Toyota 3-Row EV Revealed: Hands-On With The Electric Highlander

From InsideEVs.

Built in the U.S. with American-made batteries, the 2027 Toyota Highlander will go toe to toe with the Hyundai Ioniq 9 and Kia EV9.

Many automakers have significantly toned down their electric-vehicle ambitions in the United States. But Toyota is stepping up in a big way—literally, in this case.

This is the 2027 Toyota Highlander, an electric three-row SUV. Built in America with American-sourced batteries, the 2027 Highlander shows that Toyota is getting serious about EVs at a time when the competition is rearranging its priorities and betting more on hybrids. (Which, to be fair, Toyota is also doing.)

The Highlander EV comes in two grades: XLE and Limited. The base Highlander XLE comes with a 77-kilowatt-hour battery pack and a front-mounted electric motor that makes 221 horsepower and 198 pound-feet of torque. In this configuration, the estimated range is 287 miles. The same 77-kWh battery and XLE trim can be had with a dual-motor, all-wheel drive powertrain that makes 338 hp and 323 lb ft of torque. In this case, the range drops to 270 miles on a full charge.

A larger 95.8 kWh battery pack is also in the cards, but it’s important to note that it can only be specced on the all-wheel drive XLE and Limited trims. In both cases, the maximum range is 320 miles. By comparison, the dual-motor Ioniq 9 has the same range but uses a 110.3 kWh battery. That said, Hyundai customers can also pair the big battery with a single rear-mounted motor, boosting the estimated range to 335 miles.

With exterior dimensions similar to those of its gas-powered counterpart, the new Highlander will be available with two battery options and a maximum estimated range of 320 miles on a full charge. That’s on par with the dual-motor Hyundai Ioniq 9, but it’s worth noting that Hyundai’s electric SUV, which is also assembled in the U.S., uses a bigger battery capacity to achieve the same estimated range.

The electric Highlander comes with a Tesla-style NACS charging port from the factory. The automaker didn’t say how much power it can handle when charging from a DC fast charger, but it did mention that going from 10% state of charge to 80% should take around 30 minutes.

The new Highlander is a big deal for Toyota and its American manufacturing portfolio. It’s the company’s first three-row EV for the U.S. market and the first electric car built at one of its American factories.

Production of the 2027 Highlander will kick off later this year at Toyota’s factory in Kentucky, with sales expected to begin in late 2026. Pricing hasn’t been announced yet, but logic dictates that it should be in the same neighborhood as the Kia EV9 and Hyundai Ioniq 9, which range from roughly $55,000 and $80,000.

Read more on our site here:
2027 Toyota Highlander: An American-Made, 320-Mile Electric Three-Row SUV
https://insideevs.com/news/786882/2027-toyota-highlander-ev-suv-specs-charging/

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