Toyota Grand Highlander MPG Comparison: Gas vs. Hybrid vs. Hybrid Max

There are all manner of capable, family-friendly three-row SUVs to choose from these days, with one of the stronger ones being the Toyota Grand Highlander. Not only do you get spacious seating for either seven or eight passengers, but the big and boxy SUV is also available with gas-only, standard hybrid, and Hybrid Max powertrains, as well as in either front-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive configurations across LE, XLE, Limited, Nightshade, and Platinum trims.

Bottom line, buyers in the market for a Grand Highlander have lots of options. It might sound a bit complicated at first, but we’ve broken everything down for you below, and most notably we tell you which one of the grandest Highlanders makes the most sense from an mpg perspective.

Toyota Grand Highlander

Non-hybrid Grand Highlanders come with a 2.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that produces 265 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque. FWD is standard, though with AWD, the SUV will hit 60 in 8.3 seconds. Braking performance is also all right, but we’ve noted a rather squishy, long-travel pedal action in our testing, which demands more force than you might expect to stop when you need to slow things down quickly.

Finally, all grades of the gas-only Grand Highlander come in either FWD or AWD except for the Platinum, which is AWD only. Due to its and the AWD Limited’s extra features, fuel economy falls just a smidge.

Here are the non-hybrid Grand Highlander’s mileage figures:

• FWD - 21/28/24 mpg city/highway/combined
• AWD - 21/27/23 mpg city/highway/combined
• Limited or Platinum AWD - 20/26/22 mpg city/highway/combined

Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid

The hybrid Grand Highlander’s powertrain adds some welcome efficiency. As a reminder, it uses a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine with electric motors that produce a combined 245 hp. Either FWD or AWD are available, and power is routed via a continuously variable transmission (CVT). New for 2026 is the Nightshade edition, a hybrid-only appearance package that finishes various exterior features in black.

When equipped with AWD, the big SUV hustled to 60 mph in 7.5 seconds—quicker than the non-hybrid version. It’s also nice and quiet to drive, which is always a plus. As with the non-hybrid, though, the brakes could use some improvement.

The addition of the hybrid powertrain sees the Grand Highlander’s fuel efficiency increase significantly. Combined with the large, 17-plus-gallon fuel tank, the total estimated range is more than 560 miles between fill-ups.

Here are the Grand Highlander Hybrid’s mileage figures:

• FWD - 37/34/36 mpg city/highway/combined
• Limited FWD - 36/32/34 mpg city/highway/combined
• AWD - 36/32/34 mpg city/highway/combined
• Limited AWD - 35/31/33 mpg city/highway/combined

Finally, there’s also the option of the Grand Highlander with the Hybrid Max engine. This is the most powerful version of the Grand Highlander you can buy, and the powertrain is only available for either the Limited or Platinum grades.

There’s no FWD version here; AWD is standard. The setup utilizes a 2.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder and more powerful electric motors to produce an impressive output of 362 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque combined, routed through a six-speed automatic transmission. Acceleration from zero to 60 mph drops to 5.9 seconds. Both this and the gas-only Grand Highlander can tow up to 5,000 pounds.

But because everything in life is give and take, the Hybrid Max’s extra power comes at the cost of fuel efficiency. It’s still better than the gas-only models, however:

• AWD - 26/27/27 mpg city/highway/combined

Go With the Grand Highlander Hybrid for the Most Fuel Savings

If it were up to us and we didn’t need to regularly tow anything big, we’d strongly consider the standard hybrid powertrain for its quiet driving dynamics and great fuel economy. Toyota offers it across all grades, so it often simply comes down to individual preference and lifestyle.

As we said, there are a ton of midsize three-row SUVs on the market to choose from. But not all of them offer the same amount of flexibility and choice that the Toyota Grand Highlander does. And with fuel prices the way they currently are, we know fuel efficiency is at the top of most people’s minds.