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The Suzuki e-Vitara is the supply materials for the most recent Toyota Urban Cruiser, and this isn’t too uncommon as most variations of previous Urban Cruisers bought worldwide have typically been primarily based on Suzuki Vitaras.
The downside, although, is that the e-Vitara is Suzuki’s first try at an electrical automobile (EV) and we have been lower than impressed with its dynamics and effectivity.
So the query is whether or not Toyota has accomplished vital work in modifying the e-Vitara’s underpinnings to create the brand new Urban Cruiser, or whether or not it has simply plonked its personal very comparable crossover physique on high of the platform and despatched the automobile on its merry method.
To discover out, we went to the worldwide launch of the Toyota Urban Cruiser in Florence, Italy.
How a lot does the Toyota Urban Cruiser price?
While it has promised to launch a lot of EVs in coming years, at this stage Toyota Australia hasn’t dedicated to releasing the Urban Cruiser on this market, so there’s no inkling of how a lot it may cost a little right here.
Similarly, Suzuki Australia hasn’t revealed e-Vitara pricing forward of its native launch within the second quarter of 2026, though in sure European markets we all know the 2 automobiles are identically priced at a fairly aggressive degree.
It’s a reasonably secure wager to imagine the Urban Cruiser would most likely slot in someplace between the Yaris Cross (from $31,790 earlier than on-roads), C-HR (from $42,990) and Corolla Cross (from $37,440) compact SUVs.
Toyota Australia additionally not too long ago slashed pricing on the bigger bZ4X, which now begins from $55,990 or over $10,000 lower than earlier than.
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What is the Toyota Urban Cruiser like on the within?
Very much like the Suzuki e-Vitara, to the purpose that solely the Toyota-embossed steering wheel and a few mildly tweaked graphics within the instrument shows betray that you just’re even in a distinct automobile.
This means the Urban Cruiser is put collectively solidly sufficient, and in the primary most issues function intuitively. That is, till you begin working with the ten.1-inch central infotainment touchscreen, which sits – relatively awkwardly from a visible perspective – in a single trapezoid housing spanning the central and driver’s parts of the higher fascia.
Not solely does this center display sit at a distinct top to the ten.25-inch instrument cluster, which means the shows are mismatched and bordered by differing quantities of black plastic, however there’s merely an excessive amount of reliance on that infotainment panel for the automobile’s personal good.
For occasion, flying within the face of Toyota’s usually smart ergonomics, it takes 5 faucets of the display to regulate the heated seats. And turning off numerous superior driver help methods (ADAS) can be a prolonged and needlessly advanced chore. It’s infuriating.
And whereas the house behind the automobile is okay, it’s not as beneficiant there as you at first would possibly suppose. The Urban Cruiser does have the helpful operate of with the ability to slide the rear bench squabs backwards and forwards, in a 60:40 break up, by as much as 160mm, so you’ll be able to improve baggage or rear-passenger house in keeping with your wants.
But which means a boot which solely measures 238-244 litres with all seats in use (relying on the fitment of a subwoofer for the top-level JBL sound system or not), rising to a modest 306-310L with the seats ahead – whereupon legroom within the again turns into virtually non-existent.
Finally, there’s no entrance boot in any respect within the Urban Cruiser, so all its cables must be stashed beneath the rear cargo space’s ground.
What’s beneath the bonnet?
There are two battery sizes and two motor layouts out there to the Toyota Urban Cruiser, leading to three distinct fashions.
| Specifications | Toyota Urban Cruiser 61kWh AWD |
|---|---|
| Drivetrain | Dual-motor electrical |
| Battery | 61kWh li-ion (internet) |
| Power | 135kW |
| Torque | 309Nm |
| Driven wheels | Four |
| 0-100km/h – claimed | 7.4 seconds |
| Energy consumption – claimed | 14.9kWh/100km |
| Energy consumption – as examined | 25.6kWh/100km |
| Claimed vary – WLTP | 395km |
| Max AC cost price | 11kW |
| Max DC cost price | 70kW |
The first is a single-motor, front-wheel drive variant with a 49kWh battery pack and a 106kW/193Nm electrical motor. This Urban Cruiser will run 0-100km/h in a claimed 9.6 seconds and is claimed to have the ability to journey as much as 344km on a single cost.
In the center is a longer-range, front-wheel drive Cruiser with a 61kWh battery pack. While it beneficial properties no extra torque, peak energy climbs to 128kW, trimming the claimed 0-100km/h time to eight.7 seconds. This can be the longest-legged of the latest Toyota EV household, with as much as 426km of vary.
Topping the lineup off is the only dual-motor Urban Cruiser, the all-wheel drive automobile selecting up a secondary electrical motor on its again axle and utilising the 61kWh battery. Power is up once more, albeit solely marginally to 135kW, however torque output leaps considerably on account of the second motor, to a peak of 307Nm.
That once more cuts the claimed 0-100km/h dash, to a decent 7.4 seconds, however the payoff is diminished vary – to 395km.
The downside with the Toyota Urban Cruiser is that it’s topic to the identical limitations because the Suzuki, with respect to its electrical system. A most DC fast-charging price of 70kW at the present time is substandard, even when 11kW AC charging is acceptably aggressive.
Therefore, at greatest, a 10-80 per cent top-up of the battery on the quickest public connection will nonetheless want 45 minutes of hook-up. With an 11kW AC three-phase energy provide, 15-100 per cent charging within the Urban Cruiser ought to take six hours. On a extra typical 7kW wallbox, that improve to 9.5 hours.
How does the Toyota Urban Cruiser drive?
There’s no well mannered method of claiming it, however the Urban Cruiser’s main experience is shockingly poor.
Italy could be a beautiful and scenic place to launch a automobile, however the woeful state of a few of its roads solely exhibits up how dangerous the Toyota is at coping with something greater than a medium-sized compression of its springs.
The Cruiser amplifies solely reasonably sunken manhole covers and dimples within the street into large, uncomfortable moments, and it’s stunning how noisy and ill-mannered it’s within the wake of actually large hits to its underpinnings.
Neither the lighter single-motor nor heavier AWD variants are higher at coping with these items, so don’t go anticipating added weight to settle the Toyota down on its springs.
Sure, if you find yourself on actually easy tarmac, then the Urban Cruiser rolls alongside acceptably – albeit there’s a bit extra street noise than we’d like.
But, as everyone knows, actually easy tarmac is the exception relatively than the rule, and it’s commensurately massively irritating {that a} automobile referred to as the Urban Cruiser doesn’t really work brilliantly in an city atmosphere in any respect.
Then there’s the poor electrical effectivity. We wouldn’t say we drove the Urban Cruiser notably arduous, both because the AWD or in single-motor, 61kWh format, and but neither automobile managed to higher a dreadful 25kWh/100km. The climate in Italy was delicate, too, so it wasn’t just like the chilly was sapping energy from the battery needlessly.
At that kind of consumption, you’d be getting a most of circa-240km from the Urban Cruiser, not 395km. And it’s most likely greatest we don’t level out that the front-wheel drive Toyota, supposedly simpler on its battery, turned in a worse determine when pushed afterward the identical day.
Now, whereas searing pace shouldn’t be important in a small, compact crossover, it’s a disgrace the single-motor Urban Cruiser is so weedy. Quite how Suzuki has managed to get lower than 200Nm from an electrical motor of 128kW is unfathomable, so the single-motor Cruiser does really feel totally undernourished. The dual-motor AWD is, at the least, higher on this regard.
As for the dealing with, it’s all relatively so-so.
There’s a variety of physique motion from the Urban Cruiser, as a result of regardless of the actual fact it has a lumpen really feel when coping with bumps within the street, the suspension is sort of comfortable so the shell of the automobile can listing about beneath duress.
Couple in mild, feel-free steering and brakes that are nothing greater than acceptable, and also you received’t actually wish to throw the Toyota round. Fun to drive, this factor shouldn’t be.
Sure, if you happen to drive the Urban Cruiser in an extremely light and sedate style, and also you follow better-made roads, then it’s effective.
Yet virtually another comparable electrical crossover like this can do the identical job to the identical kind of customary, solely it would layer on high superior low-speed and motorway experience consolation, or it’ll deal with with much more sparkle than this, or it’ll provide you with much better real-world electrical consumption and due to this fact vary, or it’ll do all three of these items to a better customary than the Toyota does.
We’re undecided what the Urban Cruiser does, from a dynamic perspective, which makes it vital purchase on this sector. To us, it feels method off the tempo of the prevailing class requirements, and it’s nothing like pretty much as good as Toyota’s different in-house EVs or electrified merchandise both.
What do you get?
We don’t know what any Australian specification of the Toyota Urban Cruiser would appear to be, ought to it’s confirmed for our market.
Going by its European construction, gear is broadly linked to every of the three drivetrain specs – so there’s a sure degree of package on the essential 106kW mannequin, which is then added to for the 61kWh, 128kW front-drive Cruiser, earlier than the AWD will get much more toys.
As a consequence, we’d count on the next gear to be customary on even a fundamental automobile.
2026 Toyota Urban Cruiser gear highlights:
- 18-inch alloys
- Integrated show system
- 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster
- 10.1-inch infotainment touchscreen
- Adaptive cruise management
- Blind spot monitor
- Pre-collision system
- Rear-view digital camera
- Lane-trace help
- Sliding rear-seat system
- Heat pump
Stepping as much as the mid-grade mannequin ought to carry:
- Heated steering wheel
- Heated entrance seats
- Heated door mirrors
- Wiper de-icer
The high specification ought to then add:
- 19-inch alloy wheels
- Premium JBL sound system
- Wireless smartphone charger
- 360-degree digital camera system
- LED adaptive excessive beam system
- Partial artificial leather-based trim
- Panoramic roof with guide shade
- Two-tone paint scheme (elective)
Is the Toyota Urban Cruiser secure?
The Toyota Urban Cruiser hasn’t been examined by ANCAP as but, though its sister physique Euro NCAP has a report for it.
If you take a look at it fastidiously, although, you’ll see it was garnered from testing the Suzuki e-Vitara itself: so the 77, 85, 79 and 72 per cent subsection scores, plus the four-star total ranking, are shared between the Toyota and its donor automobile.
As you’ll be able to see from the spec listing above, although, Toyota does at the least mitigate this considerably by becoming some fascinating superior driver help methods (ADAS) to each mannequin of the Urban Cruiser.
How a lot does the Toyota Urban Cruiser price to run?
It’s doubtless that the Urban Cruiser would include a five-year, unlimited-distance guarantee as customary, which might be prolonged on a service-activated foundation to seven years if required – as is Toyota Australia’s present protection.
Beyond that, there’s eight years of protection for the battery pack’s efficacy, guaranteeing it for 70 per cent of its preliminary capability after that interval.
A separate guarantee of 5 years on the battery might be prolonged to 10 years, offering it has an annual well being test with Toyota – and there’s a 1,000,000km degree of canopy right here.
The standard service schedule for a Toyota EV is each 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes sooner.
CarExpert’s Take on the Toyota Urban Cruiser
If it looks like we’re being overly harsh on the Toyota Urban Cruiser, then maybe we are able to at the least defend ourselves by saying we have been hoping for some clear differentiation between this automobile and the Suzuki e-Vitara.
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We wrestle to consider that an organization of the scale and profitability of Toyota couldn’t have tried the e-Vitara out first, then quietly mentioned to some of its greatest chassis engineers “have a look at that and sort the bloody ride comfort out first, would you?”.
Sadly, apart from the ‘Hammerhead’ front-end design and the badging, it’s in each respect exactly the identical automobile because the Suzuki, which implies it doesn’t experience very nicely, it isn’t notably spectacular for efficiency, the inside design is drab, and it feels prefer it stands out a mile from the remainder of Toyota’s SUV vary – for all of the incorrect causes.
If you’ve at all times actually needed an electrical Toyota crossover of about this measurement and potential value degree, then the Urban Cruiser would possibly simply be for you. For everybody else, there are much better choices out there on the market, which means you’ll be able to safely keep away from this critically underwhelming Japanese EV.
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