2021 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID tow

771-4. Hybrid system
1
For safety and security
HIGHLANDER HV_U
There are air intake vents under
each side of the rear seatback
for the purpose of cooling the
hybrid battery (traction battery).
If the vent is blocked,
charging/discharging of the
hybrid battery (traction battery)
may become limited.
WARNING
●If your vehicle needs to be
towed, do so with all four
wheels raised. If the wheels
connected to the electric motor
(traction motor) are on the
ground when towing, the motor
may continue to generate elec-
tricity. This may cause a fire.
(  P.461)
●Carefully inspect the ground
under the vehicle. If you find
that liquid has leaked onto the
ground, the fuel system may
have been damaged. Leave the
vehicle as soon as possible.
■Hybrid battery (traction bat-
tery)
●Never resell, hand over or mod-
ify the hybrid battery. To prevent
accidents, hybrid batteries that
have been removed from a dis-
posed vehicle are collected
through your Toyota dealer. Do
not dispose of the battery your-
self.
Unless the battery is properly col-
lected, the following may occur,
resulting in dea th or serious
injury:
• The hybrid battery may be ille- gally disposed of or dumped,
and it is hazardous to the envi-
ronment or someone may touch
a high voltage part, resulting in
an electric shock.
• The hybrid battery is intended to be used exclusively with your
hybrid vehicle. If the hybrid bat-
tery is used outside of your
vehicle or modified in any way,
accidents such as electric
shock, heat generation, smoke
generation, an explosion and
electrolyte leakage may occur.
When reselling or handing over
your vehicle, the possibility of an
accident is extremely high
because the person receiving the
vehicle may not be aware of these
dangers.
●If your vehicle is disposed of
without the hybrid battery hav-
ing been removed, there is a
danger of serious electric shock
if high voltage parts, cables and
their connectors are touched. In
the event that your vehicle must
be disposed of, the hybrid bat-
tery must be disposed of by
your Toyota dealer or a qualified
service shop. If the hybrid bat-
tery is not disposed of properly,
it may cause electric shock that
can result in dea th or serious
injury.
NOTICE
■Hybrid battery (traction bat-
tery) air intake vents
Do not carry large amounts of
water such as water cooler bottles
in the vehicle. If water spills onto
the hybrid battery (traction bat-
tery), the battery may be dam-
aged. Have the vehicle inspected
by your Toyota dealer.
Hybrid battery (traction
battery) air intake vent

1383-2. Opening, closing and locking the doors
HIGHLANDER HV_UPressing the switch while the back
door is opening/closing will stop the
operation. Pressing the switch
again will open the back door.
■Opening/closing the back
door using the power back
door switch on the back
door
Press the switch.
Pressing the switch while the back
door is opening/closing will stop the
operation. Pressing the switch
again will operate th e back door in
the opposite direction.
■Closing the back door
using the back door handle
Lower the back door using the
back door handle, then a buzzer
sounds and the back door auto-
matically closes.
■Opening/closing the back
door using the kick sensor
(vehicles with a Hands Free
Power Back Door)
Vehicles without tow hitch
The Hands Free Power Back
Door enables automatic opening
and closing of the power back
door by putting your foot near
the lower center part of the rear
bumper and moving it away
from the rear bumper.
Vehicles with tow hitch
The Hands Free Power Back
Door enables automatic opening
and closing of the power back
door by putting your foot near
the lower left side of the rear
bumper and moving it away
from the rear bumper.
The center of the Hands Free
Power Back Door sensor is indi-
cated by the mark.
1 While carrying an electronic
key, stand within the smart
key system operation range,
approximately 13.8 to 21.7 in.
(35 to 55 cm) from the rear
bumper.

1393-2. Opening, closing and locking the doors
3
Before driving
HIGHLANDER HV_U
Vehicles without tow hitch
Kick sensor
Hands Free Power Back
Door operation detection
area
Smart key system operation
detection area ( P.146)
Vehicles with tow hitch
Kick sensor
Hands Free Power Back
Door operation detection
area
Smart key system operation
detection area ( P.146)
2 Perform a kick operation by
moving your foot to within
approximately 3.9 in. (10 cm)
of the rear bumper and then
pulling it back.
• Perform the entire kick opera- tion within 1 second. • The back door will not start
operating while a foot is
detected under the rear
bumper.
• Operate the Hands Free Power Back Door without
contacting the rear bumper
with your foot.
• If another electronic key is in the cabin or luggage compart-
ment, it may take slightly lon-
ger than normal for the
operation to occur.
Kick sensor
Hands Free Power Back
Door operation detection
area
3 When the kick sensor detects
that your foot is pulled back,
a buzzer will sound and the
back door will automatically
fully open/close.
If kick operation is performed while
the back door is opening/closing,
the back door will stop the opera-
tion. Perform a kick operation again
will operate the back door in the
opposite direction.
■Back door closer
In the event that the back door is left
slightly open, the back door closer

1413-2. Opening, closing and locking the doors
3
Before driving
HIGHLANDER HV_U
■Kick sensor operating condi-
tions (vehicles with a Hands
Free Power Back Door)
●When the kick sensor operation
setting is turned on ( P.530) and
the power switch is turned off.
●When an electronic key is carried
within the operation detection
area.
■Situations in which the Hands
Free Power Back Door may not
operate properly (if equipped)
In the following situations, the
Hands Free Power Back Door may
not operate properly:
●When a foot remains under the
rear bumper.
●If the rear bumper is strongly hit
with a foot or is touched for a
while.
If the rear bumper has been touched
for a while, wait for a short time
before attempting to operate the
Hands Free Power Back Door
again.
●When standing excessively close
to the rear bumper.
●When an external radio wave
source interferes with the commu-
nication between the electronic
key and the vehicle. ( P.147)
●When the vehicle is parked near
an electrical noise source which
affects the sensitivity of the Hands
Free Power Back Door, such as a
pay parking spot , gas station,
electrically heated road, or fluo-
rescent light.
●When the vehicle is near a TV
tower, electric po wer plant, radio
station, large display, airport or
other facility that generates strong
radio waves or electrical noise.
●When a large amount of water is
applied to the rear bumper, such
as when the vehicle is being
washed or in heavy rain.
●When mud, snow, ice, etc. is
attached to the rear bumper.
●When the vehicle has been
parked for a while near objects
that may move and contact the
rear bumper, such as plants.
●When an accessory i s installed to
the rear bumper.
If an accessory has been installed,
turn the kick sensor operation set-
ting off. ( P.530)
■Preventing unintentional opera-
tion of the Hands Free Power
Back Door (if equipped)
When an electronic key is in the
operation detection area, the Hands
Free Power Back Door may operate
unintentionally, so be careful in the
following situations:
●When a large amount of water is
applied to the rea r bumper, such
as when the vehicle is being
washed or in heavy rain.
●When dirt is wip ed off the rear
bumper.
●When a small animal or small
object, such as a ball, moves
under the rear bumper.
●When an object is moved from
under the rear bumper.
●If someone is swinging their legs
while sitting on the rear bumper.
●If the legs or another part of some-
one’s body contacts the rear
bumper while passing by the vehi-
cle.
●When the vehicle is parked near
an electrical noise source which
affects the sensitivity of the Hands
Free Power Back Door, such as a
pay parking spot, gas station,
electrically heated road, or fluo-
rescent light.
●When the vehicle is near a TV
tower, electric pow er plant, radio
station, large display, airport or
other facility that generates strong
radio waves or electrical noise.
●When the vehicle is parked in a
place where objects such as
plants are near the rear bumper.

1473-2. Opening, closing and locking the doors
3
Before driving
HIGHLANDER HV_U
●When an interior alarm sounds
continuously
■Battery-saving function
The battery-saving function will be
activated in order to prevent the
electronic key battery and the
12-volt battery from being dis-
charged while the vehicle is not
operated for a long time.
●In the following situations, the
smart key system may take some
time to unlock the doors.
• The electronic key has been left in
an area of approximately 6 ft. (2
m) of the outside of the vehicle for
10 minutes or longer.
• The smart key system has not been used for 5 days or longer.
●If the smart key system has not
been used for 14 days or longer,
the doors canno t be unlocked at
any doors except the driver’s door.
In this case, take hold of the
driver’s door handle, or use the wireless remote c
ontrol or the
mechanical key, to unlock the
doors.
■Turning an electronic key to
battery-saving mode
When battery-saving mode is set,
battery depletion is minimized by
stopping the electronic key from
receiving radio waves.
Press twice while pressing and
holding . Confirm that the elec-
tronic key indicator flashes 4 times.
While the battery-saving mode is
set, the smart key system cannot be
used. To cancel the function, press
any of the electronic key buttons.
■Conditions affecting operation
The smart key system uses weak
radio waves. In the following situa-
tions, the communication between
the electronic key and the vehicle
may be affected, preventing the
smart key system, wireless remote
control and immobilizer system from
operating proper ly. (Ways of cop-
ing: P.496)
●When the electronic key battery is
depleted
●Near a TV tower, electric power
plant, gas station, radio station,
large display, airpo rt or other facil-
ity that generates strong radio
waves or electrical noise
●When the electronic key is in con-
tact with, or is c overed by the fol-
lowing metallic objects
• Cards to which aluminum foil is
attached
• Cigarette boxes that have alumi- num foil inside
SituationCorrection
procedure
An attempt was
made to lock the
vehicle while a door
was open.Close all of
the doors
and lock the
doors again.
SituationCorrection procedure
The power switch
was turned to ACC
while the driver’s
door was open (or
the driver’s door was
opened while the
power switch was in
ACC).
Turn the
power
switch off
and close
the driver’s
door.
The power switch
was turned off while
the driver’s door was
open.Close the
driver’s
door.

1563-3. Adjusting the seats
HIGHLANDER HV_U
7-seat modelsSeatback angle adjustment
lever
Seat position adjustment
lever
■Third seatsSeatback angle adjustment
lever
■When entering/exiting the
vehicle
Pull the seatback angle adjust-
ment lever or to tilt the
seatback forward and then slide
the seat forward.
Make sure that the second seat is
free of passengers and obstruc-
tions before operating the lever.
■After passengers have
entered/exited the vehicle
Lift up the seatback and slide
the seat backward until it locks.
■Before folding down the
second seats
1 Stow the armrest. ( P.382)
Moving a second seat for
third seat access
Folding down the second
seats

1573-3. Adjusting the seats
3
Before driving
HIGHLANDER HV_U
2Stow the second seat belt
buckles.
3 Pass the outer seat belts
through the seat belt hangers
and secure the seat belt
plates.
This prevents the shoulder belts
from being damaged.
4Lower the head restraints to
the lowest position. ( P.162)
■Folding down the second
seats
1 Pull the seatback angle
adjustment lever or to
tilt the seatback forward.
Each seatback may be folded sep- arately.
2
Pull the seatback folding
lever to unlock the seatback.
The seatback will be folded
down.
■After folding down the sec-
ond seats
Slide the folded second seats
backward until they lock.

1583-3. Adjusting the seats
HIGHLANDER HV_U
■Returning the second seats
Lift up the seatbacks until they
lock.
Remove the secure d seat belts
from the seat belt hangers before
using them.
■Before folding down the
third seats
1 Stow the third seat belt buck-
les.
2 Pass the outer seat belts
through the seat belt hangers
and secure the seat belt
plates.
This prevents the shoulder belts from being damaged.
3
Lower the center head
restraint to the lowest posi-
tion. ( P.162)
■Folding down the third
seats
While pulling the the seatback
angle adjustment lever, fold
down the seatbacks.
The outer head restraints will fold
forward.
■Returning the third seats
1 Returning the seatbacks
From inside
Lift up the seatbacks until they lock.
Folding down the third
seats