2022 Toyota RAV4 Prime Review: Almost Silently Perfect

The 2022 Toyota RAV4 life up to its meat-and-potatoes buzz, but the Prime serves up environmentally friendly-car or truck pink meat. With the RAV4, Toyota hits a bulls-eye for compact crossover SUV styling and functions, nevertheless inside place misses some important marks by mere inches. Its Prime plug-in is a gem, and that helps make it a rival for the Ford Escape as very well as the Honda CR-V and Subaru Forester.

Toyota has tweaked the crossover’s exterior and inside. Most notably, it now sells an SE Hybrid with cloth upholstery and a 7.-inch touchscreen and 6-speaker audio it can be optioned with heated front seats, a sunroof, a electrical power tailgate, and a 9.-inch touchscreen. Up to date headlights on all types at or over the XLE grade could assist its safety score, also.

The RAV4 faucets rugged aspects and angles for a completely ready-to-rumble appear. It hits loads of large notes and can take a lot of angular odds and it all works. With hints of 4Runner and Tacoma in its profile, the stylish RAV4 has a squat stance and an abundance of angles that all hang with each other. The adventurous physique has trim home windows and a small-hunting roofline, with swole fenders that get positively chunky in Journey and TRD Off-Highway spec. It can be difficult and uncomfortable to spec out 1 silhouette with luxurious information like a mesh grille and, in a further version, with black fender trim and a black-painted roof, but Toyota’s performed so with the RAV4. Even Primes get their possess grille and gloss-black bumper, for a contact of visible distinction.

Exceedingly rare on dealer tons, the Prime gets a large 18.1-kwh battery pack with electric powered motors to produce 302 hp. Until eventually the Supra arrived together, that designed the Prime the quickest Toyota car or truck, period. With a -60 mph time of 5.7 seconds, and a tauter activity suspension, the RAV4 Key launches with authority, handles with aplomb, and can be toggled into an EV-only manner for up to 42 miles of battery-electric driving. The battery provides about 500 lb to suppress bodyweight, and that shows up in extra understeer in tightly kinked roadways, but it’s a hushed push however, a inexperienced thrill to be sought out. We frequently observed all electrical variety all-around 50 miles.

Get the RAV4 Key for max efficiency f you can come across a single. The RAV4 Prime will get scored at up to 42 miles of electric powered-only driving, and at 94 MPGe for all round effectiveness, or 38 mpg merged with fuel overall economy estimates of 41/38/40 mpg with standard all-wheel generate.

The IIHS gave the RAV4 a Top rated Security Decide on award in the former model year for the Hybrid Confined with its extravagant adaptive headlights. Most other types have sported LED headlights rated “Marginal” Hybrids’ headlights have been rated “Poor.” Toyota has upgraded the headlights this 12 months on the XLE and all types previously mentioned it, so we’ll update the success in this article when new facts is published.

The NHTSA, in the meantime, presents the RAV4 5 stars in general, but that will come with a four-star rating for front-effects security. Alongside with automatic crisis braking, all RAV4s appear with adaptive cruise control,  active lane manage, and automatic higher beams. Blind-location monitors can be fitted, and they are proposed due to the fact thick roof pillars blot out some of the view to the rear.

The cabin could boost on some of its more challenging plastics, but what performs below is the simplicity of its structure. A horizontal line across the sprint presents the RAV4 a calmness that’s brightened up by metallic trim around the vents and the change lever. Spendy variations can don synthetic leather-based and contrast-colour stitching, even a significant 9.-inch touchscreen, but the seem stays the exact: considerate and restrained, with no being boring.

The RAV4’s adventurous shape trims back again some utility. Cargo fares perfectly in the hottest RAV4. It sporting activities lots of tiny bins and shelves for stuff like smartphones and h2o bottles. The again seat folds down, too, which boosts its 31 cubic feet of cargo room to about 63 cubic toes considering the fact that the Primes reduce about 6 cubic toes to more substantial battery packs. The cargo flooring sits at a fantastic peak for loading, and many designs have or offer a electrical power tailgate.

The optional sunroof cuts into what is already trim head place for 6-footers, while at 6’1” yours really suits just barely. The driving situation satisfies many human body sorts, while, and Toyota adds heating and synthetic leather-based upholstery to some variations. In back again, the RAV4’s 37 inches of leg room match tall passengers wonderful, but head room continue to checks in on the slim facet. Shoulder space will come at a premium: A third passenger can elbow their way into the middle seat, but no a person will want to trip that way for prolonged.

The RAV4 provides respectable price but the Key tends to make us splurge. We extremely advise the RAV4 Prime with its plug-in 302-hp drivetrain, but it is truly complicated to locate on vendor heaps and at current, will come with major markup above its sticker price of just down below $40,000. It will get a activity suspension, cosmetic add-ons, an out there 9.-inch touchscreen, an audio subwoofer, a sunroof, and synthetic leather-based upholstery with purple accents.

With the RAV4, Toyota has caught the veritable sweet-place of the small SUV class. The 2022 Toyota RAV4 is a excellent competitor in the compact crossover course, a single that the Prime just tends to make greater. It does anything you’d want with Toyota refinement and trustworthiness, and in Hybrid and Primary versions, wonderful gas financial system. The 2022 Toyota RAV4 Primary is an amazing crossover, probably the best just one that Toyota builds.