Pros: long range, comfortable manners, quality interior finishing
Cons: gloomy in the back, so-so handling
Toyota C-HR+ Design
With its swoopy body and coupe-like stance, the Toyota C-HR+ is quietly handsome, albeit not hugely eye-catching. Its sweeping form means it is aerodynamically optimised, which helps with both driving range and rolling refinement, and it takes some of its styling cues from the two models it fits between in the existing product portfolio – the smaller C-HR hybrid, and the larger, all-electric bZ4X. Indeed, parked next to a regular C-HR, the new C-HR+ looks massive; it’s a lot closer to the bZ4X in terms of its scale.
Toyota C-HR+ Interior
The interior of the Toyota C-HR+ is decluttered and a good exercise in blending useful tech with a healthy degree of physical switchgear. Everything is intuitively placed and easy to operate, including the 14-inch central infotainment touchscreen with its integrated climate-control dials, and the solidity of the construction cannot be doubted. It’s just a shame everything is so grey – a bit of light-and-shade finishing would make more of the Toyota’s interesting interior architecture.
That plays into a problem for rear-seat passengers. Space in the second row of the C-HR+ is not bad at all, as there’s good kneeroom and even decent headroom too, as long as you’re not abnormally tall, but because of that pinched window shape on the outside, there’s not a lot of light filtering into the back of the Toyota. This, coupled with the 50-shades interior finishing, makes for a somewhat dark ambience in the rear seats. Even the 416-litre boot, which isn’t much smaller than that found in the larger bZ4X, isn’t quite a match for the cargo areas on some of the key rivals in the C-HR+’s class.
Toyota C-HR+ Performance & Drive
Toyota is going to a single variety of C-HR+ in Ireland, using a 77kWh battery and a single electric motor driving the front wheels for a range of up to 609km. The power output is 224hp and it can manage 0-100km/h in 7.3 seconds.
Its steering is light and a bit feel-free, so while the car is composed in the corners – there’s not much body lean – it’s not massively exciting to steer. But it has lovely refinement. The ride quality is cushioned and comfortable, and unless you’re on the very worst road surfaces then the passenger compartment is hushed and dignified.
It also looks easily capable of 400-500km in one go without having to be driven in a special energy-saving fashion or switching everything off in the cabin, although its 150kW DC-charging speed isn’t that fast by modern-day standards. Expect a 10-80 per cent battery top-up at its quickest to take up to 30 minutes as a result.
Toyota C-HR+ Pricing
Toyota has confirmed that the C-HR+ will be sold in both Sport and Premiere specifications, priced from €41,355 after all applicable incentives. That puts it at exactly the same price as the bZ4X SUV so we expect the C-HR+ will be the more popular.
Carzone Verdict
An unspectacular but highly polished effort, the Toyota C-HR+ is going to deliver in spades when it comes to showroom success. It’s an unintimidating and pleasant thing to drive, that covers ground in impressive comfort while simultaneously providing better electrical efficiency (in the real world) than its related bZ4X stablemate. Apart from a slightly gloomy atmosphere if you happen to end up sitting in the second row of the C-HR+, it does many things very, very well indeed, and nothing notably badly.