Review in four parts: Toyota Yaris Cross 2024
Adapted from the four part YouTube series on my channel (videos embedded below), I thought a readable version might also be useful. Note that all of this is from my own, utterly subjective (but technical) viewpoint.
Introduction
So... my long form videos have re-emerged - into related mobile tech. Starting with this - a 2024 CAR. With its own embedded, permanent Internet 4G connection, and with its compatibility with Apple’s CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto, a new car in 2024 is just as high tech as a phone.With dozens of computers, two large main displays, lifetime OS updates, and real time baked in real time, road speed limit and speed camera warnings, a new car today both satisfies the geek in me and also…gets me and my family around.
I’ll come to the tech in a later video, but this one’s more automotive, and I wanted to lay out my reasoning for choosing… the Toyota Yaris Cross 2024. Other cars are available, of course…
My existing mobile office - err… I mean my Ford CMax, see Phones Show 421 - was getting long in the tooth, heading up towards six figure mileage and unreliability, so I did a huge amount of research and decided for only the second time in my life to buy something brand new.
My requirements? First and foremost, a slightly smaller vehicle. Is it just me or are car park spaces getting narrower? Maybe it’s that other peoples’ cars are getting wider? And then they park awkwardly on tight roads? Regardless, the thought of a car that is 20cm shorter and up to 10cm narrower seemed appealing. And I really didn’t want a huge estate car or full on ‘SUV’.
Secondly, either an electric car or a good hybrid, an EV of some kind. Even with clever systems like my Ford’s Start/Stop tech, there’s still an awful lot of wasted fuel - and emissions - when running errands around town, in traffic, and ferrying family here and there. I wanted to glide around silently and near-100% cleanly when in town.
Yet I also wasn’t prepared to go all in on electric car tech - the infrastructure just isn’t there yet in the UK, plus the batteries inside are very heavy, the range affected by poor UK weather well over half the year, and the road tax too high, perhaps reflecting that tyre and road wear are a thing.
The ideal would be a plug-in hybrid, charging up at home to give me electric driving 90% of the time and a petrol engine for the other 10% on long trips. However, a plug-in option isn’t possible for the size of car I wanted, since the battery needed would be too large and too heavy, so the next best thing is a so-called ‘self-charging hybrid’.
Here, the petrol engine can drive the car when needed, but much of the time it runs, effectively, in short bursts, to charge up the main hybrid battery for EV driving, which is where I wanted to end up. A byproduct of all this is that fuel economy is off the scale, of course, around 75(!) mpg on average for me, over the first 500 miles.
My third decision factor was ride height, for a better view of the road, and internal space. There are plenty of small hatchbacks, but it’s the so-called B segment SUVs that caught my eye. Based on hatchback wheelbases, they ride higher and I sit higher, while also providing enough headroom inside for passengers or for me in my (cough) mobile office.
I whittled the options down to a handful of mini SUVs but in the end it came down to the long term experience of Toyota in making hybrids. Their patented planetary gear system means that there are no clutches AT ALL (it's magical), and smooth power from 0 to 70mph and beyond. Toyota sits right at the top of the hybrid reliability tree in every survey, and that’s good enough for me.
Meaning this, the Yaris Cross. Perhaps a little chunky-looking, but that’s 2024 styling for you. But it ticks every box for me. It comes in four different trims and spec levels, but we specifically wanted a light roof trim rather than dark, it makes such a difference, and I wanted the smaller wheels, which equate to better fuel economy and cheaper tyre replacement when the time comes. So the cheapest spec, the Icon, was absolutely fine - and most of the driver assist features are standard for all trims, so there was very little sacrifice in paying up to £8000 less that for the top end.
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
Having been used to my in-car phone use being just the phone in a holder suckered to the windscreen, it has been something of a revelation to catch up with the modern world and have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto front and centre - literally.Yes, this tech has been around for a while, but it’s only been recently that wireless CarPlay and Auto have been standard equipment away from higher priced cars. For a while we had wired access, via Lightning or USB Type C, but then you have to consciously plug your phone in every single time - and for short journeys I bet most people didn’t.
Plus the timescale of car tech is a lot slower than in the phone world, so it has taken the best part of a decade to get to where we are now. With a base spec family car getting wireless phone integration. Your phone can stay in your pocket and its data and core apps just… appear on a 10” iPad-size capacitive touchscreen in the centre of the dash. And with the car’s digital assistant button mapped through to Siri or Google Assistant, according to your phone OS.
So yes, I’m playing catch-up here, but my thoughts are still relevant, hopefully.
Setting up both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto proved to be child’s play. You pair the phone with the car as usual and in each case a ‘Would you like to use CarPlay?” or similar prompt appears. Accept this and in a second or so you’re looking at a landscape, simplified variant of your phone’s interface. Not every application is CarPlay or Android Auto-compatible, but it will show the apps that are, the ones that make sense when driving - so navigation, phone functions, messaging apps, audio apps, and so on.
Me being me, I also wanted things like YouTube and Netflix, for watching content on the big screen when parked and waiting for family. I’m guessing that some people would try watching on the move, but surely a speed interlock could be added, with the apps only working when parked?
Both CarPlay and Android Auto offer a dashboard, bringing the core data together in one screen. Typically then, showing the next navigation instructions, playback controls for whatever’s playing, and perhaps a messaging count or suggested next destination. From the dashboard you can swipe from side to side, launch the compatible apps and control them just as on a very large-fonted phone or tablet.
Moving from a phone screen in a holder at arm’s length to a 10” display that’s closer makes a huge difference in usability - less squinting, more content, easier interaction. With the old system, I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve stretched to try and tap a tiny control on the phone and wobbled on my driving line as a result. Oops.
With these systems, if you’re not travelling alone, you can even get a passenger to do a lot of the swiping and tapping, which is better still.
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto launched in 2014, exactly ten years ago, meaning that they’ve had tons of updates and refinements, and it shows. At every stage, touch targets are large, information is presented graphically or often in audio form if it’s safer, such as reading aloud a message that has just come in, or offering a voice prompt for what to do with the item you tapped.
Yes, messaging and calling functions have been available in all cars via Bluetooth for even longer, plus cars mostly have their own satnav these days, but to bring everything together in one large and integrated, colourful, Wifi Direct-connected experience is a joy.. Again, bear with me, I’m playing catch-up with the bleeding edge here!
In each case there are pleasant surprises - yes, of course a basic music player works, but streaming apps like Spotify also work well. And all of the audio apps use the sound EQ and preferences that you have already set up in the car’s Audio control panel.
And… some oddities. Apps like RingGo and Zoom that said I had to sign in again on the phone, but when, connected, showed limited functions there, such that I had to disconnect, fix the app, signing in again, and then reconnecting. Other apps, like OsmAndMaps and Speed Cameras Radar, won’t work at all with CarPlay or Android Auto until you’ve signed up for a premium plan. Which is probably fair enough if you’re deep enough into these services.
Coming back to my choice of car, I had noted in my research that one of the big upgrades for the Yaris Cross for 2024 included wireless CarPlay and Android Auto on all trim levels - even at order time the Toyota web site didn’t say this explicitly - I had to experiment with the actual cars in showrooms. So it’s all quite new.
Mind you, I’ll still plug in via Lightning or Type C for any journey over about 15 minutes - Toyota supplies a handy multi-head connection cable with each vehicle. By plugging in, I get faster response to inputs and, importantly, the phone is then charging from the car’s power throughout, as opposed to discharging with wireless.
Hypermiling
Here it’s all about batteries and power. Li-Ion batteries are in our phones and tablets, and this Toyota Yaris Cross also has a Li-Ion battery, in fact its rating looks familiar, at 4300mAh.What? That’s a phone battery spec! But the catch is that these amps get delivered at 177V rather than 3.7V, so roughly 50 times as much. And indeed - the maths matches manufacturing - the hybrid battery in this car has exactly 48 individual Li-Ion cells in an air-cooled enclosure.
Where phone or tablet batteries get deep cycled a lot - so charging to 100% or letting them get down below 10%, the software in a modern hybrid car makes sure the charge state stays between about 30% and 70%, at worst. So we’re talking of millions of possible cycles at this depth, equating to a full decade of use.
Contrast this to phones and tablets, whose batteries are essentially shot (less than 80% original capacity) after three years. Or even fully electric cars, which by definition often have to charge near 100% and get down near empty, because that’s the only power they have for propulsion. Not as bad as phones, but electric car batteries are often below 80% capacity within five years.
So how is this hybrid battery used? About 60% to 70% of the time while driving, every time you take your foot off any serious throttle, usually, the hybrid battery is used to keep the car ‘gliding’ in EV mode. At least until it gets below about 30%, at which point the combustion engine kicks in to take over again and also recharge the hybrid battery, which takes less than a minute, typically.
Plus whenever you brake, your momentum is converted into charge and this also tops up the hybrid battery, so there’s little energy wastage in having to slow down for traffic lights, for example.
So - hypermiling. What is it? It’s slightly artificial, and you can do it in any car, it’s the art of being as gentle on the throttle and brakes as humanly possible, to gamify fuel economy, as reported by a modern car’s computers.
And I’ve been hypermiling quite a bit, to see what this Toyota hybrid battery setup can do. ‘Driving like a granny’ is a good low tech way of thinking of hypermiling. I wouldn’t want to drive like that all the time, and I certainly wouldn’t want to be in other cars around me, while I brake gently and then accelerate slowly. 0-60 in err… 30 seconds when hypermiling!!
But in the interests of experimentation and demonstration, I’ve been out and about, as I say. Now, this is a new car and I’m still breaking it in, but then in a modern vehicle that term just means ‘be gentle’, which is exactly what hypermiling is. Will economy get even better as the engine evens out and gets up beyond the first 1000 miles? I’m hoping so, actually!
In practice, my 24 hours of hypermiling resulted in 82.9 miles per gallon (which works out at 3.4 litres per 100km, if that’s the way your mind works), which I was very pleased with. Moreover, the 400 miles since the test have yielded an average of 78.3 mpg, and that's across all road types and speeds, including some on the motorway at my usual 'comfortable' speed of 65mph.
This being my traditionally phone-centric channel, that figure of 48 cells does mean that you can think of the hybrid battery looking like 48 phone batteries next to each other, but there are of course, lots of sensors, safety circuits, and cooling routes, all needed for the heavy use the cells will experience within that middle discharge range. And for context, a typical EV like a Tesla has a battery system that’s almost a hundred times larger. And (roughly thirty times) heavier, of course, one of many reasons why I rejected going full EV.
I’m really impressed with this base spec 2024 Yaris Cross. Toyota now gives all its trim levels all the tech and safety toys and I think I’ve now tried all of them out.The Yaris Cross verdict
For example, the cruise control, lane assist and proactive driver assist. Essentially, I can drive along with the car keeping itself within the white lines, at my chosen speed and braking if anything closes up in front. Not that I’ll do this often, but on the motorway it’s now quite possible to just have one hand loosely on the wheel and the other hand and both feet resting and off the controls. In a base spec car!
Performance has been super around town and even on a medium-distance motorway trip. The Yaris Cross isn’t for high speed road warriors, mind you, it’s just not designed to cruise at 75mph for hours up and down the country. Its natural environment is suburbia and towns generally, which is where I do much of my driving. To be moving under electric power for 70-80% of the time feels great. Silent, and zero emissions.
For a car that’s only 4.17m long, 1.6m wide, and 1.6m high, the interior is surprisingly spacious. Helped by that light roof lining - I do not understand why Toyota puts in black trims into most of its other models. Rear leg space is sufficient, say my family, and I love the multi-tier boot space. The bottom (for optional spare wheel) well for real emergency stuff, the middle level for stuff I might need once in a while, then the main space for day to day groceries and bags. It works so well. For me, at least.
With the seats down, there’s a big load space with no real lip, which I used when buying some rugs the other day.
Despite all my hypermiling, I average about 72 mpg day to day with the car in ECO mode. This lessens off throttle response, but I honestly haven’t noticed, and if it saves money then why not leave it in this all the time? NORMAL and POWER modes are also available but most Yaris owners I’ve spoken to also stay in ECO.
One thing I was worried about, switching to a hybrid, was having to keep my foot on the brake for long periods at traffic lights. But Toyota has thought of this and there’s an auto-HOLD function. So, once stopped, the electric motor keeps the car stopped until you apply some throttle again to move off. Mind you, there’s no way to keep auto-HOLD on for the next drive. It’s one of several driver aids that have to be turned on - or off - on a per session basis. Toyota, I’d like to change my own defaults, pretty please.
The driver aids include cameras for sign recognition - this is really useful to know the speed limit for the road you’re on, and is 99% accurate. As just mentioned though, it beeps every time there’s a limit change, and it beeps if you go over the limit - and I can’t seem to find a way to disable the beeping permanently. It might be a UK law thing, though? Not that I speed very often!
There’s a camera on the rear too, I didn’t think I’d like this over my previous car’s audio alerts when reversing, but in practice I’ve grown to love it. Toyota, I’d like beeps as well - but you can only get these on the top trim levels, apparently.
My one remaining apprehension concerns spatial awareness. I haven’t actually hit anything yet(!), but even with the driver's seat jacked up as high as it will go (for good traffic visibility), I still can’t really see the front corners of the car. So, squeezing through tight traffic, negotiating tight kerbs, or just parking, a little guesswork is needed. I have to imagine where the corners and wheels are. Common to many modern cars, I’m sure, but worth mentioning for other old-timers like me!
And my only tech glitches have been that the car loses radio sight of its ‘smart’ key if placed in the alcove in front of the drive selector, the natural place to put it. Some sort of shielding issue - fixed by putting the keys underneath the display or just keeping them in my pocket. But… odd.
And that there’s no play/pause control for media on the steering wheel. I can change volume, skip tracks, but not pause. Which I do a lot. Turns out that a 2 second long pause on the MODE button does the trick, but that’s very unintuitive, Toyota, and not quick!
I had worried about my smart key getting hacked at night - apparently thieves sit with a laptop outside the house and detect the radio signals from the key, then programme these into a blank key and then they steal the car. Quite how common this is I don’t know - and I liked to think I’d notice people sneaking around my house with a vehicle and laptop. But there’s an easy fix. A long press and double press on the key buttons puts it in sleep mode, with no radio signals. Or just put the key in a metal box, I guess? Or just stop worrying?!
The Yaris Cross styling is very 4-wheel drive SUV-ish, even if in miniature - and yes, there’s a 4 wheel drive version if you’re happy to pay more. Do I like the styling? Yes, from front and back, though from the side, the exaggerated wheel guards and side guards will take longer for me to warm to, I think.
Overall I’m very happy with the 2024 Yaris Cross, it has lived up to all its marketing material, even though I’m glad to have saved money and stuck with the base trim. As with all Toyotas, there’s a full 10 year warranty, as long as you let them do the servicing. Which seems fair enough. A decade with no car worry at all? Worth it.
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