The All-Electric Toyota C-HR EV Really Is Coming To The US

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In normal times, the launch of a new electric vehicle into the US market would be, well, just another EV launch. After all, drivers in search of a zero-emission ride can already pick from more than 100 models available in the US, including plug-in hybrids as well as 100% battery-operated vehicles. Nevertheless, Toyota plans to launch its new all-electric C-HR crossover in the US this year, going mano-a-mano against industry leader Tesla while blithely ignoring the White House war on EVs, too.

The Toyota C-HR EV: Why The US, Why Now?

Toyota sold more than 1 million hybrid units of the C-HR crossover in Europe between its launch in 2016 and 2024, achieving a notable sales record among first-time Toyota buyers along the way. The enthusiastic response of new Toyota buyers is significant because drivers tend to stick with a trusted brand for their next car.

“Customers responded positively with more than half citing the car’s styling as their principal reason for purchase, contributing to the Toyota C-HR becoming Toyota’s best-performing model in attracting new customers to the brand for the first time,” Toyota reported in December of 2024.

Toyota has taken plenty of hits for clinging to hybrid technology, but the success of the C-HR in Europe indicates that new — and potentially, repeating — customers will choose an electrified vehicle when the right one comes along. That first-time factor helped tip the balance in favor of launching a full BEV version, the C-HR+, in Europe this year (for the record, Toyota prefers BEV to distinguish its full battery EVs from its fuel cell and hybrid lineup).

In the US, it was a different story. Toyota discontinued US sales of the original C-HR in 2022, with some analysts attributing the decision to intra-brand competition from the Corolla Cross hybrid.

The Corolla Cross is still in there swinging at the US auto market, and last fall Toyota beefed up its Corolla manufacturing footprint in the US. That means an all-electric C-HR will have a tough row to hoe stateside, particularly now that the $7,500 federal EV tax credit is kaput.

Nevertheless, in May, Toyota issued an elaborate press release confirming delivery of the new, all-electric C-HR to the US market in 2026. For months after first announcement it was cricket chirps from the Toyota press room, leading some (raises hand) to wonder if the company was going to backpedal on its plans for a re-launch of the C-HR in the US. Not at all. Over the weekend a representative from the company confirmed via email to CleanTechnica that pricing details for US sales of the all-electric Toyota C-HR are expected later in January, followed by delivery to dealers in March.

Interested? Sign up for email or text updates from Toyota here.

The 800-Pound Tesla In The Room

Of course, no story about EVs and the US market is complete without a mention of industry leader Tesla. Despite the company’s spiraling brand reputation and accompanying drop in sales in the US and other key markets, as recently as last summer sales of the Tesla Model Y and Model 3 far outpaced any other EV in the US.

That gap may shrink, if Toyota has its way. As anticipated, the premature evaporation of the federal EV tax credit on September 30, 2025, was followed by an industry-wide EV sales crash, motivating some US automakers to pull back on their near-term electrification plans to focus on hybrids and ICE vehicles. Still, Toyota appears confident that drivers will respond to the right EV at the right time, enabling the new C-HR to elbow into the space vacated by Tesla.

Are they on to something? Maybe! To an overwhelming degree, most EV owners plan to get another EV the next time they buy another car. In years past, another Tesla was the only widely available option in the US, but those days are long gone, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s outsized influence on the Tesla brand keeps growing with every fresh incident.

To cite the most recent example, on January 4, Musk let everyone know he had a “lovely dinner” with the President and First Lady on the evening of January 3 even as the full impact of Trump’s Venezuela operation was yet to play out, indicating that his on-again, off-again relationship with Trump is back on, bigly. Musk also posted comments supportive of the Venezuela operation on his social media platform X (formerly Twitter), somehow skipping over the part where Trump plans to “run” Venezuela as a petro-colony of the US.

Hooray For The Oil — Wait, What?

Oh the irony, it burns. The vehicle electrification movement has been propelled, for the most part, by the premise that the petroleum economy is bad — bad for the planet, bad for public health, and ultimately bad for the global economy, too. In recent years, the advantages of EVs on performance, convenience, and cost have also begun to surface, but kicking fossil fuels out of the transportation sector remains a front-and-center goal. How Musk expects to turn Tesla’s downward sales slide around by publicly supporting the exploitation of Venezuelan oil reserves is a mystery wrapped in an enigma, but here we are.

“The US president wants American oil firms to pile billions of dollars into the South American country, which has the largest crude oil reserves on the planet, to mobilise the largely untapped resource,” BBC News reminded everyone on January 5.

Meanwhile, Toyota is not the only automaker seeking to pick up the EV slack from Tesla. Newcomers Slate Auto and Telo Trucks are moving forward with their EV plans, as is the Japanese truck maker ZM Trucks, a branch of ZO Motors. Another newbie ready to launch is the Scout Motors branch of Volkswagen. Though, most of the company’s reservations are for hybrid vehicles with range extenders.

Keep an eye on GM’s Cadillac business, too. The Costco Auto Program makes EV incentives available to its members, and they just emailed CleanTechnica with news about their new Cadillac EV offerings. Available through March 2 of this year, an incentive of $1,250 is available to “Executive” members, with other members eligible for a $1,000 incentive, along with any available manufacturer incentives for the following models:

• 2025, 2026 OPTIQ
• 2025, 2026 LYRIQ
• 2026 LYRIQ-V
• 2026 VISTIQ

Interested? Visit this link for more details.

Photo: Undeterred by the loss of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit, Toyota is launching the new all-electric C-HR crossover in the US this year (cropped and lightened, courtesy of Toyota).