Toyota Delays 2027 Highlander EV As Demand For Gas Model Remains

Home Toyota Highlander News Toyota Delays 2027 Highlander EV As Demand For Gas Model Remains Robust The Highlander EV was supposed to arrive by the end of this year

What's Happening

It will now have a new launch timeline. Photo by: Toyota Suvrat Kothari By : Suvrat Kothari Jul 9, at 11:17am ET Add InsideEVs as a preferred source in Google Facebook X LinkedIn Flipboard Reddit WhatsApp E-Mail copy Share Comment Toyota is delaying the 2027 Highlander EV. The automaker said the model will get some additional adjustments ahead of launch. Sales of the current gas and hybrid Highlander have been robust, which may explain the hold-up.

Why This Matters for EV Owners

• Toyota's electric vehicle offensive has been strong this year, with three new or refreshed models now available stateside
• The automaker now sells the updated bZ, the new C-HR, and the bZ Woodland, which all have mechanically similar Subaru siblings
• Lexus, too, has gotten a new electric model, the ES , with another that's supposed to launch toward the end of the year
• A fourth electric Toyota model, the fifth-generation Highlander, was in the pipeline, but it now looks like it won't meet its original end-of-year launch timeline

The Bigger Picture

A Toyota spokesperson confirmed to InsideEVs that the electric Highlander has been delayed, though the company did not specify how long the delay will last. com first reported the news on Wednesday. “Additional adjustments are being made to the vehicle prior to launch,” a Toyota spokesperson told InsideEVs. “We will update on-sale timing when start of production is confirmed,” he said. It’s unclear what these adjustments are, and the automaker did not explicitly attribute the delay to the current Highlander’s strong sales.

What to Watch Next

Gallery: 2027 Toyota Highlander EV 34 Source: Toyota That's notable because the Highlander signaled Toyota's strongest attempt at EVs yet, after years of being labeled a laggard on electrification. Earlier this year, the automaker decided to fully electrify one of its most popular nameplates. The fourth-generation combustion Highlander has been on sale since 2019 and is now showing its age. As a result, Toyota plans to make the Highlander an EV-only nameplate starting with model year 2027, dropping the gas and hybrid versions.