The Toyota Corolla sedan has been the butt of more “beige” jokes than you can count, but just like a Big Mac, one can’t argue with numbers. The Corolla has been the best-selling car in Canada, at least for a couple years, and worldwide it’s the top selling nameplate ever, with over 50 million served. This 12th-gen car, launched in 2019 goes a long way in dashing some of the Corolla’s stigma as being a boring appliance; it’s quite stylish and drives well. For 2025, the base L model starts just under $24k, but here we’re testing the most expensive Corolla sedan – the Hybrid XSE AWD that carries an MSRP of $36,355, and with fees and taxes will crest $40,000.
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This top XSE trim gets 18-inch wheels, blacked-out grille treatment, rear diffuser, sport-themed rocker panels, and color-keyed spoiler. The sporty cues continue inside with red stripes on the seats, red stitching, and red seats belts. On seeing it for the first time, my wife said, “This is a Corolla? It looks like a sports car.”
What powers the Toyota Corolla Hybrid?
The 2025 Toyota Corolla Hybrid AWD runs with a 1.8L Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder hooked to a continuously variable transmission. There’s an electric motor assisting the front wheels and another electric motor driving the rear wheels. Combined output is 138 horsepower and 156 lb-ft of torque. While not exactly a rocket, the Corolla is certainly perky enough around town and it settles into a reasonably quiet cruiser.
Typical with CVT-equipped cars, the Corolla Hybrid gets noisy when pushed as the CVT has the four-pot winding up and droning away while the car plays catch up. Selecting Sport mode brings some extra zing to the drive experience. Of course nobody is buying a hybrid Corolla for thrills. The real thrill with this car is putting it in Eco mode, trying to eke out every kilometre of electric-only driving, and watch the gas gauge… not move.
The 2025 Toyota Corolla Hybrid ZSE AWD on its 18-inch wheels is rated at 5.0 L/100 km city, 5.7 highway and 5.3 combined. During my frozen wintry week behind the wheel it retuned a respectable 5.9 L/100 km.
How does the Toyota Corolla Hybrid drive?
Toyota’s proven TNGA platform feels solid and imbues the Corolla with responsive handling and accurate steering. I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun this little sedan was on my back road test loop – even on this winter rubber. It just kinda hunkers down and gets on with it, carving the corners with fine balance and body control. Credit front Macpherson struts, rear multilink suspension and the rear electric motor that adds a bit of torque vectoring. The ride quality is good too.
Interior features in the hybrid Corolla
So what do we get in this top trim XSE? The infotainment screen gets upgraded from 8 inches to 11.5 inches, there’s a phone charging pad, sunroof, the rear seats are heated, and for your listening pleasure a pretty decent JBL audio system. The driver gets a 7-inch colour gauge display. The screens are sharp and Toyota’s infotainment system works well, with the Apple CarPlay showing a nice layout. Additionally, blurt “Hey Toyota” at any point (see what you started Mercedes?) and the disembodied voice in the Corolla’s dash is ready to do your bidding. Which she does very well.
Front passengers enjoy plenty of headroom and legroom. The 8-way power driver’s seat in breathable SofTex is comfy and provided long distance support for my six-foot frame. Passengers get 4-way manual adjustment. Rear seat room is fine for two adults, but there’s more space to be found in a Honda Civic or Hyundai Elantra. The Corolla Hybrid’s trunk measures 371L, less than the Hyundai Elantra Hybrid (402L) and Honda Civic Hybrid (419L).
Humans with opposing thumbs will appreciate the plethora of physical controls in here – rocker switches for seat heat, rotary controls for temp and fan speed, and a row of buttons for other HVAC functions. Unfortunately, with this 11.5-inch screen upgrade the volume knob gets ditched for up and down buttons. The shifter is of the old fashioned mechanical PRNDL variety.
It’s a nicely designed cabin, and reasonably well put together with plenty of soft touch surfaces and posh stitching on the dash. That said, it won’t be keeping anyone awake at night at Mazda, or even Honda, and there are few economy car holdovers like single zone climate control and a manually operated interior mirror.
How safe and reliable is the Toyota Corolla?
All Toyota Corolla Hybrid models come with Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 that includes adaptive cruise control, auto high beams, lane departure alert, front collision mitigation with pedestrian and cyclist detection, road sign assist, blind spot monitoring, and lane tracing assist. The IIHS gives the 2023 Corolla 4-door sedan a Top Safety Pick rating and the NHTSA awards the Corolla its top 5-Star rating.
The Corolla’s adaptive cruise is generally a smooth operator, avoiding abrupt acceleration and deceleration events when embroiled in the traffic hell we endure here in the GTA. And while the semi-autonomous lane centring works well, you’ll only get a few seconds of hands-free driving before being told to get your paws back on the wheel.
Toyota has a stellar track record when it comes to reliability, and having been in the hybrid business longer than just about anybody, it is safe to assume the Corolla Hybrid AWD will fare well. Consumer Reports predicts the “2024 Corolla Hybrid will be more reliable than the average new car.” The 2024 J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study had Toyota second from top (behind Lexus) with a Problems Per 100 Vehicles (PP100) score of 147, much better than the industry average of 190.
Final thoughts
With an MSRP of $36,355 ($39,250 with fees and destination charge) this 2025 Corolla Hybrid XSE AWD offers decent value. The big question here is, why not go for the Toyota Prius XLE AWD that is only about 1,800 bucks more? The Prius is faster, more fuel efficient, roomier, has more cargo room, and is one of the prettiest cars on the road. Yes, I’m saying this about a Toyota Prius. What the Prius XLE trim level doesn’t have is the big screen and some of the Corolla XSE’s amenities. To get all the good stuff in a Prius AWD, we’re looking at the Limited with starting price of about $47k with fees and destination.
The Prius has moved upmarket, leaving the Corolla Hybrid models, of which there are four, to occupy a lower price range. Good news for those in the market for a four-season fuel sipper, and I will happily go out on a limb here and say the 2025 Corolla Corolla Hybrid XSE AWD is a pretty stylin’ rig. Oh, and it’s not available in beige.
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