Toyota Hybrid towing: your questions answered

As part of Toyota’s desire to engineer greater driving appeal into its cars, most current generation Toyota Hybrid models have the capacity to tow trailers and caravans. This might lead owners to wonder how about hybrid towing and how much their car is able to tow.

The regulations surrounding towing can be quite complicated to understand. So while this post is not designed to explain all the rules on this subject, we hope it clears some confusion by supplying straightforward answers to important, frequently asked questions.

Within this post we have also supplied relevant links to official government pages, related associations, and Toyota resources.

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1) Hybrid towing – Which Toyota Hybrid models can tow?

The latest generation Yaris, Corolla, Toyota C-HR, RAV4 and Prius.

Moving upwards in towing ability, the latest Yaris has a towing capacity of 450kg. The Prius and Toyota C-HR share a recommended towing capacity of 725kg for both a braked or unbraked trailer. You can read more about this in our special feature on towing with a Prius. Meanwhile, all Corolla models – Hatchback, Touring Sports and Saloon – have an unbraked capacity of 450kg and a braked towing capacity of 750kg.

All RAV4 models have a legal towing capacity of 750kg for unbraked trailers. But with regard to braked trailers (where the trailer has its own braking system), the front-wheel drive RAV4 has a recommended towing capacity of 800kg and the all-wheel drive RAV4 has a 1,650kg capacity. Straddling the two is the new RAV4 Plug-in, which has a braked trailer maximum set at a 1,500kg.

For more information on how legal towing capacities are calculated, please see question four.

2) Hybrid towing – Can I tow with a Toyota Camry?

The current generation Camry has not been homologated to tow in the United Kingdom.

Some hybrid Camry models in other markets have been specially configured to tow light loads but these models are not available in the UK. Their cooling systems are different and the components cannot be retro-fitted to UK-spec cars.

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3) Hybrid towing – What am I allowed to tow?

It depends on when you passed your driving test, the weight of your car and what you are towing.

You can get the latest rules and restrictions on the government services and information website.

4) What is my car legally allowed to tow?

The figure authorities use to enforce the maximum towing capacity of a vehicle can be found on the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) plate. This goes for all cars, not just those capable of hybrid towing.

Not all vehicles have been homologated to tow, but those that have will display either three or four sets of figures on the VIN plate. Reading from top to bottom, these will be the gross vehicle weight (the maximum mass of the vehicle including occupants, fuel and load), the gross vehicle train weight (the combined maximum mass of the vehicle and trailer) and the maximum loads across the front and rear axles respectively.

In order to create a recommended maximum towing capacity, vehicle manufacturers usually deduct the gross vehicle weight from the gross vehicle train weight.

For more advice on your specific Toyota model and hybrid towing, please follow this link to the My Toyota site where you download a copy of the owner’s manual for your car.

See more: Towing the line with the new Toyota Prius
Further information: National Trailer & Towing Association
Further information: AA guidance on towing

392 comments

  1. 1. Can you please clarify if the Toyota RAV 4 Hybrid can tow a trailer for camping or caravan?
    2. What is the capacity it can tow please for either a camping trailer and for CARAVAN?

  2. Hi Petra,
    Both front- and four-wheel drive RAV4 Hybrid models have a legal towing capacity of 750kg for unbraked trailers. With regards to braked trailers (where the trailer has its own braking system), the front-wheel drive RAV4 Hybrid has a recommended towing capacity of 800kg and the four-wheel drive RAV4 Hybrid has a recommended towing capacity of 1,650kg.
    These weights are the same for caravans. It does not not matter what you are towing, the weight still applies.

  3. I’m buying an Auris Touring Sports hybrid and want to put a tow bar on the back so I can put a bike rack on it. I will not be towing. Is there a towbar suitable?

  4. Hi Steve,
    Thanks for your query. We suggest purchasing a bike holder bracket with a non-towing tow ball (PW962-02005) and then the bike holder to fix on the bracket (PZ41B-00500-00). These part numbers are for models November 2016 onwards, so if your vehicle is purchased second hand, the part may not fit. Alternatively you could purchase a roof rack. Hope this helps.

  5. Have an 66 plate auris hybrid,. I need to fit a towhitch 4 bike rack to take the kids mountain biking,. Never will tow, do I have to sell it to get a 1.2t that is type approved, what would happen if I fitted a towhitch?

      1. Hi Martyn,
        We’d advise talking to your dealer about adding more bikes to your vehicle. They would be able to advise on a four bike bike rack.

      2. Hi just swapped the hybrid for a touring sport 1.2 so I can use the 4 bike carrier.

      3. Hi Martyn,
        We’re glad you’ve managed to sort out the problem. Is there anything else we can help you with?

  6. Hello, I am looking at buying either a 2015 or 2016 Auris Touring Sports Hybrid and am a little confused about towing. I currently live and will be buying in Germany, can I tow with either? I mean tow a trailer, caravan etc?
    Regards,
    Matthew

    1. Hi Matthew,
      Thank you for your comment. We do not advise that any of the Auris’s with the hybrid engine to tow anything, the standard engines have a towing capacity but the hybrids don’t. Hope this helps.

  7. Hi, thanks for getting back to me, Just to be clear, does Toyota “advise” that the hybrid Auris does not tow anything or is Toyota saying that the hybrid Auris is not able to / can not / must not tow anything?

    If it is not able to / must not tow anything, why not?

    It seems a big negative to not be able to tow anything at all.

    If it is advising only from Toyota is it for anywhere in the world or just the UK, would it be any different in Germany for example?

    1. Hi Matthew,
      We don’t advise towing anything on this car, this is as we don’t test any of the 3rd generation hybrids for towing, so we have no supporting data to what they could or couldn’t tow, this will be the same for across all of Europe. Hope this helps.

      1. So why don’t you test them, would make life a lot easier for peple wanting to buy a Hybrid. I have had Toyotas for the last 20 years, I am now actively looking at other maunufacturers for the this reason. If you can homulgate a C-HR, RAV4 and Prius why not an Auris and Yaris, both of which have the same petrol engine in the Non Hybrid as they do in the Hybrid, my only conclusion could be the lack torque in electric mode when ypu pull away. Is that it?

      2. Hi Steve,

        Thanks for getting in touch. In order to optimise reliability, towing was prohibited in 3rd generation hybrids. However, we have taken customer feedback on board and our new Corolla and RAV4 hybrids feature many benefits of the fourth-generation system, including improved responsiveness, more linear acceleration, fuel efficiency alongside the ability to tow. The Corolla has a towing capacity of 750kg, with the AWD RAV4 having a towing capacity of 1650kg (braked).

        Thanks.

    1. This blog is specifically saying you can tow with the prius hybrid, is it not? Are you saying you cannot tow with it?

  8. Hi
    I have just bought a 2014 RAV4, it has a Toyota swan neck tow bar fitted,is it possible to convert this to a detachable ball? The car is very tight in the garage and every inch counts

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