The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
RAV4Hybrid: Best of bothworlds
The Toyota RAV4 Hybrid demonstrates just what has happened in the world of hybrid vehicles.
No longer are vehicles – or their owners – defined by their powertrain.
In fact, driving the RAV4 Hybrid is a pleasant experience and many people riding in it, or even driving it, might not notice that this is a hybrid. Granted that requires they be unaware of when the engine is running or not, but the noise level isn’t so great that this is out of the question. Okay maybe that’s a scary thought, but our world is full of people who are fairly oblivious to their surroundings.
I have driven a number of hybrids in the past several months, and what that really means is that there are a lot more of themnow. More importantly they are now a powertrain option in a vehicle which already has its niche in the world.
The RAV-4 is a great example of this. Twenty-two years ago, the RAV- 4 was the first “cute-ute” a category of car which is perhaps the most savagely competitive segment in North America, if not around the world.
Originally that term applied on small, truck-looking vehicles built on compact car platforms. From the beginning they have been popular. They no longer look sort of like trucks, they have truly become their own genre.
Since Chrysler and Ford have announced reducing their product line by every car except a couple, these crossovers are going to be the primary vehicle most Americans will buy and drive in the coming decade or so.
It pleases me that there are various powertrains, trim-level focus and capabilities offered of the same basic vehicle. In the case of the 2018 RAV-4 you can get it plain, souped-up with a hybrid motor, twigged to be a bit more serious about going off-road, or an all-wheel drive vehicle that brings a greater sense of safety to the folks inside.
The RAV-4 I tested was the Hybrid XLE, so it fell in the last category. It is allwheel drive, but clearly an on-road vehicle. This is the base model of the Hybrids, but that didn’t make it featureless. The interior, which has grown over the decades, is comfortable and has no feeling of base model.
It, as with all 2018 RAV4 grades, comes standard with Toyota Safety Sense P, which combines the PreCollision System with Pedestrian Detection, Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist, automatic high beams and adaptive cruise control.
Other optional and standard features include standard Hill-Start Assist Control and a rear backup camera. Options include a Blind Spot Monitor with Rear Cross Traffic Alert. These do come standard on Limited, Platinum, and SE Hybrid trim levels.
All hybrids have allwheel drive. With this system a second, independent, electric motor drives the rear wheels when the system senses the front- wheels need some help. That makes it the liveliest RAV-4, as is often the case with hybrids.
The powertrain uses the same 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine and a small high-torque electric motor through its unique transaxle, as well as another in the rear. Together they produce 194 system horsepower.
The RAV- 4’s hybrid system varies power between the gas engine and electric motor adding power as necessary. This gives it an EPA-estimated rating is 34 mpg in the city and 30 mpg on the highway.
If you aren’t watching it is very difficult to tell when the electric motors are joining in. The car also uses regenerative braking, which uses the brakes as a generator to capture energy from the wheels, sending it to the car’s nickel-metal hydride battery pack.
The structure of this car is decently stiff, making it easier to tune the suspension to fit the vehicle. That means that attaching the MacPherson strut-type suspension up front and double-wishbones in the rear can be tuned precisely. The electric power rack-andpinion steering is speedsensitive.
All this makes the RAV-4 a pleasant crossover to drive in most circumstances. While it is comfortable and discrete during daily suburban tasks, that doesn’t make it less fun if you have a chance to play on some winding country roads. In both conditions the RAV- 4 maintains its balance, remaining comfortable and quite in the cabin.
The MSRP for the model I tested, the XLEAWD, was $29,130. The top of the line is the RAV- 4 Hybrid Limited AWD $34,130. Toyota has announced the next generation RAV- 4 is coming next year, so buyers should be able to do better than these prices.