New Toyota C-HR Concept previews the Hybrid counterpoint to the electric Toyota bZ Compact

Toyota reveals a concept version of a new C-HR due in 2024 which will feature Hybrid and PHEV powertrains and batteries built in Europe.

It’s six years since the Toyota C-HR first went on sale in the UK as a funky crossover designed to mop up sales from cars like the Nissan Qashqai, and it turned out to be a properly able Toyota we really quite liked. 

But, just like every other car maker, Toyota is now busy rolling out EVs so, when the electric bZ Compact Concept turned up last month looking rather like an electric C-HR, we did wonder if the C-HR’s time was almost up in its current form.

Well, it is, but only because there’s a new C-HR on the way, previewed by this C-HR Concept (above).

Unlike many car makers which seem happy to dump successful models to dive headlong into EVs, Toyota is taking a balanced view and delivering new hybrid models too, and this new C-HR is a good example, delivering an ICE-based update for the current C-HR with a choice of Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid powertrains.

Toyota is not yet saying what sits under the new C-HR, but it seems likely it’ll be a lot of what underpins the new Prius (which the UK isn’t getting), which will mean a plug-in hybrid powertrain with 221bhp from its 2.0-litre petrol engine and electric motor, with a 13.6kWh battery giving real-world EV range of over 40 miles.

Expect more detail and specs for the new C-HR to arrive in the coming months and a reveal of the production version of the new C-HR late in 2023.