Toyota unveiled the brand new 2027 Highlander, a completely redesigned midsize SUV that marks the model’s first three-row electrical car for the US market and the primary Toyota EV assembled in America. It’s a well-known identify — Toyota has been promoting fuel Highlanders for over 20 years — with an all-new powertrain aimed immediately at some of the common car segments available in the market as we speak. To say that is Toyota’s greatest likelihood to greatest its EV rivals can be an understatement.
The announcement comes at a tumultuous time for the world’s best-selling automaker. Toyota’s technique of emphasizing hybrid automobiles over pure battery-electric ones appears to have been vindicated, as international EV gross sales decelerate and the corporate’s rivals report enormous losses associated to their EV investments. However Toyota additionally has a brand new CEO, finance chief Kenta Kon, a detailed ally and former secretary of present chairman Akio Toyoda. Kon’s ascension is seen as an acknowledgement that Toyota, underneath his monetary stewardship, has efficiently weathered the chaos round Chinese language EVs, international tariffs, and the costly and prolonged shift to EVs.
The Toyota Highlander is an acknowledgement of a few of these challenges. It’s going to be constructed at Toyota’s manufacturing unit in Kentucky, at a time when home manufacturing is the easiest way to keep away from Donald Trump’s tariffs. It’s a three-row, midsize SUV, which is the preferred car section in America proper now. And it’s utilizing a well-known identify plate, acknowledging that most prospects didn’t know what “bZ” stood for (it’s “past zero”) and weren’t precisely all in favour of studying.
The Toyota Highlander is an acknowledgement of a few of these challenges.
The brand new Highlander will solely include two trims: XLE and Restricted. The XLE is out there with front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, whereas the Restricted comes normal with AWD. Battery choices embrace a 77kWh pack and a bigger 95.8kWh pack, relying on the configuration. And the AWD fashions with the bigger battery will stand up to 320 miles of estimated vary, in addition to 338 horsepower and 323lb-ft of torque. (FWD trims will supply 221hp and 198lb-ft of torque).
It can include an up to date infotainment setup, very like the one discovered within the new C-HR and bZ Woodland electrical SUVs. That features a 14-inch central touchscreen, a 12.3-inch gauge cluster, customizable ambient lighting, wi-fi Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and in depth charging choices for gadgets in all three rows. And if you lookup, you’ll see a hard and fast panoramic glass roof — the most important ever supplied by Toyota.
The Highlander’s new infotainment system, powered by AT&T 5G connectivity, gives a customizable homescreen, enhanced voice recognition with “Hey Toyota” instructions, twin Bluetooth telephone connectivity, and built-in streaming companies akin to Spotify and SiriusXM.
The brand new Highlander seats seven, with a 3rd row capable of accommodate two passengers. When extra cargo area is required, that third row folds flat to create greater than 45 cubic ft of rear storage. And there’s a raft of extra options, like wi-fi charging trays, a number of USB-C ports throughout all three rows, rear HVAC controls, optionally available rear window shades, and a hands-free energy liftgate.
The Highlander EV will come geared up with a NACS port for Tesla Supercharger entry. Below the appropriate circumstances, the battery can cost from 10-80 % in roughly half-hour utilizing DC quick charging. Battery preconditioning, by which the battery is ready for optimum charging, comes normal, and may be activated manually or robotically by means of a Drive Join subscription (which is about $15 per 30 days). The Highlander may gradual cost with Stage 1 or 2 chargers, and can include a dual-voltage 120V/240V charging cable.
It can even be Toyota’s first EV with vehicle-to-load capabilities, permitting it to operate as a cell energy financial institution. Toyota says the Highlander may even function a backup energy supply throughout a blackout when geared up with optionally available bidirectional equipment. Toyota says it should have extra bulletins about this new characteristic sooner or later.
Dimension-wise, the brand new Highlander will go toe-to-toe with different three-row electrical SUVs on the highway. It is going to be 198.8 inches lengthy, 78.3 inches broad, and 67.3 inches tall, with a wheelbase of 120.1 inches. That’s much like Toyota’s present gas-powered Grand Highlander and akin to different EVs, just like the Rivian R1S, Kia EV9, and Hyundai Ioniq 9, amongst others.
Toyota says it should launch the worth of the brand new Highlander later this 12 months, when it goes into manufacturing. However the automaker is actually having a little bit of a second within the EV world. The not too long ago revamped bZ (previously bZ4x) has been a shock hit for Toyota, coming in fourth in total EV gross sales within the US in January, forward of Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 and Ford’s Mustang Mach-E. And there’s extra to return, with each the C-HR hatchback and bZ Woodland anticipated to go on sale within the US later this 12 months.
Toyota has an opportunity to make up for its lackluster effort in EV manufacturing with all these new automobiles. We’ll see if it seizes the second.