Toyota News: 2026 Toyota RAV-4 Released as Hybrid Only

[Drew Dowdell]

For years, the RAV-4 has been the bestselling SUV in the US. Now in its sixth generation, the Toyota RAV-4 is one of the original compact crossovers. Once with a V6, the RAV-4 will now be available only with hybrid power, but that doesn't make it slow. Even the lowest power RAV-4 makes more horsepower than that V6 from 2005 while the new GR Sport trim PHEV can produce 320 horsepower.

All powertrain versions in the 2026 model are upgraded units from the previous generation. The base setup is a 226-horsepower front-wheel drive model (previously, the hybrid was only offered in all-wheel drive) while adding all-wheel drive to the spec sheet adds a third electric motor and another 10 horsepower for the rear wheels.  What was previously known as the RAV-4 Prime, the Plug-in Hybrid model now makes 320 horsepower instead of 302.  Driving range for the PHEV is up too from 42 miles to 50.  In certain trims, namly the Woodland and XSE PHEV can use their CCS port to DC fact-charge, refilling the battery pack from 10% to 80% in 30 minutes. The maximum towing capacity for some AWD Hybrid and PHEV models is now 3500 lbs. while the base FWD and LE AWD Hybrids remain at 1750.

Being one of the most popular models on the market, the design formula is updated but familiar.  The C-shaped headlamps from Toyota's recently updated Camry appear while the grille feels familiar like a Toyota 4Runner.  Inside, the controls have been minimized. In modern parlance, that means more screens and fewer buttons.  HVAC controls appear to have lost their knobs and are likely now located in the center control screen.

With such high sales, Toyota sold over 475,000 units in the US last year and over 1 million worldwide, they are making a trim for everyone with 7 trims to choose from.  There are three groupings of Core, Rugged, and Sport.  Core are the well-known LE, XLE, and Limited trims that are by far the most popular.  For 2026, they are only available as a hybrid without the option to plug in. The Rugged group is the Woodland trim with its standard all-wheel drive, all-terrain tires, faux skid plates, and "rugged" styling tweaks, is available as a standard hybrid or the plug-in version. For those wanting more sport there are three options: SE and XSE as before with the addition of a GR Sport model not previously offered in the US (Europe got a GR Sport on the previous model starting in 2022).  While the SE and XSE can be optioned with either powertrain, the GR Sport only comes with the 320-horsepower plug-in setup.

 

 

While pricing hasn't been released yet, Toyota builds the RAV-4 in the United States, so we expect only a minimal increase in price over the outgoing Hybrid RAV-4, currently a base price of about $33,600 after delivery. 

The 2026 Toyota RAV-4 goes on sale later this year.

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[ccap41]

"fast charging" isn't all that fast for a small battery. 30 minutes for like 35 miles of range added is really slow. 

[Drew Dowdell]

1 hour ago, ccap41 said:

"fast charging" isn't all that fast for a small battery. 30 minutes for like 35 miles of range added is really slow. 

Yeah, I wondered who was going to pick that up.  It's faster than L2 charging, but that's probably a max of 50kw.

That said, the RAV-4 isn't the first PHEV to get fast charging. The Outlander PHEV, the Volvo XC40 Recharge, and the Mini Cooper Countryman ALL4 can do it already.

[ccap41]

43 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Yeah, I wondered who was going to pick that up.  It's faster than L2 charging, but that's probably a max of 50kw.

That said, the RAV-4 isn't the first PHEV to get fast charging. The Outlander PHEV, the Volvo XC40 Recharge, and the Mini Cooper Countryman ALL4 can do it already.

Yeah, 50kw is certainly better than 7.2 or 1.2 from a house, but it's not great either. Then again it'll be full(or close enough) just by running into any store or eating anywhere real quick. 

[Drew Dowdell]

Just now, ccap41 said:

Yeah, 50kw is certainly better than 7.2 or 1.2 from a house, but it's not great either. Then again it'll be full(or close enough) just by running into any store or eating anywhere real quick. 

In looking this up for you, I found out that many/most PHEVs seem to be at 3.2kw on Level 2. Some are 6kw.  Not sure why that is and why they wouldn't be designed to take the 7.2 from most L2 chargers. The Volt was 7.2.

[ccap41]

3 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

In looking this up for you, I found out that many/most PHEVs seem to be at 3.2kw on Level 2. Some are 6kw.  Not sure why that is and why they wouldn't be designed to take the 7.2 from most L2 chargers. The Volt was 7.2.

Hmmm that is interesting. I wonder why 7.2 isn't more standard, if they're already accepting L2 charging. Thank you for looking this up! 

[Drew Dowdell]

4 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Hmmm that is interesting. I wonder why 7.2 isn't more standard, if they're already accepting L2 charging. Thank you for looking this up! 

I’m sure it’s down to $$$$

[Paolino]

Honestly, I like it. Am I wowed beyond belief? No, but I think it'll sell like crazy. I appreciate a lot of the upgrades to the interior. I wish the release came with more details.

The interior tech upgrades got my attention. That's what is holding me out of a CX-50 (well, that, and one larger detail that I'd have to check out myself, and one really small thing that shouldn't bother me, but it does 😉).

Just curious--not that I'd ever take something off-road, but how to CVTs fair with off-roading?

[smk4565]

Staying pretty true to formula here which is smart since they sell 475,000 of these a year.   And the price will go up since they are all hybrid now, but that won't slow down the sales.  

[ccap41]

16 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I’m sure it’s down to $$$$

It has to be. It still just seems odd that they'd save enough to not just use something that's already in their EVs. 

[Drew Dowdell]

21 hours ago, Paolino said:

Honestly, I like it. Am I wowed beyond belief? No, but I think it'll sell like crazy. I appreciate a lot of the upgrades to the interior. I wish the release came with more details.

The interior tech upgrades got my attention. That's what is holding me out of a CX-50 (well, that, and one larger detail that I'd have to check out myself, and one really small thing that shouldn't bother me, but it does 😉).

Just curious--not that I'd ever take something off-road, but how to CVTs fair with off-roading?

If they're built for off-roading, CVTs can actually do really well for low-speed crawling, but they have to be configured that way.   Technically, you can get the equiv of 4LO that a proper 4WD would have if it's built for it.  Will Toyota do that? I think it's unlikely.

[Drew Dowdell]

On 5/21/2025 at 12:55 PM, ccap41 said:

Yeah, 50kw is certainly better than 7.2 or 1.2 from a house, but it's not great either. Then again it'll be full(or close enough) just by running into any store or eating anywhere real quick. 

So, just to be clear.  This new RAV4 can actually charge at 11kw, same as the new Toyota BZ and Toyota CH-R. The previous RAV-4 Prime was 6.6kw, which was the same AC charge rate as the BZ4x.  So yeah, they did use the same AC charger.

[ccap41]

4 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

So, just to be clear.  This new RAV4 can actually charge at 11kw, same as the new Toyota BZ and Toyota CH-R. The previous RAV-4 Prime was 6.6kw, which was the same AC charge rate as the BZ4x.  So yeah, they did use the same AC charger.

So it can charge at 11kw level 2 chargers(if they're capable of that) but we don't yet know about the DC charging speed yet, correct? 

[Drew Dowdell]

19 hours ago, ccap41 said:

So it can charge at 11kw level 2 chargers(if they're capable of that) but we don't yet know about the DC charging speed yet, correct? 

Correct. There's no way it's 150kw at those charge speeds. My guess is 40k - 50kw. The Chevy Bolt at 55kw can do slightly faster than a mile of range per minute when you're charging from 0-100% which is roughly the same as this RAV-4 PHEV speed at 10% - 80%.

[A Horse With No Name]

On 5/22/2025 at 4:09 PM, Drew Dowdell said:

If they're built for off-roading, CVTs can actually do really well for low-speed crawling, but they have to be configured that way.   Technically, you can get the equiv of 4LO that a proper 4WD would have if it's built for it.  Will Toyota do that? I think it's unlikely.

 

But it, a Maverick, or a Subaru Crosstrek would be perfect for how I use vehicles. Getting into interesting areas to camp and hike. 

[Drew Dowdell]

On 6/5/2025 at 10:02 AM, A Horse With No Name said:

 

But it, a Maverick, or a Subaru Crosstrek would be perfect for how I use vehicles. Getting into interesting areas to camp and hike. 

How Off-road do you go?

[A Horse With No Name]

On 6/9/2025 at 10:42 AM, Drew Dowdell said:

How Off-road do you go?

Not very far, but forest service roads or farm roads. Some heavy potholes, maybe some grass, gravel washouts and the like. Nothing my 2WD Ranger won't handle with the differential lock, but I want to go to some more difficult places-more remote. 

[Drew Dowdell]

2 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Not very far, but forest service roads or farm roads. Some heavy potholes, maybe some grass, gravel washouts and the like. Nothing my 2WD Ranger won't handle with the differential lock, but I want to go to some more difficult places-more remote. 

Unfortunately, none of the low-cost crossovers will be particularly good with that.  The Maverick Tremor might do okay with it's locking diff, but at a base price of $43k, I have a hard time calling it "low-cost".

[ccap41]

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Unfortunately, none of the low-cost crossovers will be particularly good with that.  The Maverick Tremor might do okay with it's locking diff, but at a base price of $43k, I have a hard time calling it "low-cost".

Yeah, even the Bronco Sport with the fancy hardware is 40k. Yeah, cheaper...but...ehhhh 40k for one of those?!?

[G. David Felt]

40 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Yeah, even the Bronco Sport with the fancy hardware is 40k. Yeah, cheaper...but...ehhhh 40k for one of those?!?

Welcome to Making America Great Again with Same Old Tariffs, just higher prices!

Sadly, we are now worse off with the worst leadership ever and my gut tells me that I would not be surprised to see $40K the new Entry level of what used to be $24K. 

I noticed that before the current tariff stupidity, the 12 pack of Korean Seaweed at Costco was $6.99, now $11.99. I noticed today that the Maguire auto care kit that was $19.99 is now $39.99. So much for bringing prices down. 

Washington state now has the highest gas in the nation as the average cost per gallon here hit $5 today.

[A Horse With No Name]

18 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Unfortunately, none of the low-cost crossovers will be particularly good with that.  The Maverick Tremor might do okay with it's locking diff, but at a base price of $43k, I have a hard time calling it "low-cost".

Hence my secondary thought of buying an older four wheel drive full size truck. Our second vehicle sees few miles. Our 2004 Aveo has 84 K on it. 

14 hours ago, G. David Felt said:

Welcome to Making America Great Again with Same Old Tariffs, just higher prices!

Sadly, we are now worse off with the worst leadership ever and my gut tells me that I would not be surprised to see $40K the new Entry level of what used to be $24K. 

I noticed that before the current tariff stupidity, the 12 pack of Korean Seaweed at Costco was $6.99, now $11.99. I noticed today that the Maguire auto care kit that was $19.99 is now $39.99. So much for bringing prices down. 

Washington state now has the highest gas in the nation as the average cost per gallon here hit $5 today.

I am buying so much less. I don't want to support the current system, enough said. 

[ccap41]

14 hours ago, G. David Felt said:

Washington state now has the highest gas in the nation as the average cost per gallon here hit $5 today.

IL has the highest taxed gas (or 2nd/3rd highest - it goes back and forth with PA or CA or something - I don't know, top 3. ). 48.3c/gal as of July. It's gone up every July for the last like 6 years. When it first went up in 2017, that was fine. It did need to go up to maintain the roads. I believe it had been a very long time prior and I understood that. It's since gone up every year. In 2017 it went up to 19c/gal and it's ballooned up to 48.3c/gal. 

Your average for 87 is $5/gal? The internet (AAA's website) is showing $4.39 for WA. IL is at $3.43. California is still the highest in the nation at $4.65. 

https://gasprices.aaa.com/state-gas-price-averages/

[Drew Dowdell]

2 hours ago, ccap41 said:

48.3c/gal as of July. It's gone up every July for the last like 6 years. When it first went up in 2017, that was fine. It did need to go up to maintain the roads. I believe it had been a very long time prior and I understood that. It's since gone up every year. In 2017 it went up to 19c/gal and it's ballooned up to 48.3c/gal. 

Honestly, that's actually a good thing that it goes up every July. The problem with many states, and this isn't just gas taxes but all taxes, is that they don't index taxes to inflation, and then the governments are forced into drastic budget cuts and big jumps in taxes.  I work with local governments in PA and time after time I see this play out.  They pay themselves on the back for keeping property taxes low and not raising them for 6 years and then boom, they find themselves in a deficit which local towns are not allowed to run in PA.  Then there's a big tax hike and everyone gets pissed.  I'm working with one town where the population of the town is very affluent, but the town is going broke because of the tax structure.  They rely on property taxes, but the county hasn't reassessed property values in 30 years. So you have parcels that are worth 6-7 figures being assessed for tax purposes at like 100k.   And now everyone is stuck because if the properties get reassessed, the property taxes jump a few hundred percent. 

Having the gas tax go up a little bit every year is the smarter way to do it. 

[ccap41]

13 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

The problem with many states, and this isn't just gas taxes but all taxes, is that they don't index taxes to inflation, and then the governments are forced into drastic budget cuts and big jumps in taxes. 

This is supposed to be in line with inflation, which is understandable, to an extent. I believe this may be the smallest year over year increase since 2017. i think this year is just a 3c increase. 

And, in all fairness, I've noticed a ton more road construction since 2017. Yes, it's inconvenient, but there were a lot of bad roads. Now, there are a lot less and there's still plenty of construction in the area. In fact, it's currently taking me about 15 minutes longer to get home for the next couple weeks due to "emergency bridge construction". It sucks, but I understand it and also appreciate the nicer roads. 

[G. David Felt]

4 hours ago, ccap41 said:

IL has the highest taxed gas (or 2nd/3rd highest - it goes back and forth with PA or CA or something - I don't know, top 3. ). 48.3c/gal as of July. It's gone up every July for the last like 6 years. When it first went up in 2017, that was fine. It did need to go up to maintain the roads. I believe it had been a very long time prior and I understood that. It's since gone up every year. In 2017 it went up to 19c/gal and it's ballooned up to 48.3c/gal. 

Your average for 87 is $5/gal? The internet (AAA's website) is showing $4.39 for WA. IL is at $3.43. California is still the highest in the nation at $4.65. 

https://gasprices.aaa.com/state-gas-price-averages/

Yes, it has been fluctuating and many here have followed the mynorthwest site for prices. They had $5 over the weekend and now it is down in the Mid $4 range.

Currently their news story Washington’s gas prices: Are you paying too much? shows $4.37 now a gallon with a gas tax at 55.4 cents per gallon.

 

[ccap41]

35 minutes ago, G. David Felt said:

Currently their news story Washington’s gas prices: Are you paying too much? shows $4.37 now a gallon with a gas tax at 55.4 cents per gallon.

They're just using AAA's website for their data. 

 

36 minutes ago, G. David Felt said:

Yes, it has been fluctuating and many here have followed the mynorthwest site for prices. They had $5 over the weekend and now it is down in the Mid $4 range.

A ~50c/gal swing in two days is insane. 

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, ccap41 said:

They're just using AAA's website for their data. 

 

A ~50c/gal swing in two days is insane. 

Yes, it is, I am glad I only fill up the Escalade once a month now, the swings have become normal here, but still crazy.