The ever-popular Toyota RAV4 was totally redesigned for the 2026 model year, and for the first time ever it offered exclusively hybridized drivetrains. Considering how momentous that redesign was, one would expect second-year updates to be minimal, and that’s mostly the case for the 2027 RAV4, but the handful of updates are good ones. The off-road-oriented RAV4 Woodland becomes slightly more off-road oriented for 2027 with a reworked suspension that adds an inch of ground clearance for a total of 9.1 inches, and all plug-in-hybrid RAV4s, including the RAV4 GR Sport, now feature an NACS port with DC fast-charging abilities and an 11-kW onboard AC charger.
I’m never happy to see prices increase, but at least Toyota has kept the increases to a minimum, with different trim levels costing between $400 and $755 more than they did last year. The cheapest 2027 Toyota RAV4 you can buy is the front-wheel-drive LE trim that now costs $33,895, up $400 from last year, while the cheapest 2027 RAV4 PHEV you can buy is the all-wheel-drive SE that now costs $43,695, which is $600 dearer than last year.
Biggest changes come to Woodland and GR Sport trims
The RAV4 Woodland’s new raised suspension includes new springs, shocks, and jounce bumpers that accompany its added inch of clearance, and it also gets redesigned all-weather floor mats. That lift comes at a cost, with the 2027 Woodland being $755 more expensive at $42,250, and it gets 1 mpg worse in the city than last year — it’s rated at a still outstanding 40 mpg city, 35 mpg highway, and 38 mpg combined, though. (The Subaru Forester Wilderness Hybrid offers 0.2 inches more ground clearance than the Woodland’s 9.1 inches, if that really matters to you.) The PHEV Woodland loses 3 miles of EV range, now standing at 46 miles, and though its city fuel economy dropped 3 mpg to 38, its highway mileage went up by 1 mpg to 35, and its combined rating remains 37 mpg.
The 2026 RAV4 GR Sport plug-in hybrid perplexed us because it had worse charging abilities than all other PHEV RAV4s, but that’s amended for 2027. All plug-in RAV4s are now fitted with an NACS port for the first time, and the GR Sport gains DC fast-charging capability and the 11-kW onboard charger the rest of the lineup already had. Every PHEV RAV4 is now capable of charging from 10% to 80% in the same time as last year, about 35 minutes. For some reason, the 2027 RAV4 GR Sport’s electric-only driving range drops by 3 miles to an estimated 45 miles of range, but that’s still a good result.
Other tweaks include all the PHEVs now having their charge port on the driver’s side, every model gains a standard backup camera washer, and all-wheel-drive RAV4s now have Multi-Terrain Select with Rock & Dirt mode and Mud & Sand mode. Toyota says 2027 RAV4 hybrids should hit dealer lots later this year, but PHEV models will arrive early next year.
