Featured Rav4 Prime vs Tesla?

It depends on your situation (sorry for the cliche start to the response)

• What is your commute length? Even if the one-way trip uses up the entire charge, you're dropping your consumption by half. Of course if you can make it round trip, that's even better
• Note that 42 miles will range from 32ish for a typical PNW winter to 50...52 miles in the summer (or at least a normal day.. not a heat wave). Of course if it snows and you're pushing that wet snow around, it'll drop considerably.

RAV4 Prime
Pros:

• Toyota reliability - you know the powertrain will last
• Warranty - hybrid battery for all 2020 and newer models extended to 10 years/150,000 miles. I believe the rest of the hybrid components (inverter, converter, cables etc) are still 8 years/100,000 miles
• Familiarity (your previous car is an LX... it's a Toyota vehicle so there's familiarity with the controls and layout and quirks)
• Spare tyre (if that matters)
• Ability to use gasoline when needed (power outage, forgot to charge, road trips)
• Flexibility to use charging stations (don't have to charge if the stations are full or if it costs more than it does to charge at home or gasoline costs)
• Maintenance is similar to a regular Toyota hybrid - You're still paying for labour so the only maintenance stuff you save is actual product like engine oil or engine coolant (but that's not until 100,000 miles for the first change of "super long life" engine coolant)
• Higher ground clearance for wet snow
• Flexible cargo area for hauling things (luggage, Home Depot etc)

Cons:

• Still has a gas engine
• Gateway drug to EV ownership - could possibly make you wanting more than 42 miles of EV range lol
• Doesn't handle as well as a sedan

Model 3
Pros:

• It's a Tesla - brand name cache for advanced technology
• It's a full EV - no more engine noise, rumbling or gas station visits
• Tesla's supercharger network - yes it can be busy but it really makes road trips viable in an EV (and you have the option to buy a CHADeMO adapter although I guess non-Tesla EV owners might be annoyed you decide to use their DCFCs rather than the Superchargers)
  
• There are a growing number of destination chargers (so these are Tesla home chargers that charge at up to 10kW at hotels, shopping mall garages etc) so you still can get a faster charge than your typical 6.6kW Level 2 charger that other EVs use
• They're fast - SR+ gets to 60 around 5.6 secs (I thought a software update brought that closer to 5.0sec? Can a TM3 owner verify) and the LR AWD is around 4.6. (and the P3 is 3.4). The RAV4 Prime does it in 5.8 secs so it can hold its own
• They're decently spacious - Good headroom and legroom and a really good pass-through when you fold down the rear seats compared to other sedans
• Advanced driver assist systems with better lane keeping systems than others - and of course traffic sign recognition and auto start/stop for the cruise control system (Toyota's system requires you to tap the accelerator or push "RES" on the CC stalk to get the car to move again)
• The "it's constantly updating and improving" aspects of Tesla's software
• The range estimate is very accurate and the navigation software (if equipped) will give you an accurate range remaining at your destination and updates in real time - you can see a graph of energy use and range left at different average times (past 5 minutes, past 15 minutes, past 30 minutes) so range anxiety is not an issue.
• Better handling - it's a sedan vs. the RAV4's SUV stance

Cons:

• The hardware is typically set in stone like any other car so while other cars usually change every few years (like a midlife update), your car can differ from the car built one month before and one month after so it can be hard to know what improvements were done to your car.
• Tesla doesn't tend to update their previous cars - e.g. any of the advancements found on the Model Y isn't applied to the S, X or 3 for some reason so the S is essentially the same from 2012 but with improvements to the software and some of the electronics (like the MCU... don't buy early build Model Ses....google MCU)
• Potentially expensive windshield repair cost (it's half of your panoramic roof so it's a large piece of glass... make sure you stay back from any 18-wheeler or vehicles without mudguards)
• You are being tracked everywhere (I mean.. your car IS connected to Tesla's server for the purposes of constantly updating AutoPilot and their FSD software, as well as Tesla Supercharger network use... it's why everything works so seamlessly). Now, Toyota does track as well via Entune 3.0 but you can opt out by not using their services. But your Toyota's software does still keep a log of excessive accelerator and brake pedal application but it's only accessible via techstream software (and I guess only if you request to see it)

If you were to get a Model 3, I would push for the LR for a few reasons

• Longer range means more flexibility in road trip planning (as well as greater buffer if you find a charging station full and need to go to the next one)
• The LR gets the 10kW charger while the SR+ gets a 7kW charger... won't make a difference at home unless you can supply 3-phase 203V at 50A at home but it can make a difference at destination chargers (assuming again it can supply 10kW)
• I've seen TM3s used as family vehicles even with car seats (if you're in that stage of life). Funny how people can live with sedans, eh?

So there's not a lot of cons for the Model 3 and most are just nitpicking.

Yeah but with 42 miles of AER, gas consumption isn't going to be high.