Yes, electrified. Yes, a hybrid. Yes, the top trim. But no, not amazing mpgs. . .

By Gary S. Vasilash

The people who operate the Toyota shopping site know that while EVs may have lost luster, in the context of gas prices that have shot up significantly as of late, there is a bit more interest in not to have to pump so many dollars into one’s tank.

So where they can—and there are a lot of where’s there—they label vehicles as “Hybrid EV.”

Even though Toyota has been offering hybrids in the US for 26 years—yes, the Prius was launched in 2000—there are probably those who are still wondering just what a hybrid is.

So by calling them a “Hybrid EV” there might be some benefit at the moment.

But I would argue that they are actually making the wrong move, just as I thought Toyota did when the infotainment screens in a Prius would focus on the flow of energy from the engine to the wheels and the wheels to the battery: ideally people simply drive and let the propulsion system work behind the scenes. I really don’t care how the computer I am writing this on does what it is doing, and I suspect you don’t care how the website you are looking at right now puts words and images on your screen.

The point is, the Crown Platinum is a hybrid.

Yes, it has a fuel filler neck just like on probably every vehicle you’ve ever driven.

No, it doesn’t have any place to plug it in.

It has an engine, a 264-hp turbocharged 2.4-liter four. But it also has supplemental electric motors in the front and the back and it even has a nickel-metal hydride battery for purposes of propulsion.

So the Crown Platinum—yes, the top-of-the-line—produces, with the engine and the motors, 340 hp and 400.4 lb-ft of torque. What’s more, it has full-time electronic all-wheel drive (which basically means that the vehicle figures out when all the wheels need to be powered and when they don’t).

But here’s something that is somewhat non-hybridesque in the minds of those who think about hybrids: the Crown Platinum is not exactly the sort of thing that is going to keep you from visiting gas stations with some frequency: It doesn’t provide the sort of fuel efficiency that a “hybrid” brings to mind.

It has an estimated fuel economy of 29/32/30 mpg (city/highway/combined).

By way of comparison, a 2026 Toyota Camry XSE AWD—the least fuel-efficient Camry (all Camrys are hybrids)—returns 44/43/44 mpg.

And know that all of the other Crown trims–XLE and Limited—have estimated fuel economies of 42/41/41 mpg.

But they aren’t as powerful as the Platinum, having a combined system horsepower of 236, not 340, in large part because the internal combustion engine is different, as is the transmission (the Platinum has a six-speed automatic and the others an electronically controlled CVT).

The MSRP difference is notable, too, as the entry XLE starting at $41,440 and the Platinum $54,990.

But the Platinum brings with it more stuff than just a more powerful powertrain.

Like an Adaptive Variable Suspension that uses variable oil pressure in the shock absorbers to minimize pitch when going into a turn at speed as well as (and this is probably more important for people who are going to buy a hybrid sedan) attenuate some of the bumps on bumpy surfaces. There is also Active Cornering Assist, again to help when making turns by reducing understeer.

While this is a feature that was once talked about more, it has an Advanced Park system that can perform hands-off parking, parallel or perpendicular.

There is a 10-inch head-up display. There are standard 21-inch wheels. A hands-free power trunk (yes, a regular trunk with 15.2-cubic feet of cargo space).

The Crown is an interesting sedan, one that replaced the Avalon in the U.S. market.

In the Japanese market the Crown badge was the flagship model (there is one above it: Century, which was a niche model compared to the Crown; Century is now being established as a brand above Lexus). As the flagship, it has nice materials and tech, so know the Crown Platinum ticks the boxes in that space.

Still, there’s the 27% reduction in fuel efficiency between the Platinum and its other trim mates, which makes me wonder.