Absolutely no recall of either product.
One of these things has never, ever ignited the necessary chemical and electrical pathways within my brain in a manner that has triggered an internal dialogue that contained the words “that is a Toyota Rav4” or “that is a Toyota Highlander.” Is it because they are relentlessly unremarkable? A predisposed negative bias on my part? Shouldn’t be, I’m receptive to both CUV and SUV products, and there are two in my garage. Conservative styling? No idea, because I have no idea what they look like. I am genuinely perplexed why this is the case.
The lumpy looking Rav4 from three decades ago? Sure, that was pretty cool. A young woman with a spectacular bottom who lived in my apartment complex drove one. The Highlander from a quarter century ago? My sister-in-law drove one. But today? Neither vehicle occupies any RAM space within my noggin. It is if they simply do not exist.
I blame age. Other priorities have replaced the need to be able to identify every detail of every vehicle on the market. I used to pore over my four car magazines each month, just absorbing everything. Now I have better things to do, like drink bourbon, make spreadsheets, and work on the 4930 projects in the house and cars.
I feel that way about VWs, they just look absolutely generic as hell except for the Atlas. Some stand out, others don’t, but most people just want a reliable appliance and that’s fine. I like appliances for daily drivers, too, but find I prefer other brands to Toyota based mostly on interior quality and comfort.
I rented a Highlander and it was ok, but I preferred the Venza I had before it…mostly because it was smaller, more car-shaped, and looked a hell of a lot better than the beluga whale blob that is the Highlander.
The RAV4 is the one with the pink Auto Nation license plate frame that’s going 5MPH under the speed limit in the left lane. The Highlander is the one with the Lilo and Stich decals in the rear window straddling two lanes of traffic while the driver is texting the babysitter that she’s running late.
That’s… Eerily accurate.
Welcome to my commute…
I don’t know man. It seems hard to believe that you don’t know what 2 of the most popular vehicles in the US (that you must surely see multiple times a week) look like. This sounds like, “I am bragging that I don’t know about [wildly popular thing].” You’re better than that.
That sounds like a you issue, not Toyota’s.
They sell quadzillions of those for a reason.
This might have been on our list to replace my wife’s aging Highlander but the stupid door handles rule it out for me
For a three row vehicle targeting families, any reduction of charging time below 30 minutes is irrelevant in my experience. I only have one kid and executing a family road trip pit stop in less than 30 minutes is a small miracle, with more kids and/or a dog it would be worse. In the rare event we finish before we’re charged, it’s just a couple of minutes that we can use to clean all the crap out of the car and stretch.
Anything above that is really more about future proofing for a hopefully eventual increase in charger availability. My wife has used the fast chargers just a couple of times with her EVquinox. Pushing 150kw is great, but it cuts in half the second another car plugs in, so 25 minute stop turns into 45 minutes. I don’t know what the availability of chargers is around here that can do 300kw because it’s not something I’ve needed to study, but until those are the norm it’s probably not worth the expense to push the charging rates that the premium offerings have (though those are trickling down-market now)
Curious how old your kid is? I have 2 and if a pit stop ever took 30 minutes, it meant something geniunely bad (e.g., massive diaper blowout) was happening. Seriously, what what are we doing for half an hour?
Yeah I have 3 kids 8 and under and 10 minutes is a long stop for us.
If I’m at a rest stop for a half hour, I’m more than likely ripping my hair out and hustling everyone back into the damn car lol.
I was gone for a few days, but I am so gratified that people agreed with me.
Also, I kind of want to do a 30-minute pit stop for an upcoming road trip and right an article about wtf we did the entire time. “Mom, can we please go?” “No! You have 13 minutes left! Stand there next to the gas pump and wait!”
As Mouse stated, a stop with a food purchase (and a line) is probably the only way I’m spending half an hour on a stop.
Now, this may vary somewhat by region. If you live in a place where the highways are a bit more open, and the stops more appealing than say, a completely overwhelmed NYS Thruway rest stop, or say, a Maryland I-95 rest stop (yowza) then maybe the stops are a little more relaxed. Most of our road trips include the following corridors:
Mass Turnpike
I-95 in Southern Maine
NYS Thruway
Garden State Pkwy/NJ Turnpike
I-95 through the DC area
These are often drives that test your will to be alive, especially if for some reason you’re dumb enough to test them on a holiday weekend. You don’t even want to stop. You just want to plow through and make the pain end.
Yeah, if we stop for a bathroom break and to buy food, then I can see 30 minutes. But otherwise, why, how, why?
I’m sure it’s because I’ve been looking at minivans lately, but the interior of this looks so cramped despite its EV architecture.
If the Grand Highlander gets an EV cousin, it’s only fair the Sienna should get a PrEVia complement.
Looked sort of cramped to me as well.
They are going after the Hyundai Ioniq 9 and Kia EV9 market with this. I expect the base price if the eHighlander to be around $60k. I really wish they went with 800V architecture because the Kia/Hyundai twins are much faster at charging. They do 10-80% in 24 minutes with a 110kWh battery. This does it in 30 minutes with a smaller battery.
I fear the Toyota eHighlander will start off with horrible sales. There is currently $10k on the hood of the Ioniq 9 with 0% 72 month financing. It’s not a good market to launch this. However, I do give Toyota credit for getting another EV out there. They need data from traditional Toyota customers to help their future EVs.
You’re forgetting it’s a Toyota, so no discounts, only ADMs for this vehicle
How does the space and room in the third row compare to the outgoing Highlander? The cargo space behind the third row?
Imho, this is a huge miss. We saw on the announcement Morning Dump post about this vehicle that many people are still hugely concerned about DC fast charging times.
Putting a 3-row family SUV on an aging 400 volt architecture that can only accept 150 kW max is unacceptable. There is no reason why anyone should buy this over the Ioniq 9 or EV9 unless they don’t often do road trips and get an amazing deal that makes the Highlander much cheaper than the Hyundai twins.
Another EV swing and miss by Toyota. At this point, they’re going to be left in the dust.
Just buy or lease a Chevy Equinox EV instead. We are leasing one but even new they’re like $35k. Its a big dumb family-hauler like this thing above, goes 315 miles, and so far after 30,000 miles, no issues. We all know this will cost a damned fortune. I have no doubt its going to be well north of $60k when all is said and done. And while I am a huge Toyota fan, still driving a beater Tacoma I will be buried in, the delta in cost between this and what others have already been offering-for years- and at an almost 50% price cut makes zero sense.
The Equinox and Highlander are not in the same class of vehicle size
Correct, which is why people should buy two Equinoxi (?) for the same money. Think of all the space you will have with two cars instead of one!
Oh yeah? Like what’s the huge difference? But anyway, sure. Let’s compare the Chevy Blazer, which is the same class. I just looked. You can get a gently used 2025 Blazer for under $25k.
Not disagreeing that the Blazer isn’t a steal on the used market. Just pointing out that this has a 3rd row and the Blazer/Equinox don’t. The highlander buyer is someone who doesn’t want a minivan for some reason.
They are not the same class
Actually, they are. But thanks for playing. I enjoy being proven correct.
are you intoxicated
Are you?
We looked at both chevy’s last year and the cargo space is a joke, barely more than our leaf and would not cut it for a family trip. EV9 is way more space. Tesla Y is halfway between.
Are your kids fat or are you both really large people? Because as someone who used to own a Leaf you’re smokin’ crack.
cargo space 2013 leaf 24cu ft, 2025 equinox ev 26cu ft. the trunk space in the chevy was shockingly small for how big that car is. passenger space is fine but I like to do things when I travel that require gear and a place to store it
“including tasting the floormats. Here’s a still from the moment where I was cataloging the delicate dance of flavors to try and figure out how to best describe it to you:”
Measles. It tastes like Measles. Please be careful, Jason, the world needs you. Maybe hire a full-time taster on retainer?
Well done! This was a very thoughtful tour of the Highlander with various moments of humor.
The electric door handles are stupid. I don’t care for the front end, but it’s better than some. From a utilitarian perspective, it looks like a great car that they put a lot of thought into. If I were in the market for a 3 row EV (I’m not), I’d at least consider it based on what you showed us here.
$40k? There’s no chance for us. It’s all been decided for us.