Let’s go back to 2023. GM is introducing a dozen electric vehiclesFord has borrowed the iconic F-150 and Mustang nameplates for all-electric vehicles, Polestar looks like potential emerging…
And Toyota – long heralded as one of the more environmentally conscious automakers after the overwhelming success of the Prius hybrid – isn’t really competing. Its single EV, the bZ4X, looks a bit strange, charges slowly and won’t get 300 miles on a full charge.
Toyota’s slow approach surprised industry watchers. Environmentalists blew up my phone at the time, complaining that the world’s largest automaker was relying heavily on hybrids that still got most of their power from burning dinosaur juice.
Fast forward three years. The industry’s rosier EV predictions have succumbed billions of write-offsa big one graveyard of discontinued modelsand the removal of Polestar from the US market.
At the same time, and almost inexplicably, Toyota’s 2026 consumer EV offering, fresh off a partnership with Subaru, has more nameplates than Tesla.
That reversal made me especially curious about the new C-HR.
Handsome. Efficient. A bit… super sporty?
The C-HR looks more than its bigger brother or sister. Ben Shimkus/Business Insider
I drove about 200 miles through New York City traffic and New Jersey highways in a 2026 Toyota C-HR XSE. And man, oh man, did I enjoy my time in the driver’s seat.
Let’s start with the pricing. Starting at $37,080, the C-HR isn’t Toyota’s most affordable EV – that distinction goes to the larger, $34,980 bZ.
However, the C-HR is the cheapest way to get into an all-wheel drive Toyota EV. AWD comes standard on the base $37,080 C-HR, while it’s a $5,000 upgrade on the bZ. My tester, with two-tone exterior paint, more powerful speakers and some other goodies, came in at $43,429.
The car was extremely efficient. The EPA says the XSE can get 277 miles from a full charge.
I could have easily topped that during my week. I picked up the EV with the battery at 89%, and after driving about 170 miles without charging, it never dropped below 40%. That suggests I would have traveled about 400 miles on a charge.
On several runs, the car reported efficiency in the high 5s and low 6s in miles per kilowatt hour. These numbers, if true and consistent, are phenomenal. It reminded me of my time in Lucid’s carsa high-end EV maker practically obsessed with designing every possible mile of a battery.
The interior of the C-HR was comfortable and airy. However, storage was a bit tight. Ben Shimkus/Business Insider
Efficient is not a synonym for boring, and the C-HR makes that very clear. Toyota says the car can jump to 60 mph from a standstill in 4.9 seconds, which would make it the third-fastest car in the Toyota lineup, on par with the sporty GR Corolla’s time.
But once it connected to the highway, it behaved more Toyota-like: calm, comfortable and whisper-quiet.
A Tesla Model Y owner accompanied me for about two hours, mostly in the backseat.
They entered the C-HR with great skepticism that an electric car from an older automaker could eclipse their Tesla – and also walked away impressed with its airy interior and rear-seat comfort.
Finally: aesthetics. I think the C-HR looks like it’s about to pounce, even when parked. The smoothed edges are easier on the eyes than Toyota’s larger bZ, without crowding the car look-at-me-I’m-a-weird-EV styling pitfall that has befallen many battery-powered cars.
The C-HR’s curved roofline makes it look like it’s about to pounce. It’s also a headache for tall backseat passengers. Ben Shimkus/Business Insider
My list of points was small, but potentially significant for some buyers. There is no glove compartment, making storage space in the front seat tight. My Model Y-owning passenger is about 6 feet tall and had plenty of headroom in the back, but anyone who regularly lugs tall adults around may have to do some cramming. The trunk is smaller than the bZ’s, there’s no frunk, and the infotainment occasionally lagged while the car was starting up.
Still, at the end of the week I did something I’ve rarely done after reviewing about 75 cars in my career: I imagined my own life with the C-HR.
I was genuinely sad when I saw the car leave. That is not usual.
Was it worth the wait?
Toyota’s C-HR softens the jagged edges found in other modern EVs. Ben Shimkus/Business Insider
There were advantages to being late.
The biggest one is charging: the C-HR comes standard with a NACS charging port, the widely accepted charging standard developed by Tesla. This allows Toyota to skip some of the tricky charging port transitions that other automakers have had to deal with.
It also helps Toyota avoid some of the costly EV bets that have led rivals to their billion-dollar write-offs. The C-HR, like all other Toyota electric vehicles, was jointly developed with Subaru, allowing the companies to quickly share development costs. period of clean-up of the automotive industry.
Most of what makes the C-HR great feels very Toyota: strong efficiency, comfortable ride, solid initial quality and an easy-to-live-with interior. These are not new competencies for the company.
The wait was rewarded with a great EV.
Did Toyota have to wait so long to build it? Maybe not. I’m still glad we came here.
