When did existence stop being enough? If you’re a car shopper who’s willing to break the bank, you’re currently spoiled for choice if you want a soft-roady crossover that looks like an off-roady SUV, an off-roady SUV that drives like a soft-roady crossover, a mainstream car with luxury aspirations, a luxury car with sporting aspirations, a performance car disguised as a luxury car, or a luxury car disguised as a pickup truck. However, what if you just want a car that’s good at being a car?
Something that’s not too big but not too small, not wildly expensive but not a penalty box either. Something that offers all-wheel-drive for dreary winter days when the snow plough’s blocked your driveway with a few inches of hard-pack but isn’t trying to be an SUV [Ed note: I’m just gonna keep it Canadian and not change plough to plow, it’s fun – Pete]. Oh, and make it a hybrid while we’re at it, because you don’t want to buy another new car until 2040 and fuel savings would be appreciated. The Toyota Corolla Hybrid AWD seems laser-targeted towards those who just want a car, and it makes a rather good argument against needing anything more.
[Full disclosure: Toyota Canada let me borrow this Corolla Hybrid AWD for a week so long as I kept the shiny side up, returned it with a full tank of fuel and reviewed it.]
The Basics
Price: $26,360 base including freight, $30,810 loaded ($30,350 Canadian base, $38,115 Canadian as-tested)
Engine: 1.8-liter 16-valve twin-cam inline-four.
Battery Pack: 1.3 kWh lithium-ion.
Combined Output: 138 horsepower.
Fuel Economy: 47 MPG city, 41 MPG highway, 44 MPG combined (5.0 L/100km city, 5.7 L/100km highway, 5.3 L/100km combined)
Body Style: Compact sedan.
Why Does It Exist?
Here’s a little fact you can bore your friends with: The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car nameplate in the world. Nifty, right? With such widespread popularity, it only makes sense to build a hybrid variant, and Toyota’s hybrid all-wheel-drive system is simple enough to implement, so here you go. A compact, reasonably priced hybrid sedan with a little something extra for snow belt residents is such a good idea, you almost wonder why it wasn’t built sooner.
How Does It Look?
It’s hard to believe that the twelfth-generation Corolla sedan is now on its sixth model year in America because it still looks smart. It’s rounded, compact, and modern, and although the front end and rear bumper on the sporty trims are a bit overly aggressive for a compact sedan, I can’t help but get the sense they’ll actually age just fine. The rotund, cab-forward optimism just overpowers any hints of visual aggression, and makes the Corolla look bubbly in a positive way. I dig it.
How About The Inside?
Sliding behind the wheel of the 2025 Corolla Hybrid AWD, you’re greeted with a cabin that’s more basic than in most competitors and yet still complete. You have almost all the physical controls you could want, a slim dashboard fascia, enough soft-touch materials and stitched flourishes to add a little something to the cabin without posturing as premium, and solid build quality. Instead of trying too hard to be minimalist, it’s just pleasantly simple. The learning curve is remarkably shallow if you’re coming from an older car, and that’s an underrated quality in a vehicle.
As for space and comfort, the rear seat on the sedan is both more spacious than in the hatchback and properly comfortable for adults, although the front seats don’t offer as much thigh support as the ones you get in a Honda Civic or Mazda 3. Although the steering column telescopes, the wheel’s still a bit close to the dashboard on the column’s most extended setting, so this might not be the best car for long-legged drivers. Outward visibility is quite good though, and that’s a lost art these days.
How’s It Drive?
Unsurprisingly, the 138-horsepower Corolla Hybrid AWD isn’t quick, but it’ll keep up with traffic no problem and settle down into a nice, quiet freeway cruise once you reach 60 mph. As for the all-wheel-drive system, it’s not exactly what you’d get in a Subaru or an all-wheel-drive Mazda 3. The engine isn’t connected to the rear wheels, a 40-horsepower electric motor on the rear axle does all the work. Does it still work in the snow? Yeah, with winter tires, it works well enough to get you going without wheelspin.
As for handling, the steering is predictably light and a bit vague, but it’s also quicker than a chipmunk on 5 Hour Energy. Combine that with a stiff body structure and well-tuned suspension, and the Corolla Hybrid AWD feels eager to change direction, chipper in a way that many compact cars aren’t these days. Add in perfectly comfortable ride quality, and the result is a reasonably priced hybrid that won’t bore you when the roads get twisty or grow excessively tiring when freeways get monotonous. Well done, Toyota.
Does It Have The Electronic Crap I Want?
Almost all of it. Every new Corolla gets wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, radar-guided adaptive cruise control, LED headlights, lane-keep assistance, four USB-C ports, and single-zone automatic climate control. This particular fully loaded trim also gets a JBL eight-speaker stereo that’s perfectly dandy for the compact car segment, a digital instrument cluster, heated seats, and a larger 10.5-inch touchscreen infotainment system (an eight-inch unit is standard) that annoyingly, deletes the volume knob. That’s an electronic thing I’d like to still have.
Three Things To Know About The 2025 Toyota Corolla Hybrid AWD
- It starts at a rather sensible $26,360 in America, or $30,350 in Canada.
- The all-wheel-drive system’s meant more for security and less for snowy heroics.
- A combined fuel economy rating of 44 MPG is pretty good, yeah?
Does It Fulfill Its Purpose?
If you stick near the cheap and cheerful end of the model range, absolutely. Here’s a quality-feeling, economical, well-priced, practical yet properly compact hybrid sedan with all the headline features you really need and the confidence of four-wheel traction for particularly slippery winter conditions. However, if you load up a Corolla Hybrid, pricing really overlaps with the much more powerful, much more luxurious Honda Civic Hybrid. Best not go HAM on the options, but how many people would?
What’s The Punctum Of The 2025 Toyota Corolla Hybrid AWD?
When it comes to being a sensible car, this thing’s a valedictorian.
(Photo credits: Thomas Hundal)
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Here’s a little fact you can bore your friends with: The Toyota Corolla
I’m not in the market for either right now but I wonder if this really makes all that much sense next to the Prius. It costs a bit more but you get more usable storage space and a significant bump in power to around 200 hrsprs combined, while also being even more fuel efficient. IMO, it also looks better but I’ll concede that is very subjective. They’re both near the same footprint too.
Probably would have been good if they quoted/compared the standard FWD base price too, I only see the AWD one. The base FWD Corolla hybrid starts around $24k, the Prius $28k (both plus $1.1-1.2k destination), and AWD is about $1400 more on both. That puts the difference between them at about $4k. For me I think the difference is worth it to spring for the Prius for the reasons you listed but would need to be a smaller delta for some people to justify it.
A lot of comments on the CVT in the Corolla. Just here to say, the 6-speed makes it a fun car around town.