RAV4 PHEV isn’t on the price list. But they’ll sell you one.
The last three times we took a bite at the Toyota RAV4 PHEV, they were prototypes. And every time, we came away more impressed. So what’s different this time? It’s now for sale. Well, kind of. You won’t find the RAV4 PHEV on any price lists, but if you visit your local Toyota dealer and talk nicely to them, they’ll make a plan to sell you one.
PHEV of course means plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle. And while this RAV4 may not be the first we’ve tested, it’s certainly has made ‘and continues to make the biggest mark. It follows over 20 years of Prius and regular Toyota petrol-electric legend and comes ahead of Toyota’s albeit scaled back future EV push.
You must look twice to tell the PHEV apart from its combustion, or regular Hybrid kin. But it’s also fired by both petrol and an 18.1 kW lithium-Ion battery sitting under the cabin. Front and rear electric motors add a respective additional 134 kW and 40 kW to the 2.5-litre petrol four-pot’s 136 kW for an impressive 225 kW total output.
RAV4 PHEV has Two Motors, One Engine
Torque is abundant too, thanks to an additional 270 and 121 Nm of electrical twist over and above those 227 petrol Newton-metres. The same electric architecture as the regular RAV 4 E-Four Hybrid sees a CVT transmission blend the petrol-electric power to the front axle, aided and abetted by electric only rear drive.
It Intelligently switches between all and front drive depending on conditions. A dedicated Trail Mode increases rear axle torque split on the dirt. This Toyota PHEV however boasts an extra plug-in socket on the right to easily charge up full overnight using a Mode 2 cable on a 240V home socket. A Mode 3 cable allows fast station DC charging in 2.5 hours on a 32A, 6.6 kW charger.
Default EV mode prioritises up to 80 km of electric-only driving. We’d prefer it defaulted to the last-used setting. So if we left it in Hybrid mode, which retains the battery at any level and drives like a regular hybrid, it carried on like that. So you don’t deplete the battery when you forget to select Hybrid. Its just the touch of a button, but hey, we’re just human after all!
Just press the hybrid button
It’s no big wheel, anyway, just press the Hybrid button for a couple of seconds to engage Charging Mode and recharge the battery on the run. So, bye-bye range anxiety! Interestingly the RAV4 recharges much faster than the single-motor Prius we drove in France last year. It also allows the RAV4 Plug-In to keep driving when an EV must stop.
This Toyota PHEV has a HV mode driving range of beyond 800 km. The two-button Auto EV/HV mode allows the system to switch between modes and fire the engine under harder acceleration, before returning to electric as soon as possible after.
There’s a quality feel to the Toyota RAV 4 Plug-In. Its more an EV than a hybrid to drive. The combination of immediate torque and flat, sturdy, and silent electric power delivery and that good old petrol feeling, is a buzz.
EV range should be beyond your daily commute
Acceleration is also impressive in EV mode at zero fuel consumption. EV-only range may be limited to 80 km, but that’s also probably further than you and I or most of our friends will ever drive in an average day.
And then once the battery drops to a quarter and below minimum EV only levels, it simply switches to HV mode. For traditional petrol-electric Toyota Hybrid driving. So If you fit into that 80 km metric, you will hardly ever get to use the petrol in this tank.
And if you do, that bigger battery and Toyota’s proven hybrid get up has the potential to travel beyond 800 km on a regular tank of gas and charge. And without any range anxiety or charging challenges.
RAV4 PHEV is an EV. with combustion backup.
Fuel consumption is also a moot point. With the battery charged, its zero. When the battery is flat the RAV4 PHEV will still do 6 or 7 litres per hundred. And it’s a sliding scale between those extremes. This PHEV brings traditional hybrid self-charging, petrol engine back-up and range benefits, with the additional performance a full battery EV mode. There’d also a cost advantage, even if it all carries apremium.
Yes, electric driving still has a significant mountain to climb around the world, judging by those industry struggles. And in Africa? Oh dear! Which is why the RAV4 PHEV makes so much sense to us. It has the power and clean efficiency of a full EV. But without any range anxiety or charging worries, even if that all comes at a pretty R100K premium. And if you really want a RAV4 PHEV in South Africa, just go ask your Toyota dealer to sell you one! – Michele Lupini
Images & testing: Giordano Lupini
ROAD TESTED: Toyota RAV4 PHEV (prototype)
Engine: 136 kW 227 Nm 2.5-litre petrol I4
Motors: 134 kW 270 Nm + 40 kW 121 Nm electric
Drive: CVT /Electric AWD
Battery: 18.1 kWh lithium-ion
TESTED:
0-60 km/h: 2.84 sec
0-100 km/h: 5.88 sec
0-120 km/h: 7.86 sec
0-160 km/h: 13.67 sec
400m: 14.2 sec @ 162km/h
80-120 km/h: 3.76 sec
120-160 km/h: 5.37 sec
CLAIMED:
VMax: 200 km/h
Fuel: 1.0 l/100 km
Energy: 16.6 kWh/100km
CO2: 22 g/km
Range: EV: 80 km, Total: 800 km
Warranty/Service: 3y 100K/6 service 90K km
LIST PRICE: R989K
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