The venerable Toyota Highlander has always been a strong nameplate in Toyota’s SUV lineup. The three-row SUV was last updated in 2019 and the company made a gamble by giving all trims a hybrid infused engine. The gamble worked and despite it getting long in the tooth, the SUV proved to be a hit with customers.

Toyota is once again attempting to shake the formula up with the 227 Highlander which ditches ICE powerplants as a whole and will instead go on the market as a pure electric three-row SUV.

Fresh design inside and out paints broader picture

Before we dive into the biggest change of all, we might as well focus on some of the other changes the Highlander is getting for 2027. The exterior gets a revamped look with some of the old model’s droopy looks being pitched fo a futuristic suit of clothes that smooths things out and adds more angles to the design.

Broad fenders also form a key pillar of the design with the rear in particular getting chunkier ones to go along with the light bar. The company’s hammerhead grille and headlights also make their way to the SUV too. Meanwhile, a large 14-inch infotainment screen and a smaller 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster boost the Highlander’s tech game and all three rows now have access to device charging.

The interior itself gets soft SofTex faux leather accents and while front heated seats are standard, cooled ones are optional. Heated second-row seats are also optional. Toyota didn’t release any details about cargo capacity but look for that figure to also inch slightly upward du to the reworked rear floor.

Performance keeps it simple

Toyota is keeping things simple for the Highlander in 2027 with the company only offering two trims: XLE, and Limited with performance also being limited to electric powertrains. The base XLE gets a single front-mounted 221 hp electric motor and a 77.0 kWh battery pack while the Limited gets a beefier setup thanks to the addition of a rear-mounted motor and a bigger 95.0 kWh battery pack that produces 338 hp and gives the SUV all-wheel drive.

AWD and the beefier setup are also available on the XLE but as an optional extra. Initial range estimates were also released with the XLE getting 287 and 270 miles of range (depending on drive setup) while the Limited gets 330 miles of range. The Highlander EV gets a NACS charging port and is also bringing Vehicle to Load technology along as well to try and be on par with rivals from Hyundai and Kia.

How much?

Toyota chose to not release pricing information for the Highlander either but the outgoing model starts at just over $47,000 with the range-topping Hybrid Platinum going over $56,000. As such, look for the base XLE to still be under $50,000 with higher trims potentially crossing the $60,000 mark for the first time.

Reaction among Highlander owners has been mixed. Some like the changes, but the vast majority of them have made their feelings known both on Toyota’s official Facebook page and smaller owner groups. It remains to be seen if Toyota’s gamble pays off like it did last time but we look forward to getting behind the wheel ourselves in the future and see whether thsi SUV has the goods or not.