More powerful Toyota RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrid to go on sale in the US

While the Toyota RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrid referred to as the fastest and the most powerful RAV4 to date will hit the US showrooms by mid-2020, its Australian launch is still not on track. According to Toyota Australia, currently, they are busy clearing backlog orders for the regular RAV4 Hybrid, some variants of which would take up to four months to deliver. In some cases, the wait is estimated to be more than a year, as told by customers. Meaning you can expect a substantial delay in RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrid’s launch.

Further Toyota said, “We don’t have anything to announce on the introduction of (plug-in hybrids) to Australia today. We’re not ruling it out, and are studying the possibility of introducing (the technology) in the future.”

Despite technology being available, Toyota is not considering to launch it locally. For unawares, Toyota is the market leader in producing the petrol-electric hybrid cars whose onboard battery can be charged while normal driving, although for a limited electric boost. Nevertheless, we are in for a delay and all we can do is, wait.

The new Toyota RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrid is said to have an electric travel range of 62 km. After this, the petrol engine takes over. According to Toyota, this is the best travel range in real-world driving conditions in the present-day market by a plug-in hybrid SUV. 

The regular RAV4 Hybrid comes with a 2.5-litre petrol engine wherein the front wheels are powered by the engine while the rear ones get additional on-demand power from the electric motor. The new RAV4 plug-in hybrid, on the other hand, is more powerful than the former. It comes with a more powerful electric motor and a bigger lithium-ion battery pack. It is capable of churning out a max combined power (from the engine and electric motor) of 306 PS, which is 34 PS more than what a 3.5-litre V6 RAV4 produces. 

In comparison with the RAV4 V6 and the regular RAV4 Hybrid, the RAV4 plug-in hybrid is half a second and two seconds quicker than the formers respectively. It clocks 100 kmph from standstill in about six seconds. The regular RAV4 Hybrid achieves the same feat in about 4 seconds while the RAV4 V6 requires 6.5 seconds. 

Also read: Toyota joins hand with BYD for a joint EV company