First Drive: 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid

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If I am hearing Toyota’s marketing mavens correctly, the new Corolla Cross Hybrid is the RAV4 Hybrid for Millennials who don’t want to drive their dad’s SUV. Essentially, if I really am understanding this right, our kids want something that goes like a RAV4, but doesn’t look like, well, a RAV4. And, if you can save them a few bucks along the way, so much the better.

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It makes complete sense, of course. Mankind has long been beset by a youth — most particularly young men — whose entire worldview is based on nothing deeper than doing the exact opposite of whatever their dad did. Thus have recent generations forsaken — or, at least I am told they have forsaken — binge-drinking, fast motorcycles, and station wagons.

And, while I really only believe that last one to be true, it would also be 100-per-cent correct to say that, had my father been a motorcycle-riding, health-conscious boxer, I’d have spent a very long time indeed looking for alternatives to the things I now love most. One can only surmise — or is that hope? — the same will happen to SUVs. As inter-generational backlashes go, dumping the gas-guzzling, soul-sucking SUVs that plague our streets would be a dramatic step forward.

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Don’t-call-me-Boomer diatribes aside, the Corolla Cross disguises its relationship to the RAV4 pretty well. For instance, it shares the same TNGA platform, but it’s the smaller “C” version as underpins the Corolla and smaller — and controversially styled — CH-R, while the RAV4 runs on the larger TNGA-K version, which also forms the basis of the Camry.

The new hybrid uses Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive, but now in its fifth generation, which means it’s powered by the same 2.0-litre gas engine that drives the new Prius Prime mated to a 152 pound-foot permanent-magnet electric motor. In other words, the Corolla Cross Hybrid is a little less powerful — 219 hp versus 196 hp — than the RAV4 Hybrid, and a little less spacious — the rear cargo area holds but 21.5 cubic feet behind the second row, while its larger sibling is good for 37.5 cubes. There’s also a smidge more rear legroom in the RAV4 than the Corolla Cross Hybrid, though the front seat accommodations are about the same.

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On the other hand, the Cross Hybrid sports but 10 fewer millimetres of ground clearance than the RAV4, and its approach and departure angles — 16.2 and 22.8 degrees, respectively — aren’t that far removed either (the RAV4 Hybrid, at 19.0 degrees, can “approach” steeper hills, but, at 21.0 degrees, can’t “depart” as steep a decline). It also sports an electric “On-Demand” all-wheel-drive system, so there may be just a smattering of bona fides to Toyota’s claims to ground clearance.

Inside, the Corolla Cross Hybrid is again familiar territory. Oh, Toyota would be perfectly right to state that none of the major interior body parts share part numbers with anything else in Toyota’s lineup. On the other hand, it’s all so very familiar. We’ve seen the base model’s eight-inch touchscreen on other SEs in the company’s lineup. Ditto the dashboard styling, some of the button-ry, and much of instrumentation. If not outright copies of Toyota’s before, they are, at the very least, also familiar.

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Perhaps the best thing about all this familiarity is that, despite its status as the non-RAV4, the Corolla Cross Hybrid drives pretty much like one. Front and centre is Toyota’s abovementioned long-running Hybrid Synergy Drive; in the Corolla Cross, it uses a 2.0-litre Atkinson-cycle four instead of the RAV4’s 2.5L version. That means, again, that the Cross sports 196 horsepower, a tad down on the RAV4’s 219 hp.

You’ll hardly notice the difference, the Corolla’s powertrain feeling, for all the world, largely the same. There’s that familiar rubber-band-like performance of the continuously-variable transmission (CVT), the same mildly annoying valve clatter, and pretty much identical middle-of-the-road acceleration. There’s also the same extraordinary fuel economy, the hybrid version of the Cross averaging about 5.3 L/100 km — against an NRCan rating of 5.6 L/100 km — that was, not so long ago, Prius territory. It’s also pretty darned good fuel economy for something sorta pretending to be an SUV.

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Exceeding fuel consumption expectations, though, is another typical Toyota Hybrid characteristic. While lesser cars — both gas- and electric-powered — struggle to meet their official fuel economy figures, Toyota’s hybrids often exceed them. In fact, I can’t remember the last time a Toyota hybrid — regular or plug-in — failed to better its fuel consumption rating. The kids might not want the RAV4 look, but I suspect they’ll appreciate class-leading fuel economy.

If I have made the Corolla Cross Hybrid sound a bit like an appliance, I make no apologies. Like, say, a high-end Wolf Gourmet toaster or a Dyson vacuum cleaner, the Corolla Cross’ innovation is much more a vision presented by its exterior than any revolution underneath its skin. Instead, it’s tried and true Toyota. But, if you’re a Millennial looking for non-RAV4 that nonetheless embodies most of its attributes, albeit in a sexier package than what your father drove, then your Corolla Cross Hybrid is here.

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The new Corolla Cross Hybrid, by the way, starts at $33,395 for the base SE version. Along with that aforementioned eight-inch touchscreen, the SE comes standard with a leather-wrapped steering wheel, heated front seats, and 17-inch rims. The XSE version gains SofTex seats, a 10-way electrically adjustable driver’s seat, and a dual-zone climate control system, not to mention a power rear hatch and a moonroof, as well as slightly larger 18-inch rims. It does not, however, gain the larger 12.3-inch touchscreen many other Toyota models — like the Prius prime I just recently tested — offer in XSE trim. Perhaps its omission is the reason the XSE costs $36,755, “only” a $3,360 uptick. Nonetheless, without the 12.3-inch screen’s improvement in ease of use, my recommendation is that, unless you really need the moonroof, I’d stick with the SE.