Toyota Urban Cruiser (2026) Review

Introduction

Toyota’s new Urban Cruiser is a name attached to several different vehicles worldwide over the years. But it’s perhaps best remembered as an early example of a subcompact SUV crossover in the UK. Or not… it was, after all, rather forgettable.

But Toyota has decided to relaunch it – and the difference is instantly noticeable. Firstly, its looks are bang up to date and, secondly, it’s all-electric.

It fits into Toyota’s range between the smaller bZ4X and the larger CH-R+. But it’s not exactly got the playing field to itself – this is a very crowded section of the automotive market and, let’s face it, absolutely everyone is making SUVs nowadays.

So, is it as big a step forward as it looks? We have taken one for a drive to find out.

At A Glance

If you're familiar with the old Toyota Urban Cruiser, you'll notice the complete transformation in its appearance. And yet, if you look at the old and the new side by side, you can still see a very slight hint of inspiration carried over from the predecessor.

The headlights are relatively thin and contained in a blackened unit which runs from side to side at the top of the front end. Beneath that, there’s plenty of blank space, with a chiselled look to the outer edges, accommodating air intakes, and a trapezoidal lower grille beneath.

At the sides, the bottoms of the doors are heavily sculpted, creating a distinction between bodywork and hugely thick cladding to emphasise its more rugged SUV credentials. And around the back, the roofline slopes downwards, and the rear end sticks out in a couple of places, including halfway down, thanks to a light bar.

There is plenty of thick cladding at the back, too, enveloping the rear bumpers. Overall, it’s a tad awkward-looking, but many electric cars are nowadays, so the Urban Cruiser will fit in well with 2026's motor scene. At least it's not dull like the old Urban Cruiser.

Key Features

Trim levels are fairly consistent across Toyota’s range, with uniform names, and there are three to pick from on the Urban Cruiser. Entry-level Icon has 18-inch alloys, a 10.1-inch infotainment touchscreen with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, a digital radio, and a 10.3-inch digital driver’s display. It also gets a rear-view camera, LED headlights, keyless entry and start, and plenty of safety kit, which we’ll cover later.

Mid-range Design trim boasts heated seats and steering wheel, plus a front wiper de-icer. Top-of-the-line Excel gets 19-inch alloys, a wireless phone charger, a panoramic roof, a JBL premium audio system with extra speakers, adaptive LED headlights, and electric front seat adjustment.

In terms of power, two models are offered – one with a smaller battery and 144PS, and one with a larger battery and 174PS. The entry-level Icon model is available only with the lower-powered motor, while the other two trims are offered only with the higher-powered motor.

Each model is front-wheel drive only – all-wheel drive models are offered in other markets but not in the UK. Toyota hasn’t confirmed if it will arrive here further down the line, but hasn’t said an outright ‘no’ either. If that’s a problem, the Urban Cruiser's underpinnings are the same as the Suzuki eVitara's – this does offer all-wheel drive on some models.

Range and Batteries

Two battery sizes are offered on the Toyota Urban Cruiser – 49kWh and 61kWh. The 49kWh battery is available only at entry level and has a range of 213 miles.

Choosing the mid-range or top-level trims commits you to the larger 61kWh battery, with a claimed range of 264 miles. Expect less than this in practice, though, as ambient temperature and driving style, amongst other factors, can dramatically impact real-world range.

Performance & Drive

We are testing the mid-range Design trim, so that means we’ve got the more powerful model with the larger battery pack. Zero to 62mph is taken care of in 8.7 seconds, which is reasonably good for what’s a small-ish, family SUV crossover.

There is plenty of poke when setting off from traffic lights, although there’s a noticeable delay between pressing the throttle pedal and feeling the poke being delivered. Once you’re underway, it makes light work of acceleration and performs admirably, getting up to speed happily when joining motorways and overtaking.

It is not built for performance, though, and at higher speeds, rivals have noticeably more oomph in reserve. Still, it’s not bad at all – and those who are less bothered by performance might want to consider leasing the more affordable lower-powered version with the smaller battery, which only adds 0.9 seconds to the 0-62mph time.

The Urban Cruiser’s name suggests it should be adept at wafting along in comfort, and that’s certainly the case. Its soft suspension setup absorbs lumps and bumps, making it easy and relaxing to drive around town. But it can be a tad jittery over rougher or poorer road surfaces, and it’s not as composed at high speed, feeling a tad wallowy. It tends to crash over potholes and then takes an excessively long time to settle back down again.

Inevitably, a soft suspension comes at the cost of handling, and there's noticeably more body roll through faster corners than in more driver-focused contenders. The steering doesn't help the driving experience feel any more engaging. It is very light, which makes it effortless around town centres, and it's precise. Still, it fails to weight up sufficiently, robbing you of feedback to place the car around quick bends.

This is to be expected, though – the clue is in the name – this is a car designed to be adept at tackling ring roads, busy stop-start commutes and tight, low-speed bends of the inner-city back streets – and it delivers. Regenerative braking isn't quite powerful enough to enable one-pedal driving. Still, with three levels to choose from, all feel predictable and consistent, though most competitors we've driven offer more braking power. It is quiet to drive, too.

Charging

The Urban Cruiser’s maximum charging speed is 67kW, which is frustratingly slow by today's standards. As a result, a 10-80% top-up of the batteries takes around 45 minutes, which is (percentage-wise) considerably longer than its peers. Granted, if you’re mainly driving this Toyota around your local town centre, you'll never come close to depleting the batteries and can charge it up at home overnight.

Running Costs & Emissions

Running costs should be low, given it's an electric car – especially if you generally juice it up at home and avoid the much more expensive public charging. Electric vehicles also have fewer moving mechanical parts, so servicing should be cheaper, too.

Road tax is no longer free on EVs, though you’ll only pay £10 for the first year, rising to the standard rate of £195 per year (subject to annual increases) after that. The Urban Cruiser will also make a decent company car due to its zero emissions, qualifying it for the bottom Benefit-in-Kind tax band. What’s more, Toyota has an excellent reputation for reliability, often ranking at or near the top of dependability surveys.

Interior & Technology

The new Urban Cruiser looks half-decent inside, albeit somewhat lacking in luxury and x-factor. Everything is logically positioned within the cabin, with a steering wheel that has a slightly flatter top and bottom than the sides. Four square air vents are placed across the dashboard (roughly evenly spaced), while glossy piano-black features adorn the centre console.

It is very monotonous, though, and the interior comes off as a tad bland as a result. A contrasting shade here or there would have made all the difference, but even the use of silver – the go-to accompanying colour with most automakers – is in very short supply.

The 10.1-inch infotainment touchscreen is integrated into a single unit alongside the 10.3-inch digital instrument display. The system isn’t brilliant - rival infotainment systems are more pleasing to the eye with fancier graphics and touchscreens that are more responsive to touches and prods than this one. Still, at least the Urban Cruiser’s menu layout is reasonably intuitive, and the screen offers a sharp display.

The instrument display offers equally high-definition graphics, and there are a handful of layouts to choose from, though it doesn't provide any further customisability. Thankfully, physical controls are retained for the air conditioning, making it easier to adjust the temperature on the move; however, some functions still have to be performed via the touchscreen.

Everything feels solidly built and properly screwed down, but there are few plush, soft-to-the-touch surfaces, with nearly everything feeling rather stiff. It is okay, but there's a sense that Toyota has missed an opportunity here – with minimal effort, the cabin could have been a lot nicer. Interior design has come a long way in recent years - and there's still a whiff of parsimony about the Urban Cruiser's interior compared with some rivals, which feel distinctly more upmarket in terms of both materials and aesthetics.

Practicality & Boot Space

Finding a comfortable driving position in the new Toyota Urban Cruiser is straightforward, especially with our test car's electric adjustment on the front seats. You are not positioned particularly high up, but it’s still more elevated than a standard family hatchback – and you sit higher than in the old Urban Cruiser.

Certainly, you're perched above the road enough to get a good view out of the windscreen and, although we've seen cars with thinner front window pillars, they're not so thick as to obstruct your view. The rear pillars are much thicker, partly because of the sides of the roof spoiler, and because the rear side windows don’t extend all that far back and taper inwards, while the rear windscreen is very shallow.

As a result, your over-the-shoulder view is heavily compromised, but a rear-view camera is included on the entry-level model and our mid-level Design trim. Go for the top-of-the-range Excel, however, and a 360-degree surround-view camera will make your life even easier. Front and rear parking sensors are also factory-fitted across the range. In terms of space, there’s plenty of headroom and legroom in the front and, although the cabin isn’t the widest, there’s enough room to avoid most elbow-barging contests between driver and front-seat passenger, unless both of you have broad shoulders.

The sloping roofline reduces rear headroom slightly, but there’s a sufficient amount of space for all but the tallest of adults, and the rear legroom is impressive for a car of this size. You will struggle to fit three adults in the back, although it's doable for short journeys. At least the middle-seat passenger won't have to straddle a hump, since the floor is completely flat.

Alas, boot space isn't generous at all. At 310 litres, it's only one litre more than a Vauxhall Corsa, and significantly smaller than most competitors – and even this depends on you having the sliding rear bench all the way forwards, limiting rear legroom. Slid all the way back, boot space reduces to as little as 238 litres. To put that figure into context, a supercar is about the least practical vehicle you can lease; however, even a Ferrari Roma coupe offers 272 litres of cargo capacity, yet we're here testing what should be a far more practical SUV crossover.

It is not all bad news, though, as the rear seats fold 40:20:40 - and, with all three seats down, boot space expands to 562 litres. That is better, but it’s worth noting that the Ford Puma Gen-E offers almost as much space from its boot – 523-litres – with all the seats still in place, as well as providing a 43-litre 'frunk' underneath the bonnet. There is a lot of storage in the Toyota’s cabin itself - with big door bins and two large cubbies in the centre console and under the front armrest.

Safety

The Toyota Urban Cruiser has recently been put through its paces by Euro NCAP, the crash-testing experts. It earned a four-star rating, which Toyota will be disappointed by, given that eight of its previous nine cars to be tested earned the full five stars. The Urban Cruiser scored 77% for adults, 85% for children and 72% for safety assists.

The latter category includes automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, driver monitoring system, adaptive cruise control and lane assist. As we mentioned earlier, the top model, Excel, also gets a 360-degree camera (panoramic view monitor). A tyre pressure monitoring system is also offered, but that’s an optional extra.

Options

The Toyota Urban Cruiser is available in very dark metallic blue (called Nimbus Blue) as standard. In contrast, dark grey, silver and dark green are also available if you're happy to pay extra. Premium paint jobs cost even more, with two colours offered: black and white, while the top-spec Excel also provides a black roof.

Various accessories are also obtainable, including a detachable tow bar, wiring kits and adapters for trailers, door handle protectors, seat belt pads, a swivel cushion, stainless steel scuff plates, and a roof box. There is also the tyre pressure monitoring system we mentioned earlier.

Rival Cars

This is a crowded segment of the market, so the Toyota Urban Cruiser has plenty of competition. The Ford Puma Gen-E, Jeep Avenger Electric and Kia EV3 are the closest equivalents from other manufacturers. There is also the Smart #1, the Volvo EX30, the Cupra Born, the MG 4 EV, and the Renault Megane E-Tech. Consider leasing the Skoda Elroq, Vauxhall Mokka Electric or Peugeot e-2008, too.

Additionally, Hyundai offers the Kona Electric and the Inster. And, as we said earlier, the Toyota is based on theSuzuki eVitara, which offers both cheaper variants and all-wheel drive models. It won’t surprise you to learn that, of all the cars listed above, the Urban Cruiser has the smallest boot (alongside the Suzuki, whose figures are identical).

Verdict & Next Steps

If the previous Toyota Urban Cruiser puts you off, this one bears no fundamental similarity to the previous one, other than its name. It is comfortable, lives up to its name by handling urban environments well, and delivers decent performance with a range that should manage plenty of short journeys between charges.

However, it's slow to charge, the interior could be much better, and the boot is tiny compared with equivalent and more refined peers – though at least you can slide and fold all three parts of the rear bench to suit each journey's needs. Meanwhile, the MG 4 EV and the Hyundai Inster are considerably cheaper, and the Ford Puma Gen-E offers so much more boot space.

We would stick to the entry-level trim with the lower-powered motor – you probably won’t miss the difference between it and the higher-powered one. But if you're happy to spend more on a higher-spec model, the mid-range Design trim is more than enough.

Granted, the old Urban Cruiser isn’t a patch on this new one, which is better in every conceivable way. However, there’s still a lot more catching up that Toyota needs to do if it’s to beat its nearest rivals. 

Where to next?

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**Score based on Select’s unique meta score analysis, taking into account the UK’s top leading independent car website reviews of the Vauxhall Mokka Electric

**Correct as of 21/01/2026. Based on  months 12 initial payment, 5,000 miles annually, over a 48 month lease. Initial payment equivalent to 12 monthly payments, or £3,469.44 (Plus admin fee) Ts and Cs apply. Credit is subject to status.