Toyota

The 2026 Toyota RAV4: Everything You Need to Know

Toyota’s best-seller could have some major upgrades coming soon.

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The Toyota RAV4 requires little introduction. The compact crossover is America’s perennial best-selling non-truck, and has been a staple of the roads for decades. Go to pretty much any street on any town in the United States, and odds are good you’ll see a RAV4 before long. (Fun fact: RAV4 actually stands for “Robust Accurate Vehicle with 4 Wheel Drive.”)

But keeping this model popular means keeping it fresh. The current fifth-generation RAV4 entered production back in 2018 and should be nearing the end of its production run. That means a debut for the sixth-generation RAV4 should be happening fairly soon. Here’s what we know about it so far.

What will the new RAV4 look like? 

We haven’t seen any spy shots of Toyota’s new RAV4 yet. But we don’t expect the new RAV4 to look too different; it should stay on the same platform, and use very similar underpinnings. Toyota took the RAV4 in a more rugged direction with the current gen model. Leaning into that a bit further would help differentiate it from the new Crown Signia, which is more sleek and wagon-like. 

We don’t see Toyota going full Baby Land Cruiser with the new RAV4 design (WhichCar offered a rendering of what that might look like), but — to paraphrase Matthew McConaughey’s character in Dazed & Confused — it would be a lot cooler if they did. 

We hope Toyota leans into the rugged appearance of the RAV4. But it may not look too different from the current version.

What engines will the new Toyota RAV4 use?

Toyota hasn’t revealed any details about the new RAV4 engines yet. Hybrids — more than 40 percent of the RAV4’s sales mix in 2023 — are a given. The question is whether Toyota will continue offering a non-hybrid version; after all, Toyota just went hybrid-only for the 2025 Camry. YouTuber/Toyota analyst Kirk Kreifels thinks the new RAV4 will be hybrid-only in North America.

We’re betting the RAV4 gets a version of Toyota’s 2.5-liter hybrid setup with a similar output to the all-wheel-drive Camry’s 232 horsepower. We’d also expect Toyota to continue with the RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrid — maybe with an updated higher-capacity battery. Toyota has a new battery plant coming online for PHEVs in 2025, so maybe Toyota brings production to America and makes a play for the federal tax credit? 

Will there be an electric RAV4?

Possibly. The bZ4X is supposed to fill the electric RAV4 role, but the consensus is that Toyota needs to improve the battery tech … and the bZ4X branding is terrible.

We know Toyota is working on improving battery tech; Automotive News says the bZ4X will be re-engineered in 2026, potentially earlier. And Toyota has attempted a RAV4 EV twice before, so we wouldn’t be totally taken aback if Toyota relaunched the bZ4x as the RAV4 EV. If that does happen, we wouldn’t expect it to arrive after the launch of the gas-powered model.

If Toyota does build a RAV4 EV, it wouldn’t be the first — or even second — time Toyota has tried it.

Will the RAV4 score any interior and tech upgrades?

Since the current RAV4 debuted in 2019, the interior should receive a significant overhaul with technology, design and materials. Motor Trend thinks the RAV4 may get the 14-inch touchscreen now available in the Toyota Tacoma and several other vehicles. We could see Toyota cribbing heavily from the new Camry design and offering a 12.3-inch unit.

How much will the new Toyota RAV4 cost?

The RAV4 should remain its fairly affordable self, so we don’t expect the pricing to change that much. The core vehicles should stay in the $30,000 to $40,000 range; the Prime probably a bit above that. The base price could creep a little higher if Toyota goes hybrid only, however.

We don’t expect pricing to differ too dramatically from the current RAV4.

When will the new RAV4 arrive?

Toyota hasn’t revealed anything about a RAV4 debut to us yet. We’ve seen some message board scuttlebutt about the new RAV4 launching in 2025. Automotive News has the revamped RAV4 arriving in 2027. We would probably split the difference and say 2026 model year. 

Kreifels notes that Toyota typically brings out one or two big reveals for the L.A. Auto Show. We saw the Camry and Crown Signia in 2023, the Prius in 2022 and the bZ4X in 2021. It’s possible we could see a reveal before the end of the year.