Toyota Urban Cruiser – ticking the boxes

Toyota is synonymous with reliability and for good reason. At the time the Japanese marques arrived in the UK, it was reliability, among other things, that made them popular with buyers. Toyota and its premium Lexus brand are regularly featured in the top ten of Which? surveys. Which?

The new Toyota Urban Cruiser is a brand new vehicle, but its name is not. Since 2008 Toyota and Suzuki has had a partnership which resulted in a variety of Urban Cruiser models. The new Urban Cruiser as well as the e-Vitara model are essentially the same car.

Priced from €38,170/£32,960 there are three trim levels – Icon, Design & Excel – with a 49kwh or 61kwh battery, 142 bhp and 172 bhp respectively, and either a 106kw or 128kw electric motor driving the front wheels.

The Urban Cruiser offers a lot of standard features, including automatic lights and wipers. It also has adaptive cruise control, parking sensors in front and back, automatic door mirrors, air conditioning with high beam assistance, rear privacy glasses, an auto dimming view mirror, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto.

The smaller 49 kwh will give you 342km/213miles, while the larger 61kwh gives you 424km/264miles. With the larger battery, you can expect to get a range of approximately 354km/220miles in real world driving depending on how and where your drive. According to the real-world driving range, it is likely that the smaller 49kwh version would be best suited for city cars or urban vehicles.

Urban Cruiser has a good layout, but the interior is a bit sombre. There are no real highlights. It’s of a good quality with comfortable seating and a very decent specification, but having potentially paid circa €40,000/£35,000 (excluding any discounts) for the top-of-the-range Excel version I’d feel a little underwhelmed.

The Urban Cruiser is still a practical vehicle, but it’s not for those who are car enthusiasts. The Urban Cruiser is a good choice for those who don’t like cars but need a reliable family vehicle to get them from A to B, or on the way home after school, and even occasionally longer runs.  Reliability and refinement, plus smoothness and a 10-year guarantee if your car is serviced by a Toyota dealer. It’s difficult to argue against!

Fascinating facts at a glance

• Model: Toyota Urban Cruiser Excel
• Engine: Electric motor 128kw, battery 61kwh
• Gears: Automatic
• Price: €40,773/£34,925 excluding any discounts
• Performance: 0-100kph/62mph 8.7 seconds, Maximum speed 149kph/93mph
• Range: 424km/Driving style and environment can affect the 264 mile range.
• Emissions: 0 g/km

Model tested is UK specification and may differ in terms of equipment and price on other markets