First drive Toyota RAV4 Hybrid

The new Toyota RAV4 will only be sold as a hybrid model in the UK

LA PEDRERA or Casa Mila is one of Barcelona’s extraordinary Gaudi buildings and a fitting starting point for our road trip up into the mountains beyond the great Spanish city. It was commissioned by developer Pere Mila and his wife Roser Segimon in 1905 and was restored more recently in the late eighties and nineties to become a major attraction.

It is a significant building in the city remarkable for its stonework and iron balconies, magical at night and striking as we drove past it in the new Toyota RAV4 Hybrid the next morning.

This car has its own kind of significance too. The hybrid will be the only model available in the UK from April this year, marking a move by one of the world’s biggest motor companies to alternative fuel in a popular and mainstream vehicle. It also, like many other Toyota hybrids, recharges its battery as you drive so no need to remember to plug-in all the time or seek out wall boxes and public charging stations.

The choice for consumers who desire this car – and it is and always has been a very desirable model – will be simple, two wheel

DRIVEFACTS

MAKE: Toyota MODEL: RAV4 Hybrid

HOW MUCH: £29,635 - £36,640 HOW FAST: 112mph 0-60mph: 8.1 seconds ECONOMY: 52mpg combined EMISSIONS: TBC