Fast Facts | Toyota Highlander Hybrid 25th Edition Review
🚘Powertrain: Electrified 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine with standard all-wheel drive
⚙️Transmission: Electronically controlled continuously variable automatic
🔔Total System Horsepower: 243
🌳Fuel Economy (City/Highway/Combined): EPA-estimated 35/34/35
🎵Standard Tech: Lane-keeping assist, road-sign recognition, automatic high beams, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert
💵 As-Tested MSRP: $55,914 including $1,450 in destination fees
The Toyota Highlander Hybrid might just be the ideal vehicle for families. This three-row SUV is spacious, comfortable, well-equipped, and fairly priced. But perhaps most importantly, the Highlander Hybrid practically sips fuel like a Prius. Throw in Toyota's nearly mythical reputation for quality and dependability, plus two years of free scheduled maintenance, and you have an SUV that's tough to top.
Room For the Whole Family… Mostly
The Highlander Hybrid seats up to eight, or seven if you opt for a trim that swaps the second-row bench for bucket seats, like the 25th Edition model shown here. These chairs are surprisingly comfortable, with fore-and-aft movement and adjustable backrests. They also tip and slide forward easily, so accessing the third-row doesn't require acrobatics.
That said, that aft-most bench is best left to the kids, even if the split backrest is adjustable. The bottom cushion sits close to the floor, and legroom gets tight if you don’t move the second-row chairs forward a fair amount.
My tester came fitted with optional running boards that cost an additional $599. These side steps might be helpful for children, but this SUV doesn’t sit high enough to require them for adults. They're more likely to streak your pant legs with mud or dirt rather than aiding ingress and egress. I'd skip them.
If you want to compare trims, pricing, and similar family hybrids fast, use the GreenCars Buyer’s Guide ➜
If you need more room in the wayback, Toyota also offers the Grand Highlander, which adds 5.5 inches of legroom in the third row, making it much more comfortable for adults, and more cargo room. Additionally, the Grand Highlander is even available with not one, but two different hybrid powertrains.
Up front, the Highlander Hybrid’s front seats are soft yet supportive, plus they’re heated and ventilated in the 25th Edition, which is based on the high-end Limited trim. These chairs also power-adjust for optimum comfort, 10 ways for the driver and eight for the passenger.
There’s Plenty of Cargo Space, Too
If you need to haul cargo instead of people, the Highlander Hybrid excels at that as well. Behind the third row, there's about 16 cubic feet of space, enough to swallow a couple of large suitcases. There's also a 120-volt household power outlet back there, which is super handy for camping or tailgating. There’s another socket at the bottom rear of the center console, along with USB-C ports.
If you fold those third-row backrests down, which you have to do manually, since they aren't power-operated, the cargo area expands to more than 48 cubic feet. Drop the second row, and the Highlander Hybrid provides more than 84 cubic feet of storage space. That's some serious hauling capacity.
For stashing smaller items, this Toyota also has a decently sized center console between the front seats, plenty of dashboard storage cubbies, spacious door panels, and a whopping 14 cupholders. If you can’t find a place to holster your refreshment, you don’t deserve to take a sip!
Well Equipped and Nicely Finished
The rest of the Highlander Hybrid’s cabin isn’t luxurious, though it's entirely pleasant, with upscale leather, plenty of soft plastics, and lots of tech. There’s an auto-dimming rearview mirror, a wireless charging pad in an easily accessible spot, and a solid 360-degree camera that is far sharper than what Toyota has offered in recent years.
If you’re thinking long-term ownership, this helps set expectations without the fluff: owning a hybrid car ➜
Fancier Highlander Hybrid trims also come with a pair of lovely 12.3-inch displays and standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. My tester also has a premium 11-speaker JBL audio system that, predictably, sounds nice.
As for driver aids, Toyota Safety Sense 2.5+ is standard across the Highlander Hybrid model range. This suite of advanced technologies includes amenities like lane-keeping assist, road-sign recognition, automatic high beams, and adaptive cruise control. You also get blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert at no extra cost.
Not Exciting, But it Doesn’t Have to Be
Toyota essentially invented the modern hybrid, debuting the technology in the groundbreaking Prius three decades ago. Since then, the Japanese automaker applied this powertrain to countless vehicles in its lineup. Over the years, Toyota hybrids have proven to be rugged, dependable, and incredibly efficient, adjectives that perfectly describe what’s under the hood of this Highlander.
Behind its large grille, the vehicle features a 2.5-liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine backed by an electronically controlled continuously variable automatic transmission, or eCVT, and standard all-wheel drive. Total system output is a respectable 243 horsepower.
Now, that may not sound like much in a world of 1,200-plus-hp Lucid all-electric sedans, but this is still more than enough for a vehicle like this. Of course, I don’t recommend you go racing at your local dragstrip, but in normal, everyday driving, the Highlander’s performance is rock solid, especially the fuel economy.
According to the EPA, this SUV should return 35 mpg in the city, 34 on highway trips, and 35 combined, undeniably impressive ratings for a vehicle of this size. In real world, fairly heavy-footed driving in cold winter temperatures, I’ve been getting a little less than 30 mpg, which is still plenty efficient.
If there’s a downside to this Toyota’s powertrain, it’s noise. No, the engine isn’t loud, but it does make its presence known, and it sounds quite gruff, especially when working hard. Other than that, the Highlander Hybrid is polite and mild-mannered. The steering is light to the touch and agreeable, the interior remains fairly quiet at interstate speeds, the brake pedal is soft and easy to modulate smoothly, and the driver aids work as advertised.
This SUV’s ride quality is also mostly smooth, though the rear end can feel a tiny bit bouncy at times when traversing rough surfaces. I’m not sure if stiffer springs or dampers would fix this, but putting a couple of people in the back would probably settle things right down.
Affordable Efficiency for Families
Sure, the Highlander Hybrid’s third-row seat is a little tight, and its powertrain sounds grumbly, but this Toyota offers a lot of great benefits, including excellent fuel efficiency, good performance, plenty of standard technology, and an upscale interior. Another feather in its cap is sensible pricing. For 2026, the entry-level variant has an MSRP of roughly $49,000, including destination fees, but the 25th Edition model tested here checks out for a whisker shy of $56,000, which is not unreasonable for everything you get.
Making this electrified Highlander an even better value, the automaker also includes free scheduled maintenance for the first 2 years or 25,000 miles of ownership as part of its complimentary Toyota Care plan. Not that you’re likely to ever need it, but this SUV also has an 8-year/100,000-mile hybrid system warranty as well as a 10-year/150,000-mile hybrid battery guarantee, so families with Highlander Hybrids will be very well protected for years to come.*
*See dealer for limited warranty details
💎 More Smart Hybrid Picks for Families
Road Test: 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander
More third-row comfort and cargo space if you like the Highlander Hybrid idea but want adult-friendly space in the wayback
Read More ➜
2025 Toyota Sienna Hybrid Platinum AWD Review
If your “family vehicle” is really a kid-and-gear machine, this hybrid minivan alternative is worth a serious look
Read More ➜
Best Hybrid SUVs for Families
A wider shortlist to pressure-test value, space, and mpg across the segment beyond Toyota
Read More ➜
