Plug me in! RAV4 hybrid bridges the NEV gap

IN THE real world here in South Africa, large-scale sales of fully electric vehicles are way off for several reasons which have been well documented, so it makes sense that for the foreseeable future, hybrid technology will be the most practical solution.

We see it in the number of hybrid options that have become available to us and it would be fair to say that Toyota is leading the charge, especially with their Corolla Cross Hybrid which makes up the bulk of their sales in the segment.

So on the back of the RAV4 GX Hybrid and Hybrid E-four, Toyota is dipping its toes into the water to see whether the RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid is a viable option locally.

The company has brought in eight vehicles as a market research exercise to test customer response, vehicle behaviour, infrastructure requirements and a number of other technical aspects before making a decision whether to sell them locally.

It also represents phase two of their New Energy Vehicle (NEV) roll-out plan, following the hybrid vehicle expansion strategy across Toyota’s mainstream product plan.

The Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) provides the ideal bridge between ICE and EV without the charging and range anxiety while still meeting emission standards.

Under the RAV4’S bonnet is a 2.5litre petrol engine paired to a 18.1kw lithium-ion battery below the passenger compartment connected to two motors driving both axles.

The ICE motor puts out 136kw and 227Nm while the front motor contributes 134kw and the rear 40kw, providing an additional 270 and 121Nm of torque – resulting in a total system output of 225kw.

The drivetrain, in fact the whole system, is an engineer’s dream come true. All wheel drive is courtesy of the electric motors while the engine powers the front wheels via a CVT transmission. The E-four system then switches between AWD and 2WD modes depending on conditions, with a dedicated Trail Mode for increased rear axle torque split. But that’s not all.

There are four different modes, with EV mode being the default setting with a range of up to 80km, depending on conditions HV mode is the traditional hybrid setting which the driver has an option to select and the car will automatically switch to HV if the battery drops below EV mode operation levels. Your journey will then continue despite the battery being depleted by using regenerative braking as well as the engine charging the battery, which Toyota says should give you a total range of more than 800km, again, depending on driving conditions.

Auto EV/HV mode allows the system to switch between electric and hybrid based on acceleration input. Charging Mode uses the engine to recharge the battery pack when a recharging station is not available and once it’s recharged, the system switches to HV mode.

It’s clearly a lot more complicated than a traditional ICE set-up which needs no charging station but when you do need to charge the RAV4 plug-in Hybrid, there are two options.

Toyota Mode 2 is for conventional AC 220-240V outlets which takes between seven and nine hours to charge with a built-in inverter that monitors temperature and current.

Mode 3 allows DC charging via dedicated charging stations using a 32A, 6.6kw charger which should see you juiced up again in two and a half hours.

Inside the PHEV RAV4 it’s based on the GX-R variant but instead of orange accent trim on the seats, centre console and dash, it’s been changed to red with blue illumination, in keeping with the hybrid theme.

The instrument cluster sees a dedicated battery state of charge dial replacing the tachometer while a plethora of vehicle information can be selected on the multi-information display unit.

We had a brief drive in the vehicle and the first thing you notice is how premium and spacious the cabin feels, with soft-touch surfaces in all the right places and ample space in the back for me to sit comfortably.

We drove only in EV mode with the range showing 75km and like all EVS, initial take-off when you floor the accelerator is impressive and very quiet.

The suspension felt perfectly weighted over bumpy suburban roads, where it’s likely to spend most of its time using the battery.

We’ll be spending more time with the RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid as part of Toyota’s research, but initial impressions are that it’s an impressive package and likely to be a more affordable and viable alternative to a full EV option.