2025 Toyota Highlander Hybrid Review and Test Drive

Family friendly and fuel efficient, the 2025 Highlander Hybrid is a smooth and sensible SUV.

Perry Stern | 

May 13, 2025 | 7 min read

Perry Stern

The 2025 Highlander Hybrid is available in XLE, XLE Nightshade, Limited, Limited 25th Edition, and Platinum trim levels. All-wheel drive (AWD) is standard across the board, and prices range from the high $40,000s to the mid-$50,000s, including the destination charge to ship the SUV to your local dealership from the Princeton, Indiana, assembly plant.

For this Highlander Hybrid review, Toyota gave me a Limited 25th Edition for testing in southeastern Michigan. The test model had several options, including a dashcam, roof rail cross bars, running boards, and a two-year extension of the Drive Connect and Remote Connect connected services plans. Those extras bumped the manufacturer's suggested retail price to $55,914, including the $1,450 destination charge.

Perry Stern

Is the 2025 Toyota Highlander Hybrid a Good SUV?

If you are looking for a stylish SUV with good utility, advanced safety technology, and an efficient hybrid powertrain, it's hard to go wrong with the Toyota Highlander Hybrid. Compelling three-row hybrid SUV alternatives exist, including the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid, Kia Sorento Hybrid, and Mazda CX-90 PHEV. Still, the Highlander Hybrid holds its own with its easy-to-drive nature and comfortable cabin.

Perry Stern

What's New for the 2025 Toyota Highlander Hybrid?

Toyota last redesigned its Highlander Hybrid in 2020, introducing a new look, refreshed vehicle architecture, and a next-generation hybrid powertrain. In the years since then, Toyota has improved the SUV's safety features, enhanced comfort levels, upgraded the interior tech, and added special appearance features. Now, the 2025 Highlander Hybrid is available as the Limited 25th Edition with a restricted production run.

For 2025, Toyota's electronic AWD system is standard equipment on the Highlander Hybrid, instead of the front-wheel drive (FWD) that earlier versions came with.

According to the EPA, last year's Highlander Hybrid FWD returned 36 mpg in combined driving, and this year's model with standard AWD is rated to get 35 mpg.

However, Toyota has discontinued the base LE Hybrid trim level for the hybrid lineup. Last year's LE Hybrid with FWD cost less than $42,000, and now the entry-level XLE Hybrid with AWD is about $6,000 more than that.

Perry Stern

Happy 25th Anniversary to the Toyota Highlander

Twenty-five straight years of Highlander production is a milestone worth celebrating, and Toyota is doing it right with the special 25th Edition of the Highlander Hybrid.

Based on the Highlander Hybrid Limited, the Hybrid Limited 25th Edition stands out from the rest of the lineup with its Wind Chill Pearl or Heavy Metal exterior paint, the latter a new color for the 2025 Highlander. A 25th Edition badge adorns the liftgate, while 20-inch alloy wheels give this version of the SUV a premium look.

Perry Stern

Portobello brown leather trims both front and second-row seats; the front seats also feature heating, ventilation, and 25th Edition embossing on the head restraints. There are also 25th Edition illuminated metal front door sill plates and matching 25th Edition floor mats.

Those front seats offer good support and remain comfortable during longer drives. The Limited 25th Edition features second-row captain's chairs with plenty of legroom and headroom, and with rear climate controls and multiple USB ports, it's not a bad place to ride.

The second-row seats easily move out of the way to provide access to the third row, but it's not a space I'd recommend for adults. The third-row seat sits low to the floor, which puts your knees in your face, and it's relatively narrow for a three-seat bench. This space is better reserved for small children or folded flat to increase cargo space. Consider the larger and more accommodating Toyota Grand Highlander if you need more third-row room.

Perry Stern

In addition to the special 25th Edition features, the celebratory Highlander Hybrid has a 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. The display is easy to read and navigate thanks to shortcuts along the left side of the screen. That said, I didn't see a Home screen or an ability to show more than one feature at a time. I appreciate that Toyota retains a physical volume knob, but it's on the far side of the screen, where it is difficult for the driver to reach.

My test vehicle included two years of Drive Connect as part of Toyota's subscription-based Connected Services. Drive Connect includes a cloud-based navigation system and an Intelligent Assistant voice interface that you activate by saying, "Hey, Toyota." For the most part, the technology worked well, and I successfully used it to accomplish various tasks.

Perry Stern

A Relaxed Cruise in the 2025 Toyota Highlander Hybrid

Toyota creates the Highlander Hybrid's electrified powertrain by pairing a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine with three electric motors and an electronically controlled continuously variable transmission. The total output measures 243 horsepower, and the Highlander Hybrid can tow up to 3,500 pounds when properly equipped.

One of the primary reasons most people opt for a Highlander Hybrid instead of the standard version is likely the fuel economy, and this vehicle delivers. According to the EPA, the 2025 Toyota Highlander Hybrid gets 35 mpg in combined driving, which is 10 mpg to 11 mpg better than the non-hybrid. Following my evaluation, the test model's trip computer showed 33.2 mpg, slightly short of the EPA estimates but impressive for a three-row midsize SUV.

Toyota has been building hybrid powertrains since it introduced the original Prius 25 years ago, and with more than 15 million hybrids sold, it's safe to say the company has the technology dialed in. The setup in the Highlander operates seamlessly, with the transition between low-speed electric driving and the activation of the internal-combustion engine almost imperceptible.

Perry Stern

The Highlander Hybrid is not quick but delivers adequate power for getting around town and can accelerate to highway speeds with reasonable urgency. There isn't much oomph in reserve, though. I was behind a slower vehicle on a two-lane road, and when it was safe to pass, a heavy foot on the accelerator pedal resulted in a lot of engine noise and only a little speed to match. Changing the driving mode to Sport provided some improvement, but not enough.

A relaxed cruise, be it on the freeway or a back road in the country, is where the Highlander Hybrid feels most at home. My drive through southeast Michigan was smooth and quiet, and the AWD system provided extra traction and stability when I ventured down the occasional gravel road. Bumps in the pavement go unnoticed as the suspension soaks up all but the worst road surfaces.

Toyota Safety Sense 2.5+ is not the most recent version of Toyota's collection of advanced driver-assistance systems, but it equips the SUV with the tech I most appreciate. I tested the adaptive cruise control with lane centering on Michigan's Interstate 94, and while it's not a hands-free technology, it is one of the better hands-on systems I've experienced.

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Toyota says it has sold around 3.6 million Highlanders during the past 25 years. Given the company's impressive history of building hybrid powertrains during that same quarter of a century, it seems appropriate that the Highlander Hybrid is the basis for the Limited 25th Edition.

Anyone seeking a fuel-efficient, family-size SUV will appreciate the Highlander's smooth hybrid powertrain and the 25th Edition's premium, exclusive interior details. But if you want to get this version of the Highlander, you'll need to move fast, because Toyota plans to build just 2,500 of them.

Perry Stern

As a small child, Perry was constantly playing with toy cars and trucks, and that enthusiasm for anything motorized with wheels never faded. After college, he moved to Seattle and began his long automotive career working in an automotive consulting firm, helping customers choose the right vehicle for their needs. In the late 1990s, Perry joined Microsoft to work on CarPoint, part of the new Microsoft Network (MSN). He went on to become editor of the site, remaining on staff for 20 years before venturing out on his own. Today, in addition to his work on Capital One Auto Navigator, he still contributes to MSN, as well as J.D. Power, TrueCar.com, and U.S. News & World Report. Perry lives in the small town of Dexter, Michigan, with his wife and dog, and he still smiles when he sees his 2006 Mazda Miata in the garage.