Tested: 2026 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid Is Better but Doesn't Move the Needle

• The Toyota RAV4 is fully redesigned for 2026.
• The RAV4 offers a hybrid-only powertrain lineup that delivers more power than before.
• Our testing shows improvements in several areas, but the RAV4's overall vibe is the same.

Slow and steady

With front-wheel drive, the 2026 RAV4 makes 226 horsepower. With all-wheel drive, output increases to 236 hp. In either case, that's a lot more power than you used to get in the base RAV4 — one of the many benefits of Toyota's small SUV going hybrid-only in this generation.

With front-wheel drive, the RAV4 XLE we tested accelerated to 60 mph in 7.5 seconds. That's 0.1 second quicker than the last RAV4 we tested, an all-wheel-drive Woodland Edition hybrid. It's also a 0.3-second improvement over a RAV4 XSE Hybrid AWD we tested in 2019. To complete a full quarter-mile run, the new RAV4 needed 15.5 seconds and crossed the finish line at 91.3 mph.

More importantly, since the RAV4 comes standard with hybrid power, this SUV is far more assertive under acceleration than the old base model. In 2019, we tested a RAV4 Limited AWD with the non-hybrid four-cylinder engine and it needed 9.1 seconds to hit 60 mph. Talk about a slowpoke.

A 0-60 mph time of 7.5 seconds isn't blisteringly quick by any means, but it still gives the RAV4 enough authority to get out of its own way when pulling away from a stoplight or accelerating down a freeway on-ramp. However, the engine sounds rather gruff under hard acceleration, and not nearly as refined as the turbocharged hybrid engine in the Kia Sportage.

Drivability

We test every car on a 200-foot skidpad to register a lateral grip number, which is the amount of cornering force a car can handle before its tires start to give way. A higher number is better — this means more confident, stable handling at speed. The 2026 Toyota RAV4 XLE FWD achieved 0.84 g on its all-season tires, which is a solid 0.04-g improvement over the previous RAV4 Hybrid. That's a boon for daily drivability and better than the Honda CR-V's 0.82-g figure.

The new RAV4 needed 127 feet to stop from 60 mph. That's a notable decrease in stopping distance compared to the old RAV4 XSE, which needed 131 feet. But this still puts the new RAV4 behind key competitors like the Honda CR-V (120 feet) and Kia Sportage (124 feet).

Overall, the RAV4 is an inoffensive SUV to drive; senior vehicle test editor Reese Counts drove the XLE FWD from Scottsdale, Arizona, back to Edmunds HQ in California without major complaints. He also averaged between 35 mpg and 40 mpg while doing so, which is a great sign for the RAV4's efficiency.

"It's easy to drive on the freeway, and the hybrid powertrain's excellent fuel economy means my front-wheel-drive tester arrived at Edmunds HQ in Santa Monica with a quarter-tank of fuel remaining," Counts said. The EPA estimates front-wheel-drive RAV4s will return 48 mpg city, 42 mpg highway and 44 mpg combined, which puts the RAV4 at the top of the small SUV segment.

The bottom line

Spoiler alert: The 2026 RAV4 didn't win the comparison test against the CR-V and Sportage; we still think the Kia is the better overall buy. But these test numbers show that the RAV4 is nevertheless competitive, and with standard hybrid power, a new suite of technology and plenty of passenger space, it's every bit as compelling as before.

Photos by Ryan Greger