Toyota Delays Highlander EV Launch For A Second Time

Toyota’s American-built three-row electric SUV has hit another roadblock.

The all-electric Toyota Highlander EV, originally scheduled to begin production this fall at Toyota's assembly facility in Georgetown, Kentucky, has been smacked with a second production delay. Manufacturing is now scheduled to begin in January 2027 "at the earliest," according to a report from Nikkei, pushing the vehicle's market arrival into mid-2027 or later.

The fresh delay comes roughly two months after Toyota first pushed the assembly start date back by eight weeks to perform "final adjustments" and pre-production fine-tuning. That minor bump has now snowballed, with Toyota reportedly notifying its regional supplier network of the revised timelines.

Quality Checks Cited Over Market Demand

A spokesperson for Toyota clarified that the extra development time is dedicated to final vehicle validation and quality assurance checks before running up full-scale assembly line operations.

Toyota claims the production delay is entirely unrelated to morphing electric vehicle sentiment across North America. While overall U.S. EV market growth experienced a 21-percent year-over-year shrink in the second quarter, Toyota's own regional EV sales continue to grow.

Of note, Toyota has extended assembly of the current gas-powered and hybrid Highlander models through at least December 2026 to bridge the gap at its Kentucky facility.

Platform Impact on Subaru and Lexus Siblings

The Highlander EV is built on a dedicated electric architecture and will share an assembly line with two platform-mate SUVs: the Subaru Getaway and the Lexus TZ.

While Toyota has not formally announced changes to those models, moving the Kentucky facility's EV retooling schedule to early 2027 makes launch delays for the Subaru and Lexus versions highly likely.

Become an AutoGuide insider. Get the latest from the automotive world first by subscribing to our newsletterhere.