Toyotas of the past 10 years or so have had a clear design direction for their interiors: not flashy or overtly luxurious, but ergonomically sound and with rock-solid build quality. After a brief dalliance with gloss black plastic in the bZ4X, that philosophy largely continues.
Most upper surfaces are fashioned from the sort of squidgy rubber that Toyota loves to use. It does feel highly robust and wipe-clean, but it’s also very dull. Beyond that, there’s grey microsuede, grey satin plastic and, depending on the trim level, cloth or leather seats in – you’ve guessed it – grey. It’s neither upmarket nor cheery, but the core design is at least more interesting than the screen-dominated ones in many new cars.
However, in the absence of luxury, we at least expected an impeccable feel of quality, but the flimsy plastic door releases and the wobbly lid for the centre armrest bin pop that particular balloon.
Thankfully, Toyota hasn’t wavered when it comes to offering simple but sound ergonomics. There is a large touchscreen, of course, but also plenty of physical knobs and switches – even some blank buttons. The mirror adjustment is entirely conventional, and the drive selector is a mechanical-feeling rotary device that leaves you in no doubt whether you’ve selected drive or not.
The driving position gets off to a promising start. It’s medium high – just appropriate for a medium SUV and, as usual, Toyota’s seats are very comfortable, being broad and soft yet supportive. However, you have to upgrade to the top trim with its electrically adjusted chairs to get cushion angle adjustment, and the Peugeot-style set-up with a small-diameter steering wheel and a high-set display remains a gimmick. Unlike in the original bZ4X and plenty of Peugeots, all testers were able to find a driving position in the C-HR+ that allowed them to see the display, but the small wheel means your arms aren’t as well supported by the armrests, which can cause slight aches during long drives.
Toyota claims the e-TNGA platform is dedicated to EVs but, over the years, it has become clear that it shares a fair bit with the ICE equivalent. That has an impact on the C-HR+’s interior space, which is down on rivals’. Even though the C-HR+ is longer than the Skoda Elroq and Renault Scenic overall, it offers both less rear leg room and less boot space.
The sloping roofline means that head room in the back is compromised too. Tall adults’ heads are more likely to hit the headliner than the headrests. Even the Peugeot e-3008, which is also offered with petrol engines, offers more space. The backs of the rear seats in the C-HR+ can be reclined slightly, but this makes little difference. The floor is also relatively high, which doesn’t make for the most natural seating position in the back.
Multimedia
Whereas other makers try to dazzle with their digital sophistication, and often end up bamboozling, Toyota has no such ambitions. Its system, which is largely the same across all its cars, is fairly simple and therefore mostly easy to understand, partly because a lot of important vehicle functions are handled by physical controls.
There’s discrete navigation, media, phone mirroring and a couple of settings menus. All of it works quickly and logically, with the possible exception of some of the settings, which are hidden in different places and have opaque names. We had to resort to the manual to find out what ‘DRCC with RSA’ is (Dynamic Radar Cruise Control with Road Sign Assist, for the record) and whether we might want it turned on or off. It’s also mildly irritating that you have to dismiss two notifications every time you start the car.
With all of that said, it’s not very sophisticated. The fonts and graphics suggest it was developed by an entirely different team from the one that did the instrument cluster, and there’s no way to have both media controls and navigation on screen at the same time. Most likely, you will dial up your preferred brand of smartphone mirroring and ignore the native interface. It’s no great loss, because the built-in navigation isn’t particularly clever about avoiding traffic, and its EV route planning is quite basic.
