ON TEST: TOYOTA RAV 4
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Toyota takes plug-in hybrid range to another level with the RAV 4 Andrew Walker gets to grips with another ‘new entry’ to the PHEV ranks, the Toyota RAV 4 Toyota – the ‘Kings of the self-charging hybrid’ – finally launched a PHEV last year, in the form of the RAV4 Plug-In. On the down side, it’s expensive, with the range starting at £46,495, so this may not be the retail car for you. On the plus side, 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 7%, and corporate customers should be salivating at the thought of buying one as this clever car really makes financial sense. The RAV4 PHEV is offered in a choice of three specs. Plug-In Design, which retails at £46,495 and features, 18” Grey Machined-face five-spoke 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.
30 | June 2022 | Company Car and Van
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 Or 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. Engine The Plug-In RAV4 is powered by 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 6 seconds. Top speed is 112mph or, in pure electric mode, 84 mph. 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, and HV for solely hybrid running. There’s also a charging mode through which the engine tops 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 in many other plug-ins, 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, (http://www.rolecserv.com/home-charging) which, when compared to many other plug-ins, is quick. Toyota claims up to 46 miles of pure-electric driving is possible. We averaged 36 miles; that’s lower but is still, in the immortal words of Wayne Campbell, ‘way’ better than most other compatible plug-in’s pure electric range. Continued on page 32
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