2026 Toyota RAV4.
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Another day, another new photo of a 2026 Toyota RAV4 prototype driving around.
This time we get to see a little bit more of the headlight design. But also the black trim around the wheels that is still, of course, covered up by all that camouflage. It also seems like Toyota has made zero effort to integrate the big center screen into the dashboard design. As you can already see it sticks out like an after-market tablet…
This next-generation Toyota RAV4 is rumored to be a new hybrid-only model, at least in North America. With an updated PHEV model with a slightly longer EV range as an option. (and hopefully a less expensive premium price)
As far as its design, there is nothing too crazy or original. With over 475,000 of them sold last year in the US alone, I can see why Toyota would be very afraid to rock the boat in any way.
Besides the usual suspects, one of the RAV4’s main competitors on the world stage is actually the Tesla Model Y, which also got a few revisions for the new year.
So far in the US, the Model Y is still loaded for around $46,000. Its only options besides the “full self-driving” gimmick are just colors and wheels as well as AWD. Everything else is standard. The RAV4 PHEV starts at almost the same price. However, if you add a premium package to the top model it comes to over $52,000, which is more than $4000 over the AWD Long Range Model Y.
It seems the next-generation RAV4 could be the best choice for those who really do not want an EV at any cost. With the EV market growing every single year by at least 7 to 8%, that pool is slowly shrinking.
I predict the new RAV4 will do well for 2 or 3 years. Then comparable EVs will just make more sense for an increasing part of the population. It already does for many since the Model Y is already more popular around the world than the RAV4.
Some will lament the disappearance of the regular non-hybrid powertrain, for some reason. But so far, going “hybrid-only” has worked well for Toyota. The 2025 “hybrid-only” Camry was more popular in 2024 than the previous year by almost 20,000 units. For a total of almost 310,000 units sold in 2024. Quite an amazing number in our current world of SUVs. That is more than twice the amount of Honda Accord units sold in the same year (147,972).
I don’t know if the Model Y will be a competitor for anyone soon if Tesla’s sales keep heading in the same downward direction. They are down here, but crashing in China and Europe.
Having rented multiple vehicles with displays “integrated” into the dash, I 100% prefer the stuck-on tablet approach for usability.