Toyota RAV4

RAV4 puts Toyota on the PHEV train

Toyota has finally accepted that the world wants a PHEV, and though it’s late to the party, the RAV4 is a great place to start, says Andrew Walker

Toyota – the self-styled ‘Kings of the selfcharging hybrid’ – has finally launched a PHEV, and it’s arrived in the form of the RAV4 Plug-In.

On the downside it’s expensive, with the range starting at £46,495, so this may not be the retail car for you.

On the plus side, however, you get a lot for your money: for a start it’s class leading, with Toyota claiming a 46-mile pure-electric range. Couple this to CO2 emissions of just 22g/km, which attracts a BIK of just seven per cent, and corporate customers should be salivating as this clever car really makes financial sense.

The RAV4 PHEV is offered in a choice of three specs. It starts with the Plug-In Design, which retails at £46,495 and features, among other items, 18” Grey Machined-face fivespoke alloys, 9” Toyota Touch 2 multimedia system with Smartphone integration, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, remote controlled dual-zone automatic air conditioning and a 32A Mennekes fast charger

Plug-In Dynamic from £47,395, with 19” Black Machined-face five-spoke alloys, a black bi-tone roof, wireless mobile phone charger and the 32A Mennekes fast charger

Finally, there’s the range topping Plug-In Dynamic Premium, which costs £50,895 and adds a Toyota Skyview panoramic roof, JBL Premium Sound System, driver and front passenger air ventilated seats and also comes with a 32A Mennekes fast charger.

Which ever trim level you pick you get a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine developing 182bhp and an 18.1kWh battery, which powers two electric motors. The front motor offers 134kW (176bhp) and the rear 40kW (53bhp).

The engine and electric motors don’t produce maximum output at the same time, so peak power is 302bhp, plenty enough for a 0-62mph time of just six seconds. Top speed is 112mph or in pure electric mode, it’s 84 mph.

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Most of the time the plug-in RAV4 drives through its electric motors, only occasionally driving the front wheels. The engine is there to mainly generate charge and it will only occasionally send power directly to the front wheels. The driver can flick through three modes – EV for pure electric running, EV/HV, which shuffles between fully electric and hybrid power automatically, HV for solely hybrid running.

There’s also a charging mode, which sees the engine top up the battery on the move. You can select this option from a button next to the gear lever, which is easy to do and a bonus when compared with many other plug-ins, in which you need to scroll through numerous touch screens to select this option.

Electric and combined range

If there’s enough battery charge, the RAV4 defaults to EV mode, only switching as required. Home charging means it takes 2.5 hours to charge to full on a 7.2kWh wall box such as those supplied by Rolev (see http:// www.rolecserv.com/home-charging); again, when compared to many other plug-ins, this is quick.

Toyota claims up to 46 miles of pure-electric driving is possible. We averaged 36 miles; admittedly that’s lower but this is still, in the

immortal words of Wayne Campbell, ‘way’ better than most other compatible plug-in’s pure electric range. The trick is, we found out, to save the EV charge for urban driving, while going full Hybrid on the motorway and utilising EV/HV in slower moving traffic.

The RAV’s digital display shows you just how well or how badly you’re doing in this regard and improving on this becomes a bit of a challenge for each journey as you try to do better then the previous one.

Toyota claims a staggering fuel economy of 282.5mpg, but this is nigh-on possible to achieve in the real world. In a wet and windy May driving 300 miles on combined roads, with 200 miles of that on the motorway, we averaged 56mpg. Plug-in on a daily basis, drive locally or in town and this could easily reach 70mpg.

Toyota claims up to 46 miles of pure electric driving... we averaged 36 miles... admittedly lower but it’s still way better than other comparative plug-ins ‘‘

RAV4 from its hybrid sibling. There’s dark plating at the bottom of the car, a dark mesh grille and the words ‘Plug-In’ have been added above Hybrid on the badging, but that’s about it.

It’s on the inside that you see big differences. We were testing the range-topping Dynamic Premium, which comes with a pair of comfortable red-stitched front leather seats and some matching dash trim. Toyota’s general build quality on its fixtures and fittings has certainly improved and almost all of the plastics you can touch and see in the RAV4 are of good quality, though you do find cheaper plastics on the door pockets and lower down on the centre binnacle.

The latest Toyota infotainment system now offers Apple CarPlay and Android Auto which are both simple to access through a USB. And our Dynamic Premium test car also featured a Wireless Mobile charger in front of the gear stick, where you can leave your smart phone while on the move.

Practicality

Storage options include a cubby under the front armrest, four decent-sized door bins, twin cup holders, space for keys or your phone in the dashboard front, average sized glove box and rear seat pockets as well. Thanks to the larger electric battery, you lose 60 litres of boot space over the standard hybrid RAV4, so 520 litres is on offer.

There’s plenty of room inside for five adults to get comfortable. The rear seats are split 60:40, not individually and tilt, but don’t slide.

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CC&V VERDICT

Low BIK coupled to a pure electric range of 40+ miles, make this Toyota well worth a look.

CC&V RATING:

N N N N

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The boot doesn’t feature quick-release seat lowering, which nowadays feels like a mistake.

Driving

On the Toyota/Lexus self-charging range the CVT gearbox has been accused of being a bit whiney, but in the plug-in, the transition between petrol-hybrid and pure EV is smooth enough not to notice, which makes driving very relaxing.

Around town and in slower traffic the RAV4 really shines. Start the engine and well, there’s nothing to hear and as you pull away the car moves forward on battery power. As your speed increases and you switch to hybrid mode, the petrol engine kicks in. In traffic it’s sublime and ever so quiet. On the motorway there’s enough power on offer to comfortably join the carriageway at motorway speeds and plenty of power to overtake slow moving vehicles.

Some wind and road noise does enter the cabin, but its not loud enough to prevent the use of your Bluetooth device or Apple CarPlay to make hands-free calls. The excellent JBL sound system fitted to the Dynamic Premium model allowed me to listen in clarity to my favourite DAB radio stations. The built-in SatNav was easy to programme and the touchscreen functions worked well, but as with other SatNavs, Google Maps via Apple CarPlay looks and works better. It’s hard to criticise the dashboard and its functionality except to say that it’s a little bland.

We took to the motorway in Eco mode, which dulls the throttle but increases fuel economy. Sport mode adds a bit of fun and when you put your foot down, this plug-in feels rapid, with screeching tyres from a standing start a testament to this.

Like all cars containing batteries for electric motoring, the RAV4 plug-in is heavy, so it feels a little more sluggish into and out of tight corners and is a little less forgiving at slower speeds, especially when you are driving over pot-holed roads or poor road surfaces. On the plus side, however, the power steering is light and with the rear view camera, it’s easy to park. It’s built for comfortable city dawdling and straight line relaxation at which it excels.

Conclusion

With a retail price close to £50,000, the RAV4 plug-in is most definitely a company car proposition and not one for retail. With just 7% BIK, any business customer who selects one will pay a lot less to the Treasury – around £1,250-£1,500 per year as a 40% taxpayer – than a standard self-charging RAV4 would set you back.

Inside it’s spacious, well put together, features on-trend safety and the latest tech. Toyota’s rock solid reliability is a given.

Most importantly, it’s pure electric range of 35-46 miles puts it right at the top of the tree compared to other PHEVs, especially when you consider that it’s a large SUV built to carry a family of five.