The 2027 Toyota Highlander Is Your Bigger bZ: Up Close

What Car Shoppers Need to Know

• With this new generation, the Toyota Highlander is now all-electric.
• The existing Grand Highlander remains in production and is still gas-powered.
• The new Highlander is three-row only.

Wow. Now this is unexpected, no? I mean, we knew Toyota was working on an electric three-row crossover, but I certainly didn’t predict the long-standing gas-powered Highlander would get the battery-powered axe. That’s not to say it doesn’t work — there’s a whole lotta brand equity in the Highlander nameplate, and based on my brief time spent up close with the latest zappified Toyota, the Kia EV9 and Hyundai Ioniq 9 are officially put on watch.

Related: Which Toyota SUV Should You Buy?

As the specs indicate, it’s a dimensional tweener sandwiched by the former gas-powered Highlander and the bigger, bougier Grand Highlander. It’s up nearly 4 inches in length, 2.3 inches in width and adds a whopping 8.1 inches to the wheelbase over the old SUV. Electric-vehicle packaging means it’s shorter by 0.8 inch over the last SUV, too — and that aforementioned wheelbase even outstretches the Grand Highlander by a flat 4 inches.

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Is the 2027 Toyota Highlander Large Enough for Families?

Takeaway: The new 2027 Highlander absolutely is large enough for families. A full-size adult is mostly comfortable in the third row.

Given those dimensions, then, it’s definitely big enough for family-hauling duty. Comfort in the first and second row isn’t even worth going into — it’s great, what did you expect? — but the third row is satisfyingly capacious enough for a full (maybe too full) grown 5-foot-11-inch adult, especially if you have the second-row passengers scoot up a bit. On that, entry into that third row is motorized, with the second-row seats quickly zipping forward at a touch of the button in the side of the exterior bolsters.

It’s a requisitely techy place to cruise around regardless of seat. A 12.3-inch digital driver display and 14-inch center touch infotainment display are standard, with dual wireless charge pads on the flat center console. I spent all of my time with a notably pre-production vehicle, so I shan’t levy judgment on any materials quality or fit and finish, but it generally presents much as you’d expect of an electrified Grand Highlander.

More on the Toyota Highlander From Cars.com:

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Does the 2027 Toyota Highlander Have a Nice Interior?

Takeaway: Yes, especially since even the base XLE grade comes with a healthy set of standard features.

I had just around 15 minutes to take the whole thing in, but a few things stood out. The door handles are of a silly recessed electronic design, with buttons on the interior for entry and exit, a feature I’m not a particular fan of, though it also wouldn’t be a total deal breaker. There is tons of charging scattered throughout the cabin, most notably in the USB-C charge ports located on the back of the front seats for the occupants in the second row and on each side of the third row, as well. There’s no frunk, but there is a decent amount of cargo capacity behind the third row and even more if you fold ‘em flat.

Back to the exterior. The “hammerhead” design language of the bZ fam continues here, and while I think it’s an improvement on both the bZ and bZ Woodland, the 2027 Highlander presents as very EV, at least by current expectations. It’s not a bad thing in the slightest, but some folks want their EV to look more like the usual internal-combustion-engine suspects. I do think it looks quite nice, especially in my example’s dark blue color with plenty of black accents.

Want full specs on drivetrain, range and charging? Hit our full debut coverage for that. For now, I can promise you that if you’ve begged for a (much) bigger bZ, the 2027 Toyota Highlander will be exactly what you’ve wished for.

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