Description
The RAV4 has become Toyota’s bestseller over the past decade and is near ubiquitous across the United States. Toyota’s compact is also the most popular vehicle in an overwhelmingly popular segment, facing off against the Honda CR-V, Subaru Forester, and Ford Escape. Considering the fifth-generation model’s 2019 introduction, Toyota may introduce a redesigned RAV4 for 2026.
What We Think
The current-generation RAV4 is easy to like. Toyota delivered three powertrain options, usable tech, and a practical layout, plus great safety scores and driver assists. We never loved the driving experience of base models and their thrashy engines, but the hybrid and RAV4 Prime supplied more refined powertrains and in the case of the Prime, superior ride quality. We called the RAV4 Hybrid Toyota’s best product when it beat out an equivalent Honda CR-V in a comparison test.
All that said, by the 2023 model year we were pointing out that Toyota’s safety features were lagging behind the segment’s best and yearned for a TRD variant that delivered the hardware and off-road chops to match its tough look. If the latest Prius is anything to go by, we anticipate a redesigned 2026 Toyota RAV4 will be more stylish, better to drive, and every bit as practical as before while perhaps capturing some of the enthusiasm its failed to do in years past.
Performance and Efficiency
The fifth-gen RAV4 is offered with gas, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid powertrain options. It’s likely Toyota will drop the basic gas-only model on this bread-and-butter SUV. In recent years, the Venza, Sienna, and Sequoia have all launched exclusively with hybrid powertrains. But it’s also possible Toyota will offer an updated version of the old model’s 2.5-liter I-4 hybrid setup.
Safety Ratings and Features
Toyota’s customers clearly care about safety, and the automaker will no doubt target strong safety ratings from IIHS and NHTSA, matching or besting its 2023 IIHS Top Safety Pick and NHTSA five-star overall rating. We can also expect an updated version of the Toyota Safety Sense collection of driver assists with improved lane centering, adaptive cruise control, driver attention monitoring, and emergency braking.
Cargo Space and Interior Room
Interior space seems to be one of the biggest reasons buyers are moving away from sedans and toward SUVs, so the 2026 RAV4 will have to be competitive for the segment, hopefully improving on its predecessor, which had marginally less rear legroom and maximum cargo space than its peers.
Legroom (front/rear):
2024 Toyota RAV4: 41.0/37.8 inches
2024 Honda CR-V: 41.3/40.4 inches
2024 Subaru Forester: 43.3/39.4 inches
Cargo space (seats up/down):
2024 Toyota RAV4: 37.6/69.8 cubic feet
2024 Honda CR-V: 39.2/75.8 cubic feet
2024 Subaru Forester: 28.9/74.2 cubic feet
Technology
We hope to see a next-generation RAV4 improve on the fifth-gen SUV’s tech offerings. Lower trim levels will likely stick with Toyota’s 8.0- or 10.5-inch touchscreen, but if we’re lucky the RAV4 will get a tweaked version of the 14.0-inch infotainment setup available in the platform-sharing Lexus NX. Toyota’s digital instrument cluster may trickle down to the rest of the lineup, too.
