Hybrids Have Officially Taken OverRoad & TrackJohn Pearley HuffmanMon, September 21, 2026 at 4:19 PM UTCAdd us on GooglePearley: Hybrids Will Rule It AllIllustration by Julie Murphy / Photos by ToyotaI miss big, lazy engines.September is traditionally the month when the next model year's new vehicles go on sale. Just about now, the showrooms should be filling up with 2027 models, and dealers should be discounting the leftover 2026s to clear their lots. But the automotive world is no longer that clear-cut. Today, new model introductions are scattered around the calendar, and by early 2027, some car or truck will be announced as a 2028.Still, September has me reflecting on the machines I've driven over the last few years. And there are two trends that have intrigued me. One is big beasts powered by tiny little turbocharged engines. And the second is how gas-electric hybrids have become the heart of the market instead of a sideline.AdvertisementAdvertisementCurrent styling trends have SUVs and crossovers becoming boxier and blunter. Crossovers, built on automotive architectures rather than stout, truck-like ladder frames, were generally blobby through the early 21st century. The epitome of crossover chic, the Lexus RX, has always been an unthreatening bar-of-soap design. Perfectly elegant for the chores of upper middle-class life, but there's never been any pretense that the RX is built to go trail busting. But two of Lexus's newest crossovers—the electric TZ and big bruiser TX—are squared off and pretend rugged.Ford stopped building the potato-like Escape last December.Ford Motor Co.More directly, look down at Ford's twin twerps, the Escape and Bronco Sport. Both are based on Ford's C2 platform that underpinned everything from the Focus compact car to the Lincoln Corsair. Mechanically, the Escape and Bronco Sport are near twins. But the Bronco Sport is marketed as a more capable, off-roady thing with some true dirt-bound ability. Meanwhile, the Escape, which had evolved along squishier, softer, and less upright lines, was losing its sales oomph.Back in 2017, Ford sold a stunning 308,296 Escapes. In 2025, only 139,396 made it into consumers' garages. Meanwhile, the Bronco Sport has essentially matched the Escape in sales with 134,493 in sales during 2025. But thanks to comparatively higher MSRPs, the Bronco Sport appears to be the better cash cow.So, no surprise, the Escape left production in December 2025, and the Bronco Sport is now alone as Ford's compact crossover. Blocky sells and makes money.The Bronco Sport, boxier and more rugged looking but very close to the Escape mechanically, is now Ford's sole small crossover in America.Ford Motor Co.But blocky also apparently means relatively tall noses covering relatively tiny engines. The Bronco Sport Big Bend's standard engine is a dinky 1.5-liter, three-cylinder that almost disappears under its massive plastic cover. It makes 180 horsepower, but it's pulling a brick that weighs nearly 3,500 pounds. And three needs to work hard to do it.AdvertisementAdvertisementKia's 2027 Telluride X-Pro is a lot bigger than a Bronco Sport, but it too has a dinky turbo engine. Driving the Telluride, it never feels horribly underpowered, but it always seems to be making a maximum effort. In Hearst Autos testing, the 4852-pound Telluride X-Pro, propelled by its 2.5-liter turbo four rated at 274 hp, needed 7.5 seconds to hit 60 mph and ran the quarter-mile in 15.7 seconds at 89 mph. By historic standards, not awful. By today's standards, not great.The 2027 Kia Telluride X-Pro is huge and isn't available as a hybrid. It should be .Kia MotorsHaving a four-cylinder engine shove nearly 5000 pounds around is a big ask. And the Telluride X-Pro, which is the off-road-oriented trim, just doesn't have the confident athleticism something venturing into dust, mud and ruts should have. Even around town, the drivetrain is frantic enough to be noticed. It lacks the refined ease of the previous generation Telluride's big 291-hp, 3.8-liter V-6. That big V-6 was a lump, but it was calm in its lumpiness. And it was about a half-second quicker to 60 mph than the turbo four. Beyond that, real-world observed fuel economy was at a not-glorious 19 mpg.The easygoing V-6 is dying as manufacturers dump them in favor of turbo fours that work okay, but work harder and are vastly more complex assemblies. What that means for long-term reliability will prove out over the next several years.Looks aren't what sells the RAV4. But a 600-plus-mile range will sell a lot of themJohn Pearley HuffmanThere is, however, an alternative to big dopey engines that the market is embracing. That's hybrids.AdvertisementAdvertisementOne of the most impressive vehicles I've driven over the past year was the new 2026 Toyota RAV4, and now it's only available as a hybrid. The supply of new RAV4s hasn't yet caught up with demand, but it's likely destined to soon be one of the best-selling new vehicles in America.All new RAV4s are now hybrids. It seems that soon all new Toyotas will be.John Pearley HuffmanWhat's spectacular about the new RAV4 is how effortlessly it performs while getting stupendous fuel mileage. During my time with it, there was never any indication the drivetrain was swapping between the 183-hp 2.5-liter Atkinson-cycle four and the battery-fed 40-hp electric motor. And it never got less than 40 mpg for me while doing it. On one tank of fuel, the RAV4 went more than 600 miles for me… mostly during freeway cruises.The RAV4 isn't built to rip along mountain roads or impress at Cars & Coffee, but it's a brilliant family tool. I haven't yet driven the plug-in, 324-hp RAV4 GR Sport, but the guys at Car and Driver have, and it slammed to 60 mph in only 5.1 seconds and did the quarter-mile in 13.8 seconds at 101 mph. It sounds awesome.The RAV4 GR Sport takes the mainstream plug-in crossover to a place it's never been before: on-road performance.Toyota Motor CorporationAnd the hybrid versions of the Kia Telluride tell much the same story. They're easier-going, quicker, more confident, and get better fuel economy. Hybrids aren't an alternative anymore. They're the mainstream.AdvertisementAdvertisementThere's a reason why most New York City taxis are now Toyota hybrids. The hybrid systems are now reliable, less costly, and bring with them tremendous gains in fuel economy and drivability. They are more flexible in daily use than electrics, don't need lengthy charging sessions, and have mind-boggling range. Toyota seems intent on moving its entire range over to hybrids, and it's likely more and more manufacturers will go there along with them.Also, well, look at previous winners of Road & Track's Performance Car of the Year. In 2025, it was the Lamborghini Revuelto—a hybrid. In 2024, the Ferrari 296 GTB took honors for six-figure cars, and it's a hybrid too. While the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 isn't a hybrid and took the 2026 crown, the 2027 field will likely have another batch of convincing hybrids.I still love low-revving V-8s in trucks, appreciate the scream of an exotic V-12, and always believe the simplest vehicles are likely to be the most reliable. Big vehicles powered by small turbo engines aren't the future. But hybrids seem destined to rule all.The car wars are over. And the Prius in a box won.You Might Also LikeIf You Can Only Own One Car, Make It One of TheseThese Are the Most Popular Cars by State