The 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross hybrid looks sportier than the conventional car, with a lower-mounted grille that makes the hood seem longer.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
At first glance, there seems to be little point in driving a hybrid version of Toyota’s Corolla Cross. The compact crossover already sips fuel at just 7.3 litres every 100 kilometres – half a litre more for the all-wheel-drive edition. It’s comparatively affordable, too, with a base suggested price of less than $30,000. Why complicate things by attaching a hybrid motor? Turns out there’s a powerful reason, which I’ll get to in a moment.
Toyota already added a hybrid motor to the regular Corolla sedan, which is part of its corporate mandate to electrify almost its entire fleet by 2025. That sedan hybrid gives its priority to conserving fuel, saving two litres of gas every 100 kilometres by reducing its available power. It has a smaller engine that makes 138 horsepower, compared with 169 for the conventional car.
The new Corolla Cross Hybrid takes a different tack – it adds power to the vehicle and makes it sportier while still saving gas. It takes a two-litre engine and attaches a 30-kilowatt motor to the rear axle, which boosts the available power to 196 horsepower, while reducing the average consumption to 5.6 litres.
This is the same approach Toyota took with the RAV4 and RAV4 Hybrid – the conventional SUV already uses such little fuel that it seems pointless to add the cost, weight and complexity of a hybrid motor and battery to save just a little more. When the hybrid makes more power while saving fuel, though – well, that is a better proposition.
Is it worth the extra cost? There’s no simple answer, because the Corolla Cross Hybrid is only sold in SE and XSE trims (the “S” is supposed to designate Sport), while the conventional Corolla Cross is only sold in L, LE and XLE trims. There’s an S trim offered in the United States, where both the hybrid and non-hybrid are built in Alabama, but not in Canada. The LE all-wheel-drive version of the Corolla Cross is the closest comparison and has a suggested price of $30,190 while the SE Hybrid starts at $33,985.
The fuel savings will eventually cover the extra $3,795 of the hybrid over its lifetime – if gas costs $1.50 a litre, it’ll take about 120,000 kilometres, but that’s not considering the upfront cost of the capital. The improved quality of the drive, however, is a different matter. The hybrid has a stiff, sport-tuned suspension to match its increased weight, welcome extra power and includes standard paddle shifters and roof rails.
The 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross uses 5.6 litres of gas every 100 kilometres in combined city and highway driving.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
Tech specs
2023 Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid
- Base price/as tested: $33,985/$36,755, plus $1,930 freight and predelivery inspection, plus all taxes
- Engine: Two-litre inline-four cylinder, plus 30-kilowatt electric motor
- Transmission/drive: Electric continuously variable transmission (eCVT)/all-wheel drive
- Fuel economy (litres per 100 kilometres): 5.2 city, 6.2 highway, 5.6 combined (6.6 observed)
- Alternatives: Toyota Corolla Cross, Kia Sportage Hybrid, Volkswagen Taos, Honda HR-V, Hyundai Kona, Mazda CX-30
The Cross hybrid comes in an exclusive new yellow paint colour called Acidic Blast.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
Looks
The hybrid looks sportier than the conventional car, with a lower-mounted grille that makes the hood seem longer. It’s no hot hatch, though. Its appearance is pleasant and non-offensive, and there’s an exclusive new yellow paint colour called Acidic Blast – it’s the colour of the vehicle in the photos.
The front seats and dash of the 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross. The model includes wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as voice-activated “Hey Toyota” commands.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
Interior
Practical, comfortable, affordable. It’s not luxurious and feels built to a price, which it is, but it’s a Toyota price, not an Audi or BMW. The standard leather-wrapped steering wheel is heated, as are the front seats. Heated rear seats and ventilated front seats are available with the more expensive trim.
Performance
Toyota claims a zero-to-100-kilometre-an-hour acceleration of 8.2 seconds, which is more than 1.5 seconds quicker than the gas-only LE all-wheel drive. This doesn’t mean the Corolla Cross Hybrid is quick – more that the non-hybrid is insipidly slow.
The car doesn’t handle like a sports car, as Toyota would like you to believe, but it is enjoyable to drive. Steering is light and the brakes do their job. For me, though, the continuously variable transmission (CVT) seemed to sap the bite from the throttle, pulling the vehicle up to speed – I had the same criticism of the Prius Prime, which also has sporty aspirations that I felt were limited by the fuel-frugal CVT.
I drove the Corolla Cross Hybrid for about 115 kilometres on a variety of roads, including hilly switchbacks and interstate highways. At the end, the car’s computer showed my average fuel consumption was 6.6 litres per 100 kilometres.
The 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross hybrid has a two-litre inline-four cylinder engine plus a 30-kilowatt electric motor.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
Technology
The Corolla Cross Hybrid is well equipped, but then, it’s only available in mid-level and upper-level trims, and not as the most basic version that’s sold in the United States. Both models get the full multimedia treatment, with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as voice-activated “Hey Toyota” commands. More important, all versions come standard with Toyota Safety Sense 3.0, which includes dynamic radar cruise control, lane departure alert with steering assist, automatic high beams, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert. Plenty of more expensive vehicles will charge extra for those safety assistance features.
Cargo
The regular Corolla Cross has more cargo room than its subcompact SUV competition, but this is reduced in the hybrid by the space needed for the battery. It’s still pretty good, though. The hybrid has 609 litres of room behind the rear seats while the non-hybrid all-wheel-drive version has 713 litres. Fold the seats down and there’s 1,750 litres of space, compared with 1,976 in the non-hybrid.
Fold the seats down and there’s 1,750 litres of space on the 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross hybrid, compared with 1,976 in the non-hybrid.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
The verdict
The Corolla Cross Hybrid makes the right amount of power for its size, so you can merge confidently onto highways and even enjoy driving on the back roads, but it also consumes very little fuel. It will cost more to buy than the non-hybrid version, but that will be covered eventually by the savings in fuel. Forget the Corolla Cross – if you want a subcompact Toyota SUV, choose the Corolla Cross Hybrid instead.
The writer was a guest of the automaker. Content was not subject to approval.
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