Loving my Prime, but is time to go bigger?

Depends upon what your needs truly are. Our upgrade from Prius Prime to bZ4X has been great. The extra room is quite handy. Bike trips (with 2" hitch) are very nice. Road trips within a 100-mile radius are no-brainers. (Farther takes planning, still. But new DC fast-chargers are already helping with that.) AWD on snow is awesome. I get a lot more free electricity from the chargers at work, so much so, I don't plug in much at home.

Winter will be especially interesting. I didn't get much winter driving opportunity this year, just a blizzard which dumped a ton of snow. Here in Minnesota, the infrared-heaters (radiant warming for your legs & feet) have already been handy. Along with the heated seat & steering-wheel, there's much less demand on the heat-pump.

Anywho, the choice worked out really well for us. You'd be happy with a RAV4 Prime. But as the years go by, you'll likely have that same attention-getting wonder as you do now with the Prius Prime.

 

i took a hard look at the rav4 prime when shooping for a new car recently. the dealer had 2 in front of the showroom that had just come off one year lease.
i liked everything about it, but in the end, decided it was just too much car for me, and my wife wanted another hybrid camry even though a phev would really suited her needs better.
if you need more interior space, and you like the feel of the drive, i would go for it.

 

I sat it the display model for 30 seconds. My in depth review is I really liked it and wish I had a bZ4X, without the paying money part. A front drive would be fine and it has all the stuff standard I want. It was actually a Subaru, salesman said they have to order parts from Toyota.

 

i like them too, considered one until i saw the price.

 

How was the charging in below 0F temperature? Did you have any? Reviews I read weren't too kind to the BZ4X.

 

It's all about expectations. Energy used solely for the purpose of delivering the fastest speed possible the moment they plugged in isn't something Toyota wants to be part of. Those reviewers didn't give a damn about overall consumption. So, they were quite upset about having to wait for the pack to be heated. Absence of patience is a common trait among enthusiasts.

For me, I couldn't care less. If I find myself in need of DC fast-charging during the depth of winter, I can wait. It shouldn't take long with that much electricity available. 99% of the time, it will be a complete non-issue. I simply won't need that much of a recharge. At 0°F with my Prius Prime, ordinary level-2 charging worked just fine. That is mostly all I will ever need for the bZ4X too.

Monitoring battery-heater behavior as the temperature drops has been interesting. It looks a look like Toyota went to great lengths to minimize energy loss by striving to keep the pack at room temperature. As I drive, I can see demand from the battery-heater being reduced. Taking advantage of warmth created by driving would indeed mean less electricity required.

Also, keep in mind that reviewers don't take advantage of infrared-heaters... an opportunity to squeeze out greater efficiency other automakers haven't bothered to try. I really like the radiant warming they provide... which equates to reduced need for the cabin-heater.

 

The Rav4 Prime has been the hot Toyota since it was introduced in December 2019. Decent commuting ev range but an exceptional 302 hp powertrain. They still get $10k-$15 over msrp around here. Aside from the power and ev range, a Rav4 hybrid is the same driving experience for much less.

 

these have been sitting on the lot since i bought our hycam a few weeks ago

used-vehicles

 

must be why they're still collecting pollen

 

Hi... I learned trying to message you yesterday that an ipad on an unstable surface isn't the best way to do it. Sorry for some incomplete poorly edited messages.

Anyway, to summarize, have a 2021 Rav4Prime SE. Added a genuine Toyota hitch (ground clearance loss with aftermarket) which works really well for bike racks.

So far range on a full charge is about 81-82km. Most driving is city/highway commute to work. If I'm running it as a hybrid, I get maybe 6-6.5 l /100km. And it's usually on a longer, highway trip that I run out of charge.

It certainly charges more quickly than the Prius... I think american spec Rav4p's may have a slower charger also.

This car came with Dunlop all-seasons which I'm not crazy about, and I got Michelin Xice (and Costco C wheels alloy rims) for winter. Michelin Cross Climates will be going on when the Dunlops wear out.

Keep in mind Canadian Rav's DON'T have tpms... my kids aren't as attentive to tire pressure, so I wish it did.


If there is one thing I regret about the Rav.... maybe I should have got the XSE trim level. Now that I have a few more bells and whistles on the Prius XSE, I think I would have enjoyed them on the RAV also.

But it's a really good choice, and unless you're moving a kid into university(!!) it has enough room for just about any task.