2025 Toyota Highlander Hybrid gains standard all-wheel drive

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2025 Toyota Highlander Hybrid gains standard all-wheel drive


The 2025 Toyota Highlander Hybrid three-row crossover receives standard all-wheel drive and a new special edition as its only significant updates.

Based on the Highlander Hybrid Limited grade, the 25th Edition marks two and a half decades since the launch of the first-generation Highlander. Unveiled at the 2000 New York auto show as a 2001 model, the Highlander was one of the early crossovers that set the template for a vehicle type that is now dominating new-car sales.

While the 25th Edition is also a hybrid, that version of the Highlander isn’t celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The first Highlander Hybrid was revealed in 2005 as a 2006 model. It was the second Toyota hybrid, after the pioneering Prius.

Appropriately for a special edition commemorating a silver anniversary, the 25th Edition features silver-finished 20-inch wheels and silver exterior trim. It also features a smattering of “25th Edition” logos, a surround-view camera system, and leather upholstery.

2025 Toyota Highlander hybrid

In addition to the 25th Edition, Toyota will offer XLE, XLE Nightshade, Limited, and Platinum grades for 2025. All feature the same powertrain, consisting of a 2.5-liter inline-4 connected to Toyota’s familiar hybrid system, producing 243 hp. A 2.4-liter turbo-4 continues in non-hybrid models.

Ditching front-wheel drive means the Highlander Hybrid sees a slight dip in EPA-estimated fuel economy. The best 35 mpg combined (35 mpg city, 35 mpg highway) estimates for all-wheel drive models are unchanged, as is the 34 mpg highway estimate for all-wheel drive Limited and Platinum models. But 2024 models with front-wheel drive were rated at 36 mpg combined (36 mpg city, 35 mpg highway).

Toyota plans to start deliveries of 2025 Highlander models in November. The automaker has confirmed a base price of $39,520 (before destination) for the non-hybrid front-wheel drive LE grade, but will announce hybrid pricing closer to the on-sale date.

Rival crossovers such as the hybrid versions of the Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento have been updated more recently than the Highlander, and there’s now a larger Grand Highlander Hybrid sharing the name as well. Toyota may reportedly turn the Highlander into an EV, assigning the name to a new three-row model to be built in the U.S.

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