KINGSTON, Ont. — The only thing wrong with Toyota’s new plug-in RAV4 Prime is that, well, you can’t buy one. At least, not if you’re in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, or the Maritimes. Wave all the cash around you want. Call your “friend” at the Toyota dealership. Hell, call the president of Toyota. You ain’t getting a RAV4 Prime this year, and maybe not next year, either.
Toyota Canada won’t let that happen, but because it has a ZEV mandate that forces Toyota to sell a minimum number of plug-ins in the province each year, Quebec will get the lion’s share. British Columbia will then get its tithe, and what’s left over will be sent to the “rest of Canada.” My best guess is that dealers not in the aforementioned two provinces might get two, possibly three RAV4 Primes to sell in 2021.
Now, here’s the big news: The Prime exceeds those expectations. In my brief test, it got 65 kilometres before the gas engine had to fire. “But Dave,” I hear you saying. “How can that be exceeding expectations? Indeed, the RAV4 Prime comes together better than any gas/electric combinations before it. I suspect it’s because so much more of the power is electric; on the first hybrids — the eponymous Prius — the electric motor always felt like an add-on, an assistant to the real deal, if you will. Even in the RAV4 Hybrid, the gas engine is dominant, the 2.5L inline-four lording over the two electric motors — 80 kilowatts to the front axle, 40 to the rear.
drivingdotca Should say promoted. This is an ad.