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By Jonathan Crouch

Can Toyota's EV-era Urban Cruiser appeal to the young demographic the brand is seeking? Jonathan Crouch takes a look.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 37

Toyota's first small EV crossover, the Urban Cruiser, should help the brand widen its appeal amongst those looking to go electric. It aims to combine fashion and practicality and, sure enough, seems to tick some trendy boxes.

Backgroundword count: 213

Toyota doesn't seem completely comfortable with EVs in the way it is with Hybrids. It's been so slow in developing full-electric vehicles that it missed the 2024 UK ZEV mandate target by a full 15%. Even more surprisingly, by that point all three of the EV cars the company had bought us were created as part of joint projects led by other brands. Namely the bZ4X (engineered with Subaru) and the Proace Verso EV and Proace City Verso EV twins (engineered by Stellantis). True to form, the Urban Cruiser model we look at here was also created from a joint project. Toyota urgently needs smaller, more affordable EVs and this was the product of a joint venture with Suzuki, who developed their first electric vehicle, the e Vitara, from it. The Urban Cruiser shares all its engineering with that car and rolls down the same production line in India, a market where the Urban Cruiser name is used for a re-badged Suzuki Grand Vitara. Primarily though, the 'Urban Cruiser' nameplate is Toyota's. It launched on a trendy-looking model sold in Europe (including the UK) between 2009 and 2012, which was then replaced by a second generation design we didn't get. Now though, it's back for a new electric era. Let's take a look.

Engines and Tech Specword count: 270

There's everything here you'd think the Urban Cruiser would need to make an impact in the compact EV crossover segment. So two battery packs, a proper bespoke electric vehicle platform, a choice of motor power outputs and the option at the top of the range of 4WD. The mainstream versions are front-driven, the line-up kicking off with a 49kWh battery pack energising a 142bhp motor with 189Nm of torque. Expect about 200 miles of range. Ideally though, you'd stretch to the mid-level 61kWh model with its 172bhp motor; this won't feel much faster because it's torque figure is the same, but you'll be able to think in terms of around 250 miles of range - though this is still one of the lower figures in the class. As it did when developing the larger bZ4X EV with Subaru, Toyota has found itself here with a partner (in Suzuki) who prioritises the need for a really good 4WD system. So the top Urban Cruiser benefits from the sophisticated Allgrip-e 4x4 set up created for its e Vitara development cousin. That priciest Urban cruiser variant, which also uses the 61kWh battery, adds an extra motor to the rear axle to increase power output to 181bhp. For slippery services, there's a Trail mode that shuffles power from a spinning wheel to the opposite wheel. There's even Hill Descent Control, but only a modest 180mm of ground clearance. Across the line-up, you can maximise range figures by engaging stronger regenerative braking (via a centre console button) and by activating the most frugal of the drive modes - 'Eco' (the others are 'Normal' and 'Sport').

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