Modern electric vehicles often feature electric door handles, with many designs serving as aesthetic statements, technological showcases, and sometimes even frustrating puzzles. Increasingly, these systems rely on electronic latches that only function when the vehicle has sufficient power, potentially posing safety risks. The new Toyota Highlander EV appears poised to offer a fresh solution.
Within the recessed door handle is a small lever. Roughly the size of a stamp, it features a clear illustration indicating it's a component for opening the door, designed to be pulled by someone outside the vehicle.
Adjacent to this is a removable section for the keyhole. To access the electric SUV in the event of a power loss, one simply needs to insert the key, pull the lever, and open the door.
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The unlocking lever of the Toyota Highlander EV. *Photo: Stephen Rivers* |
Toyota clarified to Carscoops that the system operates via a two-step process: A single pull of the lever unlocks the door, while a second pull manually opens it.
The interior door handles mirror those found in Lexus models. Users can press a button to release the electronic latch or pull it to manually release the latch. This is just one of the safety features integrated into the new Highlander EV.
Recently launched on 10/2, the Toyota Highlander EV is a new electric SUV largely unrelated to the current Highlander, apart from its name. The Japanese automaker adopted this naming convention instead of the bZ or BZ designations used for its recent electric models.
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The Highlander electric SUV features recessed door handles rather than completely flush ones. *Photo: Stephen Rivers* |
The 2027 Highlander EV will be Toyota's first battery electric vehicle produced in the US. Production is expected to commence in the second half of 2026 at the Georgetown, Kentucky plant, which currently manufactures the Camry sedan. Batteries will be supplied from Toyota's new 13,9 billion USD plant, set to open in late 2025 in Liberty, North Carolina.
The vehicle will be available in two versions: a front-wheel drive (FWD) XLE with a 77,0 kWh battery offering a range of approximately 400 km as the standard model. A higher-tier all-wheel drive (AWD) XLE will feature the same battery, providing an estimated range of 422 km. Buyers can also opt for a larger 95,8 kWh battery to extend the range up to approximately 492 km.
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