Pros

• Fuel that works very well.
• Several smart driving aids are built in.
• You can get an all-wheel drive.

Cons

• Need to be faster.
• The highway makes a lot of noise.
• There is less space in the back seat than in a lot of other small cars.
• There is not much storage room inside and a small trunk.

In what way does the hybrid Corolla move? We tried the optional all-wheel drive system on the Corolla Hybrid. The AWD’s two electric motors give it a nice boost when starting from a stop and going less than 25 mph. This makes it seem quick when driving in the city.

But as you speed up a bit, the electric boost goes away, and the noisy gas engine often seems to make more noise than power. On the Invoice Pricing test track, it took our test Corolla 9.6 seconds to go from 0 to 60 mph. This is over two seconds faster than the Prius we have now. When you’re going fast on the road, the gas engine has a hard time passing slower cars or going up hills. This is because of needing more power.

The Corolla is easy to drive on the road and feels stable when turning. Even though it’s not fun, the driving is naturally weighted and accurate. Even though it’s not meant to be a sporty car, it’s easy to drive on winding roads and in parking spots. It takes some time to get used to how soft the brake pedal is and how far it moves before you can feel it stopping.

How does the hybrid Corolla feel? The Corolla Hybrid is nice to drive, even though the engine makes noise. The seats are comfortable, and the car isn’t too loud for a small one. The car seems stable overall but has the roughest bumps, and the suspension does a good job of smoothing out small bumps and cracks in the road. The front and back chairs give good support and shape, even on longer rides.

The temperature settings in the car are easy to use and work well, but some parents may wish there were vents in the back seats. There is only one trim level with heated seats; there are no other trim levels with dual-zone temperature control or ventilated seats.

The engine makes most of the noise and vibration. You can barely hear it when you’re just driving, but it’s very loud when you’re speeding up or going up a hill. For a small car, road noise is quiet. Wind noise can be heard, but it’s not too loud.

How is the state of the inside? Even though it has some problems and the trunk doesn’t have a lot of room, this is a great car for driving. You can easily find a good driving position, and you can see very well. The front seats have enough room for even very tall drivers, but you have to stoop to get to the back seat. There is also a little space or legroom in the back. The back seat of the competing Kia Niro Hybrid is a lot bigger.

Finding and using the most-used controls is easy and won’t take your attention away from the road, but getting to the car’s settings that aren’t visible might be a pain. Some systems, like the car’s advanced driver assistance features, are managed by the information display in the gauge cluster, and you need to use the controls on the steering wheel to move between the different screens. Some also have infotainment touchscreen options that are locked in, so you might not be able to use them while you’re driving.

What’s wrong with the tech? The 8-inch screen on the Corolla looks huge for such a small car and is sleek and up-to-date. However, it can respond slowly at times. We experienced delays when using the navigation system, and we had to wait a long time for voice input to be responded to. Some other Toyota models have touchscreens that work with other car technologies, like driver aid and climate control. The Corolla’s touchscreen doesn’t.

In a moving car, it’s easy to miss some of the small virtual buttons, but the quick links to the most common tasks are helpful. Even though the app is the only way to get a remote start, the Toyota app and all of its features are useful. For example, you can use your phone as a key, use the app to find your car, and get a remote start. But each of them costs money every month to use.

The advanced driver aids in the Corolla Hybrid are fine, but we wish the blind-spot warning system could also sound an alert instead of just showing one. The technology that helps you stay in your lane is very impressive. It does this without putting in too much effort, which keeps the car in its lane. The upgraded JBL radio in our test car is also a hit. For a small car, it has great sound quality and loudness.

What’s going on with storage? There is a limited amount of storage space in the Corolla. There isn’t much storage space inside—just a small box in the center cabinet and two small pockets on the doors. The trunk is only 13.1 cubic feet, which is a lot less than the trunks of other hybrid cars but not much less than the trunks of the biggest compact sedans. Because there are some limits on the trunk opening, it will need to be changed to fit long or heavy items. The back seats can be folded down, but the releases are in an odd spot in the middle of the back seatback.

Do you have little kids? The anchor points for car seats are easy to get to, but big rear-facing seats may be hard to install because the doors and rooms are so limited. When you have a fixed backrest, you have to round the top strap over the top, which damages the headrest and makes the fit less secure.

How much fuel does it use? The combined gas mileage of the Corolla Hybrid ranges from about 50 mpg to 44 mpg for our test car, which has AWD SE trim. Some options are cheaper than front-wheel-drive cars, though none of them start at a lower price. The Corolla Hybrid is one of the most affordable all-wheel-drive hybrid cars on the market, even though Toyota seems to prefer smaller hybrid cars. The Corolla got a little more than 41 mpg on our real-world test route. This is probably because the gas engine had to work much harder going up hills and at fast speeds.

Is the Corolla Hybrid on sale for a good price? The Corolla Hybrid is one of the least expensive hybrid cars on the market, and the all-wheel-drive version is one of the least expensive AWD cars, too. Because of this, you won’t have as many benefits or a better time driving as other people. The optional leather-wrapped steering wheel is nice and comfy, and the Corolla’s interior looks great and is very modern, but there is a lot of hard plastic all over.

Toyota offers a standard warranty as well as an eight-year/100,000-mile warranty for hybrid parts and a ten-year/150,000-mile guarantee for the hybrid battery. Maintenance is also free for two years or 25,000 miles.

As a cheap car, the Corolla Hybrid feels great. The style of the inside, the electric help at low speeds, the ride, and the overall comfort all feel better. But modern tiny cars have moved past their economic roots and now offer a wider range of features and a more enjoyable driving experience. Also, modern hybrids have mostly moved past gas engines that are so jerky and expensive.

The Corolla Hybrid’s best feature is its fuel economy, so we suggest sticking with the LE base grade. It has a lot of features that come with it by default, and you can add some nice ones for a fair price with the Convenience and Premium packages.

Models of the Toyota Corolla Hybrid

There are four trim levels for the 2024 Corolla Hybrid: the base LE, the fast SE, the Nightshade (which is back), and the top-of-the-line XLE. The car has a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine and a hybrid system that together make 138 horsepower. Power is sent to the front wheels by a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT). All-wheel drive is offered on all models except the XLE.