The 2026 Toyota RAV4 Arrives Later This Year With a New GR Sport Variant
Toyota pulled back the curtain on the new sixth-generation RAV4 last night, unveiling a heavily revised compact SUV that features a shift to hybrid-only powertrains, including a plug-in hybrid variant. The 2026 RAV4 will also be available in two new trims, with the GR Sport offering 320 horsepower and performance upgrades.
The 2026 RAV4 lineup is split into three style categories: Core, Rugged, and Sport. The LE, XLE, and Limited trims fall into the Core bucket, offering paint-matched exterior trim, three wheel sizes, and black lower body cladding. The new Woodland trim is Toyota’s Rugged RAV4, offering Rigid Industries LED lighting and a half-inch lift, thanks to all-terrain tires.
The RAV4 GR Sport fills the Sport category. It was developed with input from Toyota Gazoo Racing’s engineering division and features summer tires on 20-inch wheels, a sport-tuned suspension, and a unique GR grille that resembles the GR Corolla’s front end. Toyota also offers the XSE and SE Trims with sporty styling.
The now-base hybrid powertrain features a power boost over the previous model year, now offering 236 horsepower with all-wheel drive and 226 with front-wheel drive. The plug-in hybrid powertrain delivers 320 combined horsepower and comes standard with all-wheel drive. It also offers 50 miles of electric range and can charge from 10 to 80 percent in a half-hour on a DC fast charger.
Inside, Toyota equips a standard 10.5-inch touchscreen or an optional 12.9-inch touchscreen, and a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster is also standard. Higher trims get a head-up display and a JBL audio system. The bigger story is the updated infotainment software, which Toyota calls Arene, and says it is its first step toward a fully software-defined vehicle.
We don’t have pricing or release date specifics yet, but Toyota will release more details as we near the RAV4’s on-sale date later this year.
[Images: Toyota]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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I hope they change the quality of the interior. While not Ford bad, the CR-V was leagues ahead of the RAV4 when I test drove the hybrids back to back. The interior felt very cheap for a $39 000 vehicle, while the CR-V could have been an Acura.
'It also offers 50 miles of electric range and can charge from 10 to 80 percent in a half-hour on a DC fast charger.'; kind of slow right? When does the v12 come out?