Toyota Urban Cruiser

Japanese brand's electric-crossover joint venture with Suzuki is competent, but fails to stand out in a crowded class

- By Alastair Crooks

THESE days, it feels like a new electric SUV is unveiled every five minutes, and just about every mainstream car maker either has one in its range or in the pipeline. Despite its rich history of hybrids, Toyota has been fairly slow on the uptake in the pure-EV market, but joining the updated bZ4X and new C-HR+ is this, the Urban Cruiser.

Toyota might be a global automotive giant, but the company looked to Suzuki to help develop the Mk2 Urban Cruiser. A sister model of the new e Vitara, the resulting vehicle sits on a brand-new, dedicated EV platform called Heartect-e that the two firms worked on together. The only major differences between the Urban Cruiser and e Vitara are the front-end design and badges, plus the Suzuki offers the option of all-wheel drive.

Prices for the Urban Cruiser start at £29,995 for the Icon model. The mid-range Design trim that we're testing here costs £33,495 and then finally there's the £35,745 Excel. The Toyota doesn't qualify for the Government's Electric Car Grant.

Suzuki says the battery cells for its e Vitara come from BYD and while Toyota hasn't specifically said the same, it's almost certain this is also the case with the Urban Cruiser. Typically this would be a good thing because BYD makes some of the most energy-dense and competitive batteries in the automotive industry, but the Urban Cruiser's range and efficiency are still only average for the class.

The Toyota does get the same battery options as the e Vitara - a 49kWh unit (exclusive to the Icon) with 213 miles of range, and a 61kWh battery with up to 265 miles on the Design and Excel.