2026 Toyota RAV4 Plug-In Hybrid

The RAV4 is Toyota’s bread-and-butter crossover. It’s the best-selling SUV in the United States, which makes it a crucial part of the automaker's lineup. It’s also, historically, one of the most practical and easy-to-use vehicles you can buy — a five-seat compact SUV with ample cargo space, good fuel economy and available all-wheel drive. All this is true for the plug-in hybrid version, which trades a little cargo space for a lot of fuel economy, ample power, and the ability to drive exclusively on electric power for more than 40 miles.

Edmunds spotlight: New but likely very similar

We expect to see a revised RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid debut alongside or immediately following the introduction of an all-new RAV4 later this year. We believe that, like the redesigned Camry that debuted for 2025, the new RAV4 will be hybrid-only. The Camry didn't add significantly more power to the hybrid system in its redesign, and by the same token, we don't think the RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid will be more potent than its predecessor. And that's fine by us — the current PHEV produces 302 horsepower, which is more than enough for the compact family SUV. If anything, we'd like to see an improvement in charging tech. Very few PHEVs support high-speed DC chargers (most are only compatible with much slower AC connectors), and adopting the CCS or NACS charging ports could give the RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid a major advantage. With a battery pack as modestly sized as the RAV4's, you could conceivably charge from empty to 100% in the same time it takes for a Starbucks pit stop. Outside of our wish list item, the new RAV4 will likely get a boxier, more spacious design, a new tech suite and most certainly a bigger standard infotainment screen.

Competitors to consider

As good as we imagine the new RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid will be, the current version has increased in price to the point of absurdity. So it’s good that there are some meaningfully less costly options. The best of those are the Kia Sportage Plug-in Hybrid and the Hyundai Tucson Plug-in Hybrid.

Even a 7-year-old RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid is a good one. Sure, it's showing its age, but its packaging and efficiency are solid even by the standards of newer rivals. That said, we expect a new RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid to be groundbreaking, setting new standards for efficiency and interior space among compact hybrid SUVs.