2025 Toyota Camry: A New Benchmark for Hybrid Sedans

The redesigned 2025 Toyota Camry comes standard with a hybrid powertrain and is available with all-wheel drive. It doesn’t look all that much different and it doesn’t do all that much different, but it does what Toyota does best by taking a good car and making it better.

The better comes from a hybrid powertrain rated at up to 51 mpg combined for the base LE model with front-wheel drive. That’s exceptional for a car that stretches into nearly full-size proportions. It’s roomy, well-equipped, safe, historically reliable, and has plenty of pep on the go. All-wheel drive just makes it better, and makes it the only AWD hybrid sedan aside from the larger Toyota Crown.

Camry AWD gets 46 mpg

The only other all-wheel-drive vehicles without a plug that rate as high as the 2025 Toyota Camry for fuel economy are from the same family. The smaller Corolla Hybrid AWD gets 48 mpg, while the sleek but much more cramped 2024 Toyota Prius AWD rates at 54 mpg. Toyota has the hybrid market cornered and that might be underselling it.

On an 80-mile round trip from the suburbs to the city, with the air conditioning set at 60 degrees at about 8 miles of highway speed, the trip meter read 48.6 miles per gallon in 100-degree heat. No other crossover can match that kind of efficiency, and most other all-wheel-drive hybrid sedans besides the Crown can't match its space.

Camry drives with spirit

A hybrid 2.5-liter inline-4 powers every Camry, but with all-wheel drive a third motor is added to drive the rear axle, and the power bumps from 225 hp to 232 hp. (AWD costs $1,525 extra on all Camrys.)

The new hybrid system features lighter and more compact motors, and the hybrid transmission simulates an 8-speed automatic through paddle shifters that complement Normal, Eco, and Sport modes to offer a degree of variability for the driver. Even though it can’t match the power of the discontinued 301-hp V-6, the drive system doesn’t leave much to be desired. It’s responsive off the line and has plenty of gusto for passing moves.

Odd interior dash material

The tester had the light gray interior. A soft-touch fabric with a checkered pattern covers the doors and dash, but it looked and felt like renovated hotel carpeting.

Odd dash design

The material’s prominence might have been due to an odd interior design element. A panel walls off the passenger’s knees from the console, then arcs out like a lap table from the console to the door, as if both supporting the glove box and holding up the upper dash. There must be some structural reason for this protrusion, but it sticks out in the wrong ways.

Rear seats fold down

The 60:40-split rear seats fold down to expand the 15.1 cubic feet of cargo room, but you can’t fold down the seats from the second row. The only way is to pull the latches at the edge of the trunk. It’s easy enough but it would be nice to be able to do it by leaning into the rear doors. Those rear doors can be narrow for larger bodies, but the 38.0 inches of rear legroom is generous even if headroom is not. Due to the hybrid battery pack under the rear seats, the folded seats sit higher than the cargo floor.

Notable: Camry’s unusual heated steering wheel button

All-wheel drive and heated steering wheels go together like Midwestern winters and fleece-lined boots. The Camry XLE comes with a heated steering wheel, but the button for it sits by itself smack dab in the middle of the climate control panel. It’s almost hidden if not for the small icon in the digital display. It’s better than hiding it in the touchscreen or under other controls, but it’s unusual. The most convenient place for the heated steering wheel button is on the steering wheel itself. Owners will get used to it as quickly as their breath becomes visible in the cold.

The Camry has been the bestselling sedan in the U.S. since the George W. Bush era. The2024 Honda Accord might have a higher TCC Rating of 7.3 out of 10 versus7.0 for the Camry, but the Camry continues to lead the pack of sedans in efficiency, value, and roominess, and it has the added plus of offering all-wheel drive.

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2025 Toyota XLE AWD

Base price: $36,020, including a $1,095 destination fee

Price as tested: $42,232

Drivetrain: 232-hp 2.5-liter inline-4 with hybrid transmission and all-wheel drive

EPA fuel economy: 46/46/46 mpg

Pros: 46 mpg, all-wheel drive, good power

Cons: Odd dash panel, carpet-like dash cover, mixed rear seat space