Toyota is trying to change the impression that plug-in hybrids are
slow and boring we'll see if they did that in the 2021 Toyota
Rav4 Prime this is a plug-in hybrid and we'll see if it ranks
Welcome back to the channel I'm Lauren Fix plug-in hybrids are getting popular
and they certainly are an option because of that 7 500
tax credit remember not every brand has that so make sure to do your homework
because your state might be offering an additional two thousand dollars
but this is the 2021 Toyota Rav 4 Prime now what that means it is a
plug-in so you have a gasoline outlet on one side
and an electrical charging port on the other this is the first
rav4 that is a plug-in hybrid or a phev this is the rav4's first plug-in model
remember the prius prime which is also a toyota product
is also a plug-in so with that technology they've made
some changes with the rav4 there are three electric motors
and an in-line four-cylinder engine that total combined is
302 horsepower now why are there three motors
one is in the back good for the all-wheel drive and the front
motors actually help push the vehicle off the line but also has a regenerative
in other words when you hit the brakes it will recharge the battery not a lot a
little bit but remember all that little bit adds up
in the end especially when you're talking about a plug-in hybrid
the vehicle itself looks very similar to other rav4s
one way to denote it is the plug-in hybrid logo on the front
and of course on the back the only other thing to notice is
this little vent up front other than that this vehicle looks the same as any
other rav4 but there are a lot of other variables
to this vehicle so we're going to go through a full car coach reports ratings
and in the end when you go to take it for a test drive you'll know what to
look for and what to expect and then of course
check out the competition if this is your first time to the
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as well as monthly incentives and hidden secrets there's a lot more to
the rav4 prime let's take it for a drive and go
through all the car coach ratings the united states was originally set to
only get 5000 of the all new 2021 rav4 prime plug-in hybrids
but that number may actually be lower because there's a shortage of batteries
but this suv is going to be popular let's check the 0-60 performance toyota
says it's 5.7 seconds now remember you can put it
in normal mode or in sport mode so we're gonna put it in sport mode to give it
its best opportunity there's also an eco mode
which obviously is not meant for performance
but if you're getting on an on-ramp or you have to get around something or away
from something that's where performance really kicks in
the 2.5 liter naturally aspirated engine has three electric motors the gasoline
motor has 177 horsepower when you add those three electric motors that's where
you're getting your get up and go so here we go in sport mode zero to 60.
a little bit of chirp on the tires too nice
that's pretty impressive 5.7 seconds now it's also important to know that the
battery is underneath the car it has 18.1 kilowatts of power your charging
times about four and a half hours on your regular charger or about two
hours or so on the superchargers if you have those available to you
if you're running an ev mode you get about 42 miles before the gas engine
kicks in which is pretty good because some people don't even drive that much
in a whole day of course it depends if you're in stop
and go traffic or you're up on the highway or wherever you live
the mpge is 94 miles if you're running a combination of both
the gasoline and the battery power like most people will do
you're going to earn about 40 miles to the gallon that's pretty good remember
there are other vehicles in the toyota lineup that also gets that fuel economy
but you're not getting that electric only mode when it comes to performance
the combination of the gas and the electric the usability of both
is really impressive and it earned a nine one of the goals that toyota had
was to make these cars more fun to drive make them handle
more sporty all right the car looks sportier and the interior details are
sportier but the vehicle itself doesn't handle
sporty as a matter of fact it's kind of gushy suspension which
makes for a really nice soft ride especially if you're you know
driving kids around and trying to get to a destination and
we have some rough roads here in new york state so
that's not a big deal great breaks soft ride handling it's kind of disconnected
a little bit but you wouldn't be disappointed if you were
looking for a vehicle to get you from point a to point b
and to save money on fuel and to be a plug-in hybrid because the handling is
a little bit sloppy for handling it earned a six safety is
an important factor when you buy any vehicle
especially a family vehicle like an suv and the rav4 has always been a safe
vehicle now there are only two trim levels on this vehicle
and when you buy the higher trim level you get the cross traffic alert
and some of the other things a blind spot detection that you want i kind of
wish toyota made it all standard across the line
because safety is so important and toyota is about safety
and another safety feature that is probably overlooked and typically put
into handling or performance is braking but it seems like there's
longer distances maybe because of the regen
on the plug-in hybrid when it comes to safety i wish it was all included
so i had to give it a nine when it comes to visibility the front windshield is
long and it's tons of glass which is great low seal level which i do
appreciate because you can actually see out of the
windows on some of these vehicles the sill is high
it makes the vehicle look cool on the outside but it's not so great on the
inside one of the things about visibility
that's important is the ability to see behind you but if you've got
a bunch of stuff in back and people in back especially three people you're not
gonna be able to see but toyota has a solution for that just
flip this little switch forward and the backup camera becomes an actual
camera about 180 degrees really nice visibility
nice and clear i know other cars have it but typically that's a cadillac type of
product you're seeing this also on the new venza
everything they thought about for visibility it earned a nine
many of you know that seating comfort is a critical factor for me and the reason
it should be a critical factor for you as well
is because this is where you sit in the vehicle although the
vehicle may look amazing and all these great features
if it's uncomfortable in seating you got to live with it at least three years
and most people get frustrated so make sure the seating is comfortable for you
we're all built differently when it comes to the driver's seat there
is four-way lumbar and for additional adjustment points
and the seats are comfortable and they look good too by the way i love the red
stitching in this xse of course this bright red exterior
is also very nice but it has nothing to do with seating go to the passenger side
you're not going to be as comfortable there is only two adjustments for
the back and the rake of the seat no lumbar and if you're going to sit there
for a long trip or maybe switch drivers and passengers
you may not be as happy with the vehicle let's take a look at the second row and
we'll give it a rating back here in the second row there is plenty of knee room
between the seat and my knees on 5 8 mostly legs so that's good but there's
also spot for your feet to go underneath the seat
which some cars don't have because the battery on this vehicle for
the plug-in hybrid is underneath the car so you have plenty of room
that's a good thing two people across the back not a problem a third person
might be a little tight in the center there is two cupholders
behind the center council is two vents and two
two point amp usb charging ports great to the door on this xse which is the top
trim level with all the options there is a heated seat
option which is really nice because typically plug-in hybrids don't have
that for the second row you've also got your window lift and a
nice spot for a large water bottle there are also two pockets behind each
seat which is appreciated it's always good to put things someplace there's
tons of storage in this car but when it comes to seating comfort
the driver's seat is great the passenger seat not so great
remember you've got to sit in both of those potentially at one point
so it's important to note that the passenger is not going to be as
comfortable on a long road trip but for seating comfort it earned just
six when it comes to technology they've really done a good job
i mean much more than you would think not just the information in front of you
that gives you the ev range and your gasoline range but you
have the ability to adjust based on this little button to the left
of the steering wheel to decide not just your audio source
turn on or off some of the safety features but you're getting all this
great information of which you get on most vehicles but
it's just a little bit more because it's a hybrid so they've done a really
excellent job on that the steering wheel also has your cruise
control and some other safety features pretty standard
stocks are pretty standard nothing confusing whatsoever
to the left of the steering wheel you have your automatic headlights
your wiper blades some of the buttons to the left include
a camera that allows you to see around you just press the button it's a little
bit antiquated as far as some of the current technology that makes it look
real but they've done a good job it reminds me a little bit of a gaming
system there's heated steering wheel there's an
ac 120 volt the ability to open the trunk
but going over to the center stack so you press the view button to the left
and you get this that's pretty cool you can see what's going on completely
around you again that's part of visibility
as well some really cool technology going over to the center stack on the
trim level we're driving is the xse it is a nine inch screen you can get a
seven-inch screen on the essie but this has everything you need you got
your sources for your audio you can press the buttons which i appreciate
versus just smooth piano black because sometimes
you can hit the wrong thing when you look at the navigation map it's kind of
dated i mean i'm surprised with some of the technology i understand this vehicle
comes in around twenty eight thousand dollars
for the se model i have to say that i would think they would upgrade the map
just a touch now maybe that's the company that they're using but overall
the knobs are there they've got little rubber grips on them which i really
appreciate audio system menu you can hit your map
if you want you can split it up however you'd like i think
they've done a really good job and of course you can put apps in
because they used to use entune but now standard is apple carplay
android auto google assist they've really thought about all the things that
you would want and i think that's really important in today's world
some of the other features that they have as far as technology everything's
pretty easy to use it's got a wireless charger tons of charge ports
tons of charge ports but overall for technology
it earned an eight now features is a slightly different thing
when it comes to features it's all the goodies that we want
we typically buy vehicles based on features and seating comfort
and this has got a lot of features not just all the great audio systems this is
a jbl audio system it's really great but it also has hd radio
and all your satellite radio connection and your apple carplay and such like
i've said but you're looking at some of the
features i really like some of the storage compartments in front of the
passenger side is this huge tray you can put sunglasses there you can put
your phone there you can put your lunch there whatever you want
on the left side there's a little storage bin too good for change maybe
your wallet depends on what you have with you in a
vehicle at this price point in the trim level that we're in which is the xse
has heated and air cooled seats as well as second row heated seats
not typical for a vehicle in that 38 thousand to forty thousand dollar range
of course when you load this thing up you're gonna be in the high forties
almost into fifty thousand the ability to change the buttons you
want i want just ev mode i wanna sport mode and eco mode
there's a bunch of different modes eco mode and of course
you can go to sport but there's also a trail mode i don't know if i'd take this
off-road maybe if i'm going to a campsite but
then you've got no place to plug in so these are just things you need to think
of standard prindle that's great two nice
cupholders the ability to put a large bottle of water either in the door or in
the center cup holder is much appreciated
memory seat on the driver's side has two buttons two settings that's great if
you've got different drivers the center console is nice soft
everything is soft everywhere you are the dash is nice soft touch i think
that's really important because nobody wants to deal with hard plastic
you just feel like you're not driving a car and they've really thought about all
those details even in the overhead console
there's a place for your sunglasses there's the ability to open this
big gigantic sunroof huge panoramic roof and it closes pretty
quick there's a lot of features in this
vehicle and they've really thought about how people are using it with all these
great features you would think there'd be lumbar on the
passenger side i think that's kind of important
i don't know what do you think you can put that down in the comments down below
i've got a lot of comments from past reviews of other vehicles and everyone
kind of thinks it would be nice to have lumbar on the passenger side why not but
overall for features it earned a nine when it comes to design of the new rav4
hybrid it looks like a regular rav4 and that's
not a bad thing and if you look at some of the other reviews we've done of the
rav4 and the rav4 hybrid you'll see that we
really like this vehicle but the design on the inside is excellent they've done
a really nice job the exterior is great especially the supersonic red
great color choices very exciting looking
it doesn't have everything that people would want when it comes to a hybrid but
they've really done a great job i mean i have to say this was more than we
expected so for design we gave it a nine when it comes to
quality this vehicle is well built it's a toyota it's to be expected and
there's a high bar and they've met that bar
so for quality you have to say look at things that you're getting
a head up display well designed well built in soft materials
everything every detail real stitching on the seats
and along the door panels they've really thought about all these little details
that i think get overlooked in many other vehicles especially some of the
competition so when you're comparing make sure to
check is it soft or is it plastic are the panels even
well the vehicles you're looking at probably the kia or the honda is going
to be well built when you're looking at quality of a
vehicle like this you're not going to be disappointed
and it earned a 10.
there's a lot of competition in this space there are other plug-in hybrids
that are coming in at different price points and they offer different features
now on the rav4 prime you can hold the button here on your remote or you can do
the kick underneath and in the back you'll see
the storage it's a little bit less than that of the regular rav4 the
regular rav4 has about four cubic feet less
but when you put the seats down you have a ton of room you can lift up the levers
move the seats back and forth really easy to use
storage wise in the back there is a ton of storage although you're losing a
little bit of storage there is a mini spare underneath this cover
also there's a spot for like your emergency kit and components
you've got your charge port outlet here which you can keep in the back because
you'll probably want to charge it every night
in addition to that you have a 120 volt outlet and you've got a plug-in for
maybe a cooler or something if you're going traveling
but when you're looking at the value overall vehicle starting in that 38
100 price range it came in about an eight when you're looking at what you're
getting from this vehicle compared to the competitors
as we get to the total of the car coach reports ratings for the rav4 prime
did toyota make its goal of not boring and not fast well it does have really
good pickup and the second fastest vehicle that toyota makes
with all that in mind considering we're not using these as race cars we're using
these as daily drivers and family vehicles
if you can get all the incentives combined and maybe some extras from your
company you might get even better value but it
gave it a total score of 83 and i don't think it's slow and
it's not really boring either so toyota did
accomplish their goal one of the most important things you can do is test
drive every vehicle in a category that makes a lot of sense and if you
like this video make sure to give it a like and a share subscribe
and if you got comments i bought the rav4 prime i bought the hybrid
maybe you bought one of the competitors we really want to hear that we want to
start the community start talking about this
this is a very popular car i was stopped by a lot of people including tesla
owners who wanted to know about this vehicle so
that tells you they're going to have great sales which
means there's not going to be a lot of incentives
but you should also know this would be worth the money
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