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The Toyota Urban Cruiser is an all-electric B-segment SUV that is very closely related to the Suzuki e Vitara, however whereas the e Vitara offers an all-wheel drive option, only front-wheel drive is available with the Toyota.
Toyota is best known for its hybrid cars, but the company is now turning its attention to EVs; one of its latest models is the Urban Cruiser, which has been developed in partnership with Suzuki; so which brand should you go for?
The Toyota Urban Cruiser is a B-segment SUV that has been developed with Suzuki – in fact Suzuki took the lead. A key difference between Suzuki’s model, the e-Vitara, and the Urban Cruiser, is that the e-Vitara is available with all-wheel drive, but the Urban Cruiser is front-wheel drive only.
The Urban Cruiser is 4,285mm long with a maximum boot capacity of 310 litres, which can increase to 566 litres with the rear seats fully folded. There’s space under the boot floor to store the charging cables and the rear seats can also usefully slide forwards and backwards to give more boot space or rear legroom.
There are two lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery options, 49kWh and 61kWh.
With the Toyota Urban Cruiser and the Suzuki e-Vitara both being essentially the same vehicle, it’s no surprise that both are very similar to drive. This means that the Urban Cruiser offers some fun, with a direct driving experience, compact dimensions and agility. The ride quality is slightly on the firm side in order to help with body control. The key difference is that the Urban Cruiser is front-wheel drive only, whereas the e-Vitara is also available with all-wheel drive.
As well as offering more grip, the all-wheel drive e-Vitara also has slightly more power (183 hp v 174 hp of the Urban Cruiser) and a lot more torque (307 Nm v 193 Nm). With a 0-62 mph time of 7.4 seconds compared to the Urban Cruiser’s 8.7 seconds, the all-wheel drive e-Vitara is more responsive to drive, whereas the Urban Cruiser is relatively slow to respond from standstill. And of course the AWD model can cope with off-road terrain and – as per our review – snow.
A drive mode switch on the centre console gives you the options of Eco and Sport – when it’s in neither of these, no drive mode is displayed (it’s in Normal). There’s also a separate button for Snow.
Gears are selected via a rotary dial on the centre console, and there’s a button to change the level of brake regeneration.
Electric adjustment of the driver’s seat includes the ability to change the angle of the seat base, which is good. Less impressive is the limited reach adjustment of the steering wheel, and the wheel feels as though it would benefit from being smaller.
Like the Suzuki, an annoying feature of the Urban Cruiser is the need to manually release the electronic handbrake every time you want to drive off – this really should be an automatic release.
The cabin has two display panels in one unit, comprised of a 10.25-inch driver’s display and a 10.1-inch central touchscreen. In addition to the physical buttons for drive modes etc, there are also physical controls for other functions such as cabin temperature, fan and volume.
Two items that don’t have physical controls, but which would be more user-friendly if they did, are the heated seats and heated steering wheel. To switch these on, you need to press a button on the screen to bring up the climate window, then select the heated seats graphic, then choose which seat you want heated; all of which is too much button-pressing.
The infotainment system as a whole isn’t as slick as some rivals, it hasn’t got the quickest reactions, pairing a phone wasn’t the most user-friendly process, and the satnav mapping is poor – but you can always use Apple Maps.
The Toyota Urban Cruiser is available with two battery sizes, 49kWh or 61kWh. The Icon trim level with the 49kWh battery has an official combined WLTP driving range of 213 miles. Design and Excel trim levels feature the larger 61kWh battery and have an official combined WLTP driving range of 264 miles. After a week on test the real-world range of our Excel trim test car was averaging 204 miles. Consumption (WLTP) is 4.1 miles/kWh. A heat pump is fitted as standard, which aims to heat the cabin in cold weather with minimal impact on the battery’s range.
One disappointing statistic is the Urban Cruiser’s maximum DC charging speed, which is just 67 kW, resulting in a 10% to 80% DC charge taking around 45 minutes for 61kWh models. The version with the 49kWh battery is even worse, at just 53 kW, which is far too slow. The Urban Cruiser also supports up to 11kW AC charging.
The Toyota Battery Care Programme guarantees that a minimum 70 per cent of the unit’s original capacity is maintained over 10 years or 650,000 miles of driving (subject to an annual battery health check).
Toyota Urban Cruiser trim levels and prices are Icon (£29,995), Design (£33,495) and Excel (£35,745). Our Excel-trim test car had the option of Premium Bi-tone Paint (£1,265) (noting that white paint and dark wheels are a photographer’s worst nightmare – just saying…).
The Toyota Urban Cruiser offers some fun thanks to its compact dimensions and its relatively direct driving experience. However if you’re looking for more performance, rather than the front-wheel drive model, you’ll need to opt for the all-wheel drive variant, which Toyota doesn’t offer. That means you’ll need to go for the Suzuki e-Vitara ALLGRIP-e, which is essentially the same car, but this Vitara version is also capable off-road and in the snow. The Urban Cruiser’s electric driving range of 264 miles is relatively practical, but its maximum DC charging rate of 67 kW is too slow, and the version with the 49kWh battery is even worse, at just 53 kW. Interior space, with the sliding rear seats, is practical for this size of car, but the infotainment system isn’t as slick as some rivals, and the handbrake desperately needs an auto release function. The Toyota Urban Cruiser is awarded a Green Car Guide rating of 7 out of 10.
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