Times Five

Think the RAV4 is boring? Wrong. Toyota has constantly reinvented it over the past 25 years, writes David Linklater.

The original

You can’t change tack when you’re the first. But you could argue the original RAV4 of 1994 helped the entire motor industry change tack.

Its blend of off-roader styling with road-car underpinnings (and a dash of warm hatchback thanks to some cheeky styling detail) seemed silly at the time. Who could possibly want a vehicle with high ground clearance that looked like a 4x4 but was designed for on-road driving?

Pretty much everybody, as we now know. The first-generation RAV4 set the template for what it now means to be a modern SUV. It’s so familiar now . . . but back in the mid-1990s, this model was a revolution.

The five-door

The first-generation RAV4 was so radical, it was launched only in three-door form. That was the format of the ‘‘Recreational Active Vehicle’’ concept from 1989 that it was based on and it made perfect sense, because it was all a bit niche.

But just before the launch of the production RAV4, Toyota had already started development of a five-door. It was launched in 1995 and really marked the RAV4’s acceptance by the public and its entry into the mainstream.

The groundbreaking RAV4 already had a rival by that time: Honda’s equally fashion-forward CR-V five-door.

The EV

From the did-you-know department: Toyota has produced two pure-electric versions of the RAV4.

The first (1997-2003) used the same Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries as the Prius hybrid – just a lot more of them. The 27kWh power pack was enough to take the RAV EV nearly 200km between charges. It was only available for lease in California initially, although many were later sold to private buyers.

Another EV was built around the third-generation RAV4 from 2012-14. The lithium batteries (42kWh) were designed with help from Tesla and the official range was 166km.

The short and the long

The third generation RAV4 was only available as a five-door, but had the distinction of being produced in both short and longwheelbase versions (100mm difference between the two).

New Zealand was one of the few markets where you could buy both new: the petrol models were long, whereas the diesel was short.

The longer version gave rise to many different variants, including a V6-powered seven-seat version – which will be familiar to Kiwis as a Japanese used import called the Vanguard.

The hybrid

Toyota introduced hybrid technology to the fourth-generation RAV4 in 2013, but the concept hit its stride with the new fifth-generation model (the first petrol-electric RAV4 to be sold new in New Zealand). It’s essentially the same technology you get in the Prius and Corolla, but it’s all in the packaging. Medium-sized SUVs are booming around the world and environmental impact is now a big talking point for new cars.

The RAV4 hybrid puts a bigselling mainstream car together with technology that saves around 30 per cent in fuel consumption compared with a conventional petrol-powered model.