The Toyota RAV4 PHEV rides on bespoke 19-inch alloy wheels. Picture: Toyota
While some carmakers have put all their eggs into a solitary basket regarding a future energy solution, Toyota has taken a more measured approach.
For the world’s most popular manufacturer, everything is still on the table ranging from hydrogen to all-electric and everything in between.
While automotive world is largely still in a discovery phase regarding a permanent long-term successor to internal combustion engines, Toyota believes hybrid solutions have a massive role to play in the interim.
Having introduced battery hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) in a variety of its model ranges over the last few years, Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) is now in the process of considering plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV) for the local market.
According to TSAM, it has imported a number of these RAV4s “as a market research exercise to test customer response, vehicle behaviour, infrastructure requirements and other technical aspects as well as educate customers on the plug-in technology”.
The Citizen Motoring recently had to chance to spend a week in one of these Toyota RAV4 plug-in hybrids, which made its global debut in 2021 but is not for sale locally yet.
The difference between standard hybrids and plug-in hybrids is that that the latter offers external charging which allows an all-electric range over and above the range offered by the internal combustion engine.
The electric range is notable shorter than that of an all-electric battery vehicle (BEV), as the plug-in hybrid has a much smaller battery than the BEV.
In the Toyota RAV4 PHEV’s case, a 2.5-litre petrol engine is paired with an 18.1-kWh battery and two electric motors, one situated on each axle.
The mill itself punches put 136 kW of power and 227 Nm of torque, with the two electric motors providing 134kW/270Nm and 40kW/121Nm respectively. Combined, the power output goes up to 225 kW. As the most powerful RAV4, we discovered this car is really quick.
The plug-in hybrid is capable of a pure electric range of up to 80 km, while the engine and battery together can provide a total range of 800 km.
The beauty of the Toyota RAV4 PHEV is that you do not need any fast chargers or change your to change your daily routine to keep it on the road.
The battery takes seven to nine hours to charge which can be done by using a normal wall socket overnight. This means that it will probably be able to fully charge overnight even with loadshedding.
With access to a fast charger, it can be done in two and a half hours.
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The 80 km electric range should be enough for most South Africans’ daily commuting, while the peace of mind which goes with having an internal combustion engine and fuel tank eliminates any range anxiety worries often associated with BEVs. And should the most of your travelling be done off the battery, the electricity charging it at home will potentially halve your fuel bill.
We managed to achieve a fuel economy of 4.8 litres per 100 km over the course of 400 km of which the first 50 km was purely off the battery.
The best part of the hybrid system is that it does not need any input from the driver and alternates seamlessly between the battery and the engine.
The only thing not to like about the plug-in hybrid Toyota RAV4 will probably be the price. The standard hybrid Toyota RAV4 E-Four is already touching on R700k with the plug-in version set to be even more.
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