OJAI, Calif.—You’re always going to have someone who will poo-poo an EV with less than 300 miles, saying it doesn’t have enough range. My test is always whether I think I can get to my mom’s house 200 miles away without stopping. But now that more charging stations are popping up, this is less of a big deal. And, frankly, most people will never need as much range as they think they do. So, when I drove the 2026 Toyota C-HR, I didn’t consider the range to be a ding.
2026 Toyota C-HR
In fact, there wasn’t much I didn’t like about this new compact electric SUV from Toyota.
The original C-HR in Toyota’s lineup was a compact, entry-level gas-powered SUV. It was introduced in 2018 but disappeared after 2022 because it just didn’t sell well in the U.S. It had a cheap interior, lackluster power, and it was too expensive for what it was. Plus, no all-wheel-drive (AWD) option.
Enter the 2026 C-HR, and it’s a completely different story. It’s an EV with plenty of power, standard AWD, and the interior is attractive with a lot of standard up-level features. It’s about 5 inches longer than the defunct gas model, but it shares the same coupe-like styling and a rear door handle that’s hidden in the C-Pillar.
So, what is the range on the 2026 Toyota C-HR?
As previously alluded to, the range of the C-HR is less than 300 miles, but not by much. In the base SE trim, you’re looking at 287 miles of range. This drops to 273 miles of range when you upgrade to the XSE trim. The difference is likely due to the larger wheels on the XSE—20 versus 18 inches—and some extra content on the XSE that probably adds some weight.
But here’s the thing, the 2026 Toyota C-HR comes with a North American Charging Standard (NACS) port, which means it can charge up at the modern Tesla Superchargers. Furthermore, it comes standard with a NACS-to-CCS charging adapter, which opens up charging capability to pretty much every fast charge station out there. So, you have a lot of options if you need to make a pitstop on a road trip. For at-home charging, if you don’t want to install a home charger, it comes with a dual-voltage 120V/240V AC charging cable.
Toyota estimates that you can go from 10% to 80% of a charge in about 30 minutes via a DC fast charger.
It’s a spicy, sporty SUV
As an AWD vehicle, the 2026 Toyota C-HR has dual motors, delivering a net combined 338 horsepower. And, because it’s an EV, it has a lot of fun, instantaneous acceleration. The 0-to-60-mph time is 4.9 seconds, but it definitely felt a lot faster!
With an overall length of 177.9 inches, it was highly maneuverable in tight spaces, and it felt solid on gentle curves and while rounding corners. We were on surface streets during our drive instead of highways, but in some ways that’s a better test because surface streets have a lot of imperfections. The C-HR smoothed out the worst of the bumps and had a very comfortable ride. It was also really, really quiet inside the cabin.
In our book this has a nice dual personality with sedate EV quietude but some spicy handling moves when needed.
A few of our favorite things
There’s a lot to like on the 2026 Toyota C-HR. Gone are the cheap materials and loud engine from the original model. In its place, you have a lot of premium standard amenities like a power lift gate, heated front seats and steering wheel, large infotainment screen, dual wireless chargers, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, front and rear automatic braking, and blind spot monitoring.
I’m also a huge fan of the overall seat comfort—both with the base cloth and up-level leatherette upholstery. Plus, in the back seat, even though this is a compact SUV, you do have legroom for an average sized adult as well as air vents and USB-C charge ports.
The C-HR is overall a well-put-together electric SUV.
What we would change
As always, however, there are a few things that could have been done better. First up, and this will surprise no one, the wireless phone chargers are less than ideal. They are slow to charge, and they do heat up your phone over time. So, they’re OK for short errand-running drives, but not great for a long road trip.
Filed under the category of “short person problem,” the side buttons to open the armrest are in an awkward location for someone who has their seat in a far-forward position. The button on the driver’s side was essentially unreachable for me because it was blocked by the bolster of the driver’s seat.
Finally, as an SUV, the cargo area is open to the passenger space, which allows for some creative cargo stowage. However, Toyota didn’t put a release mechanism for the rear seats in the cargo area, so if you want to fold the seats flat you have to do the run around to each outboard rear seat to release the latch to put the seats down. The bZ Woodland, which is built on the same platform in the same plant, has these rear release latches. It doesn’t seem like it would be that expensive or difficult to add them to the C-HR as well.
Pricing and trim levels
The 2026 CH-R comes standard with AWD, and it has just two well-equipped trims levels.
SE ($38,450): It comes standard with 18-inch wheels, power lift gate, rain-sensing wipers, low-profile roof rails, premium cloth seats, eight-way power adjustable driver’s seat, six-way manual adjusting passenger seat, heated front seats and steering wheel, 14-inch infotainment screen, dual wireless phone chargers, three USB-C charge ports, Toyota Safety Sense 3.0, front and rear parking sensors, automatic forward and reverse braking, and blind spot monitoring.
XSE ($40,450): This trim adds 20-inch wheels, leatherette seats with sueded inserts, an eight-way power adjustable passenger seat, driver memory seat, hands-free low-speed Traffic Jam Assist, lane change assist, and a 360-degree camera. Options on this trim include a panoramic roof, JBL audio, and the cold-weather package with a headlight cleaner and heated rear seats.
Our take:
While the 2026 Toyota C-HR isn’t the $25,000 “affordable” EV we were hoping for, we think there’s a lot of value here with the standard amenities, NACS charge port, standard CCS adapter, and AWD. It’s comfortable, quiet, and peppy, and it will make a great get-around, year-round EV for the right person.
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