A Hybrid That Doesn't Suck To Drive? 2020/2021 Toyota Rav4 Hybrid [Full Review!]

today we're going to review the new toyota rav4 hybrid a hybrid vehicle that doesn't suck to drive is it actually possible let's find out but first a rav4 montage [Music] if you know me you're well aware that i'm a huge fan of older cars especially the forgotten cars from the 80s and 90s while i love the older stuff they can be a bit needy and may not always be the best choice for a family car my heart tells me that i should buy a late 90s two-door rav4 but my mind tells me that isn't exactly practical for hauling around my family so today let's take an in-depth look at the new toyota rav4 hybrid it's extremely efficient decent looking and may even be the best rav4 yet let's take it on a road trip and find out if it's any good [Music] the rav4 was redesigned for 2019 and it looks pretty good i still like the mazda cx-5 better but this is a different approach while the cx-5 goes for the elegant and luxury look the rav4 opts for a more chunky rugged appearance [Music] the hybrid powertrain is an option on the le xle limited and standard on this xse hybrid here we've got the two-tone paint black 18-inch wheels black trim and optional blacked-out emblems and i'm glad that toyota finally listened and didn't put a gigantic grille on this new design unlike several of their recent offerings do you remember back in 96 when the first gen rav4 came to the market back then compact car-like suvs weren't really much of a thing the rav4 was actually quite unique especially considering they offered this small two-door the rav4 was a bit hard to categorize as american buyers were used to larger boxier truck-like suvs like the ford explorer toyota even marketed them as being different and wacky and not for from everyone it's out there fast forward to today and the latest rav4 is definitely for everyone toyota sells nearly 400 000 of these a year the rav4 has long been one of the best choices for a small suv and this latest model is no exception [Music] toyota knows hybrid powertrains they've been making them for over 20 years however their hybrid vehicles aren't exactly known to be fun to drive with cars like the prius and corolla hybrid they often feel excruciatingly slow but this rav4 hybrid is a different animal it's actually quicker than the non-hybrid rav4s under the hood is a 2.5 liter four-cylinder that's paired with two electric motors making the equivalent of 219 horsepower up from 203 for the non-hybrid version that's pretty decent the transmission is an e-cvt and all-wheel drive is standard for all hybrid rav4s another improvement over the previous gen rav4 hybrid is the fuel economy this is rated for 41 miles per gallon city and 38 highway or 40 miles per gallon combined that's a bit more than the honda crv hybrid and a touch less than the new ford escape hybrid and way more than the non-hybrid rav4 which gets 25 city and 33 highway and we can't talk about the rav4 hybrid without mentioning the rav4 prime if you want even better mileage the 2021 rav4 prime promises 38 miles per gallon or 94 miles per gallon equivalent on electric alone but supplies of the prime are said to be very limited toyota expects to only bring 5000 to the us for the 2021 model year so even if you wanted one you might not be able to get one if you require a decent gas mileage and a small suv right now the rav4 hybrid might be the way to go [Music] this thing actually has some personality it's not a luxury car but overall it does have an upscale appearance there are a few nice details that you'll notice right away like the soft touch materials [Music] this one has nice blue stitching everywhere speaking of touch i also quickly came to appreciate the rubberized door pulls which offer pleasing texture when shutting the door that similar texture can be found on the hvac controls and the storage cubbies speaking of storage there's a decent amount in here there's a reasonably sized center console perfect to store some of your kids things there are also storage areas up here and here great for your phones or your kids toys not as much storage space as a honda crv though but this vehicle is quite roomy i'm six foot three and i've got plenty of headroom and plenty of leg room seats are quite comfortable and in this xse trim we've got this softex imitation leather which looks really nice the two front seats are heated but no ventilated seats on the xse power driver's seat with two-way lumbar support and on the passenger side nothing if you're tall make sure you're the driver and not the passenger because there is no way to lower this passenger seat up here we've got toyota's entune 3.0 infotainment system it's slightly improved over previous entune systems the interface is more responsive it's easier to zoom maps but it still looks like it was designed a decade ago navigation on this system is still not my favorite i'd much prefer to just use apple carplay or android auto the xse gives you the panoramic rear view camera with dynamic grid lines that move with the car up here is this cool optional rear view mirror with camera display over here in front of the driver is a nice looking steering wheel with controls for the adaptive cruise control radio and driver display this also has the imitation leather which feels nice though i did notice the steering wheel trim feels a bit cheap here we've got the gauges and the driver information display which at first glance appears quite busy but after driving the car for a while you do start to get used to it you've got big gauges to the left and the right including this gigantic efficiency gauge on the left seems like overkill but i guess it could help you drive more efficiently if you're staring at that all the time a bit less legroom than the crv but not far behind and with the hybrid batteries located under the seats you'll find that the passenger space is actually the same as the non-hybrid rav4 latch anchors for baby seats are easy to get to with larger rear-facing baby seats you'll still need to move the front seats up just a bit i appreciate that the center seat belt comes out of the seat and not the ceiling and it makes it much easier to install a car seat in the center things do get a bit tight when you install a car seat and you still need to carry four adult passengers but it's not terrible and my parents didn't complain for your rear passenger comfort the xse hybrid comes with rear vents we also get two usb ports which honestly should be on every car nowadays we've got a power liftgate on the xse though it is slow here in the cargo area you'll find a generous amount of space and once again because those hybrid batteries are located under the seats this rav4 hybrid actually offers the same amount of cargo space as the non-hybrid version we fit a ton of stuff in here for our recent road trip we also get a full-size spare tire and a dual level load floor and no switch to fold the seats up or down from the back you'll have to reach up here or walk around to the sides okay let's see how this thing is to drive let's start with acceleration hybrids aren't exactly known for being quick off the line so let's test it out not bad zero to 60 miles per hour in about seven and a half seconds it's certainly not blistering fast from a stop but it has more than enough power for most situations passing at freeway speeds is a breeze [Music] in terms of feel some reviewers have said how they don't like the rav4's chassis how it's uninspiring i think that might just be a bit overstated most people will be perfectly happy with how this thing handles and how it rides it's not too soft not too harsh i think overall for a family suv you want it to soak up the bumps but not be so numb that you can't feel the road beneath you i did feel like the front end was a bit wandery on grooved pavement but that was my biggest complaint [Music] now this is the xse which is what toyota calls the sportiest model in the lineup and it has a sport tuned suspension but i'm not really sure there's much about this that i would call all that sporty it does have firmer damping and a more aggressive spring rate than other rav4 models it does feel a touch more crisp but instead of calling it sporty i might call it sport-ish but it's fine basically don't drive a mazda cx-5 right before you set foot in this car because the cx-5 is going to be a lot more fun overall the car is incredibly easy to drive the visibility is excellent all the way around there are three driving modes normal eco and sport and you can see the colors change when you change the modes these modes seem to primarily affect how the throttle is mapped i didn't notice much difference in terms of acceleration or passing power between these different modes sport mode has a more responsive throttle and eco mode is far less responsive trying to encourage you to conserve gas there's also a trail mode for light off-roading which sends a bit more power to the rear and in all ev mode which is limited by speed and battery charge keeping it from being very useful at all the cabin is pretty quiet with the exception of the droning that happens when you floor it but overall a very pleasant place to be now let's talk safety toyota always seems to engineer their vehicles to ace crash tests and this rav4 is no exception we've got eight airbags in here all rav4s also have a wide variety of standard safety features including auto braking adaptive cruise control lane departure warning lane keep assist this xse gives you blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert which is optional on lower trims put almost 800 miles on this car and over the course of this time with both freeway back road and city driving i've averaged 41 miles per gallon slightly better than epa estimates [Music] let's talk price before options the xse hybrid comes in at 34 600 with the premium audio xse tech package fog lights blacked out logos door sill protectors and floor mats this particular rav4 xse hybrid comes in at 38 307 but let's say maybe you just want a hybrid but you don't need all these extra features the rav4 hybrid le starts at 28 650. that's only a thousand dollars more than the rav4 led with all-wheel drive so if you were already set on getting an all-wheel drive rav4 i certainly recommend just getting the hybrid drivetrain since you'll likely pay for the extra cost in fuel savings within a couple years and if you want more efficiency and better performance see if you can try to track down a rav4 prime but you may have trouble finding one and dealers may be marking them up because they're in high demand so are there any major negatives not many but there is one issue that you'll have to think about toyota has acknowledged that the rav4 hybrid has an issue where the fuel gauge and distance to empty reading on the display isn't accurate this happened to me with the test car i was only able to achieve 380 miles before the display said the tank was empty i then refilled the tank and was only able to put in 10 gallons quite a bit shy of the 14.5 gallon tank there hasn't been a recall but as of january 2021 toyota has come up with a fix for affected vehicles let's talk competition you might also be considering the new honda crv hybrid the crv hybrid has a bit more passenger space but less cargo space the rav4 is also slightly more powerful how about the ford escape hybrid starting price are just about the same the escape gets slightly better mileage in the city but it also has significantly less cargo space if you're in the market for a fuel-efficient small suv the rav4 hybrid should be right there at the top of your list after living with this rav4 hybrid for the last week driving it nearly 800 miles around town on canyon roads and even on a road trip i think the hybrid is actually a better all-around vehicle than the non-hybrid version what do you think are you in the market for a fuel-efficient small suv which one would you go for let me know in the comments below please consider subscribing if you like my perspective on other new and used cars and videos about all of the forgotten obscure and strange cars that i purchase thanks so much see you soon [Music] [Music] [Applause] you

Channel: Hello Road

Views: 276,556

Keywords:

Id: E4LfuFe9_Fw

Length: 13min 9sec (789 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 30 2021