Should you buy a Toyota Urban Cruiser? 

In a world where compact electric SUVs are arriving thick and fast, the Toyota Urban Cruiser EV feels like a late and slightly underwhelming entry. While it gets the basics right – it’s easy to drive, has a couple of thoughtful interior touches like sliding rear seats, and offers decent real-world comfort – there’s no standout feature to make it leap off the page. And in such a competitive segment, that’s a problem.

Take the Skoda Elroq or Kia EV3: both offer significantly faster charging and better range, as well as slicker tech inside and more boot space. Even budget options like the Fiat Grande Panda or Vauxhall Frontera bring sharper value and punchier designs. Against these, the Urban Cruiser feels like it’s relying too heavily on Toyota’s badge and reputation for reliability, rather than innovation or desirability.

It’s also hard to form a final verdict without confirmed UK pricing. If Toyota pitches it aggressively, undercutting the likes of the Elroq and EV3, it may still appeal to buyers looking for a no-nonsense, well-equipped EV from a trusted brand. But based on what we’ve driven so far, this is a car that feels like it’s playing catch-up – and in this segment, that’s not good enough.

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What’s new? 

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The Toyota Urban Cruiser is now the smallest electric car you can buy from the Japanese brand, placing itself in an area of the car market where so many brands sell a competitor. 

Here, Toyota has partnered with Suzuki to develop a small electric crossover that’ll appeal to small families and empty-nesters, with the Urban Cruiser being designed to spend most of its life on suburban streets. Suzuki also makes its own version of this car – the e Vitara – which is largely the same car, aside from a few visual differences. 

Given its size, the Urban Cruiser will have a lot of competition when orders open for it towards the end of 2025. It will likely have an entry price similar to cars like the Skoda Elroq and Kia EV3 – both of which are highly recommended cars in the class. Plenty of other models should also be considered, too, including ones like the Ford Puma Gen-E, Volvo EX30, Smart #1 and even value-focused cars like the Fiat Grande Panda and Vauxhall Frontera. 

The Toyota focuses on a high amount of standard equipment, and includes a few smart interior details like slideable rear seats that can expand the amount of boot space on offer. 

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What’s it like inside? 

The interior is neatly laid out, with a respectable balance between physical controls and screens filled with digital content. The centre of the car features a welcome set of buttons for the climate control, as well as a high centre console with more buttons useful for plenty of driving situations. Material quality is perfectly fine, with a centre console finished in a satin black material – happily a difference between this and the eVitara it shares an interior with. 

You can get comfortable reasonably easily as a driver, with good adjustment from the seat. The steering wheel is quite large, and the digital instruments are positioned low into the panel they’re inset into which might not suit some driver’s seating positions. 

The biggest problem up front, however, is the infotainment system. The screen itself is fine: a reasonable size, brightly backlit and features crisp enough graphics. The issue is when you begin to use it, as it’s extremely slow to operate. Menus take time to load, you’re forced to watch pointless animations when going through the driver assistance menu and safety aids can’t be easily customised or turned off.  

In the rear, the seats can fold 40:20:40 with the central seat including a pair of cupholders when it’s folded down. Another useful feature is the fact you can slide the rear seats in a 60:40 configuration, allowing you to prioritise legroom for rear passengers or boot space. When the seats are at their furthest back, an adult can sit behind another perfectly reasonably; when the seats are furthest forward, the Urban Cruiser has a total of 320 litres of luggage space available. 

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Toyota Urban Cruiser engines and specifications 

The UK will get two versions – both are front-wheel drive. The entry-level model has a 49kWh battery and a 144hp electric motor, good for a 214-mile range and a 9.6-second 0-62mph time. The more powerful version includes a bigger 61kWh battery and a 174hp electric motor, dropping the 0-62mph time to 8.7 seconds and raising the claimed range to a possible 265 miles. 

Toyota says that, regardless of battery size, the Urban Cruiser has a peak charging rate of 67kW, meaning a 10-80 per cent can be done in as little as 45 minutes. That’s not very competitive, however, with many cars the Urban Cruiser is up against charging quicker than that. 

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What’s it like to drive? 

Performance is perfectly fine, with enough power to complete fast acceleration runs up motorway slip roads, or conducting overtakes. 

As for its handling on a range of roads, the best part was the feeling of the steering. It has some satisfying weight to it that feels assured when you’re zipping around urban streets and helps to keep the car stable at higher speeds. 

At speed, the ride is plump and on the right side of firm for our liking, handling potholes and drain covers just well enough without being crashy. It settles down at higher speeds, but the introduction of some wind noise via the door mirrors at motorway speeds takes the edge off a bit. 

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What models and trims are available? 

Aside from knowing what power versions there are, UK trims aren’t confirmed yet. However, we can expect the Toyota Urban Cruiser to have a similar trim line-up to its Suzuki eVitara twin, meaning likely two trims being offered. Toyota will almost certainly provide a lot of equipment as standard. 

On the next page you’ll find a recap of what we do and don’t like about the Toyota Urban Cruiser as well as our detailed star ratings. And don’t forget, you can find out all about how we test cars on our dedicated explainer page. Here’s why you should trust us, too.