Electric Toyota Highlander Coming Soon to the Roads

Toyota continues to dominate the SUV market, and the Toyota RAV4 is once again the world’s best-selling model.

Behind it, the most popular Toyota SUVs are the Highlander and Grand Highlander. However, there is a noticeable trend that buyers increasingly prefer the larger Grand Highlander, so in light of this, Toyota announced it will consolidate the production of electric vehicles at its plant in Georgetown, Kentucky.

This decision includes adding a new assembly line, which will free up capacity for the Grand Highlander and make it easier to meet the high demand.

Previous plans foresaw that the new electric SUV would be produced at the plant in Princeton, Indiana, but according to Automotive News, production of this EV model will be moved to Kentucky by 2028.

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This change in production location is significant because, in addition to the mentioned EV, a smaller three-row electric SUV is also expected to be produced in Kentucky, which should arrive as early as the first quarter of 2026.

Here lies the opportunity for the Highlander to step out of the shadow of its bigger brother and build its own identity in the electric vehicle market. Realizing that its naming strategy for electric vehicles was confusing, Toyota has already renamed the bZ4X to the simpler bZ for 2026, reports Autoblog.

Because of this, it is expected that the upcoming three-row EV, which was originally supposed to be called bZ5X, will also be renamed.

According to rumors, the name Highlander is reserved precisely for this smaller, lighter electric model with three rows of seats. Although Toyota has not officially confirmed the details about the naming and marketing of these EV models, they emphasized that they "plan to produce two brand new three-row battery electric SUVs in the US," adding that "both vehicles will now be assembled in Toyota Kentucky."

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It is expected that production of the model named Highlander will start earlier, so it could arrive in showrooms at the beginning of 2026, meaning its unveiling is very likely before the end of this year.

The new Highlander BEV will be one of seven new electric vehicles that Toyota plans to launch in the US by mid-2027, following already announced models like the bZ, bZ Woodland, and the 2026 CH-R.