Toyota redesigns 2026 RAV4 SUV to be hybrid-only

PLANO, Texas — The top-selling SUV in the United States will exclusively be offered as a hybrid model as part of a redesign of the RAV4 lineup, Toyota Motor announced Tuesday night.

The world’s largest automaker said the 2026 Toyota RAV4 only will be offered as a hybrid or plug-in hybrid, eliminating a traditional gas engine in the vehicle for the first time. It will still have a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine, but with hybrid technologies such as batteries and electric motors.

Despite a slower-than-expected adoption of all-electric vehicles, automakers have looked to hybrid models — which combine electric vehicle technologies with traditional internal combustion engines — to increase performance and help them meet fuel economy regulations.

Toyota, which started offering hybrids with the Toyota Prius in late 1990s, has been a global leader and advocate for hybrid adoption, despite an industry push in recent years for automakers to exclusively offer all-electric vehicles.

Toyota’s electrified vehicle sales in the U.S. — including hybrids, plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles — accounted for 43.1% of the company’s 2.3 million units sold domestically in 2024.

RAV4 sales increased 9.3% last year to nearly 475,200 units sold, including a 29.3% increase in RAV4 hybrids and 19.3% gain in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Roughly half of RAV4 sales last year were hybrids.

Sales of all-electric vehicles and hybrid models reached a record 20% of new car and truck sales in the U.S. last year, to 3.2 million electrified vehicles, according to auto data firm Motor Intelligence. That encompasses 1.9 million hybrid vehicles, including plug-in models, and 1.3 million all-electric models.

David Christ, head of the Toyota brand in North America, said the company decided to exclusively offer the RAV4 as a hybrid because of its already established popularity and growing customer demand.

“The hybrid is faster turning; it has more sales orders on it, and the consumers and dealers are asking for it,” he told CNBC Tuesday during an event at the automaker’s North American headquarters. “It was pretty clear that the consumer is voting for the hybrid.”

Christ said the automaker expects to continue growing its hybrid offerings, including additional plug-in hybrid electric vehicle offerings.

Seven of Toyota’s current vehicles are exclusively hybrid models, including the Camry and Prius cars, Sienna minivan and Sequoia SUV. RAV4 will be the eighth.

RAV4 hybrids accounted for 44% of sales last year, Toyota reported, while plug-in models — which offer all-electric ranges with a traditional engine that needs to be plugged in — were 6.5%.

The redesigned RAV4 is set to go on sale at U.S. Toyota dealerships in later this year. The all-hybrid RAV4 lineup is part of a next-generation redesign of the vehicle that included interior and exterior design changes, as well as upgrades to the vehicle’s performance and…