RAV4 Prime | Top 5 Reasons to Choose Over Hybrid

In this video I discuss my top 5 reasons for still choosing a RAV4 Prime over the Hybrid, even though the Federal Tax Incentive is no longer available.
Favorite Equipment for RAV4 Prime:
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- Hella Horn - amzn.to/3oOh4OL
- Petsafe Dog Barrier - amzn.to/428OjL1
- Toyota RAV4 OEM Crossbars - amzn.to/41L5fHA
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[@reaality3860]

My reasons to not choose the plug-in hybrid over the regular hybrid: I don't have outside electric outlets. I don't have an electric supercharger. I don't have a garage. I don't have a carport. My vehicles sleep under the stars. My 2022 RAV4 Hybrid averages 40 MPG and that's good enough for me.

[@GoldenK9Campers]

Those are some good reasons !!

[@randalllewis4485]

Love the car. 90 percent of my daily driving is electric, but we can take those longer trips when we want in the same comfort. I normally charge overnight but we have experienced a few circumstances where faster charging would have been helpful and avoided gasoline use. I'm investing in a Level 2 home charger to reduce charging time from 12 to 4 hours as our electric utility is offering rebates on chargers.

[@GoldenK9Campers]

Nice!! Thanks for sharing

[@meminvalle2248]

I have. Mitsubishi outlander. Phev. Very happy. No use gas

[@GoldenK9Campers]

It's a really nice SUV !!

[@rickwilliams5457]

Great shine on your RAV4 Prime, I am talking delivery of my 2023 RAV4 Prime XSE in 1 month, same colour as yours. What wax did you use ? Many thanks

[@GoldenK9Campers]

Thanks!! Magnetic Grey is a beautiful color. I love it. It still looks great even though we don't take great care of the paint as well as we should. One thing I would recommend is seriously consider getting paint protection film for the front, hood, sideview mirrors, and maybe doors. The paint is so soft, and it scratches very easily.

[@ethanlikespizza]

@@GoldenK9Campers Can you talk about the primes battery's life expectancy and performance in extreme weather like heat and cold. I am moving to Pheonix, Arizona, and I want to understand if it is worth getting a battery car like the prime but extreme heat on the battery may not be worth it. Please and thank you!

[@GoldenK9Campers]

@@ethanlikespizza Hm, don't know about life expectancy. I did purchase the extended warranty and got it pretty cheap, so that does give me some peace of mind. The nice thing about plugin hybrids though, is even if the battery does lose a bit of it's efficiency, you may lose a little bit of EV range, but you still have the great hybrid fuel efficiency. I live in Vegas, and it handles the heat just fine as far as the AC goes. Super cold air.

[@fallguy4209]

@@ethanlikespizza 10 years or 150,000 miles

[@laura-ann.0726]

I took delivery of my R4P SE last week, and it's everything I hoped for, except not the color I wanted. I prefer white exterior paint, so the car doesn't get so hot in summer, but my #1 priority was to find one without the moon roof option, and after 2-1/2 years of searching, the best I could do was one in "Blueprint" (an extremely dark purplish-blue that's almost black). Since it had to have a plain steel roof, that limited me to an SE, since all the XSE's have a glass roof as standard. So the car was in Baltimore, MD, and my first ride in it was a 3,200 mile cross-country trip on I-40 to get it home to Sacramento. It was amazing! Driving my normal cruising speed of 55 mph, the car averaged 46 mpg, and the Toyota Safety Sense features (Land Keeping Assist, Backup Camera, Blind Spot Monitoring) made the experience so much less stressful than it would have been in an of the older cars I've owned that didn't have any of these modern technological marvels. The only thing I might have wished for is a more comfortable seat; I'm 6'-2" and the seat felt like it didn't support my legs very well. The ride quality was very nice, especially compared to my 2019 Prius Prime, that pounds over potholes and expansion joints as if the suspension has no springs in it at all. It has plenty of power to climb long freeway upgrades without having to run the ICE past about 3,000 rpm (my Prius Prime sometimes has to run at 4,200 rpm to climb 6% freeway grades at any speed over 45 mph). And it's very quiet, even at 70 mph. I've read several blog posts from people complaining that the Rav4 Prime is noisy at freeway speeds, and that wasn't my experience. I've ordered a Curt #13416 class 3 hitch and a set of roof cross bars, so I can use the Thule cargo pod and cargo basket I was using on my Prius; I can't wait to try out this Rav4 Prime as a car-camping vehicle next month!

[@GoldenK9Campers]

Congratulations. Great patience in getting the SE without moonroof. That model has the most headroom and i'm sure it makes a difference for you. I rally love the blueprint color as it always looks different depending on the lighting conditions. I agree, the prime is very quiet, and is a great highway cruiser. We picked up our's in Connecticut, and drove all the way home to Las Vegas. Was an awesome trip !!

[@laura-ann.0726]

@@GoldenK9Campers- Were you looking for a specific hard-to-find-on-the-west-coast feature, that caused you to buy your R4P from a dealership so far away from Vegas? In my case, it was the need for the car to NOT have the moon roof option; in 2-1/2 years of searching dealerships in California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, and Arizona, I was never able to find an SE that didn't have the weather and moonroof option. I've only ever seen 7 or 8 of them, and all were in East Coast states, or the Upper Midwest (Chicago, specifically). The paint on my car is very strange. In direct sunlight, from certain angles, it's purple, a very deep purple that's almost black. In other lights, it's royal blue. At night, you would think it's gloss black, unless there is another Rav4 parked next to it that is actually black, then you can see that "Blueprint" paint is a very deep blue, but not actually "black" black. I'm going to have to be very careful about putting my hands or any other exposed skin on this car when it's parked in the sun in summer time. For the last 16 years, all the cars I owned were white, and I never had to worry about getting burned by touching bare skin against the car, but this Blueprint paint gets hotter than blazes in direct summer sunlight.

[@GoldenK9Campers]

@@laura-ann.0726 I wanted to purchase mine at MSRP. Most of the west-coast dealerships had crazy markups or a 2-year waiting list. So I just went back east. Actually... I was also going to get the SE without moonroof because of the headroom... not for us.. but for our dogs in the cargo area. But, we ended up going with the XSE with Premium, and the panoramic moonroof gives us most of the headroom, and we also get the memory seats and the inverter plug in the back.. which we use all the time when camping to power our little trailer. I had a couple of dealers in maine or massachussetts that had the SE without moonroof. The only dealers that get allocated these are the northeast atlantic states.

[@laura-ann.0726]

@@GoldenK9Campers- I also got mine at MSRP from the dealership there in Baltimore (Bill Kidd's Toyota of Cockeysville, MD). My local dealership, Elk Grove Toyota, doesn't do dealer markups, for which I am grateful, but the three other Toyota dealers around Sacramento (Maita, Roseville, and Folsom Lake), all put $10,000~$15,000 markups on Rav4 Hybrids and Primes. But Elk Grove Toyota has not EVER, since the R4P's introduction, received an SE without the moon roof option. Like you said, these seem to only be allocated to the East Coast for some reason. I have a question about the 1500 watt inverter in your car: what is the power source that feeds it? The Rav4 Prime SE has a dinky 12 volt battery that powers the lights and computers, but there's no way that it could supply the 115 amps/12 volts that a 1500 watt inverter would draw at full load. Does your XSE Premium have a much larger capacity 12 volt battery, or is this inverter being powered directly from the traction battery somehow? I've not often needed 120 volt power in my car, but the ability to run power tools when I am away from 120 volt shore power sources could be handy.

[@laura-ann.0726]

@@GoldenK9Campers- I was just in Las Vegas on July 25th, stopped there to visit a friend on the trip home with the new car. It was 115°F both days I was there, brutal! Keeping an eye on the Car Scanner app I run: 1. Engine coolant never went higher than 202°F (normal in this car is 199°F) 2. Transmission oil temp topped out at 170°F 3. Traction Battery temp topped out at 105°F (briefly, most of the time it hovered around 100°F) I know there are temperature sensors inside the Inverter, but I haven't found the PID's for them; when I do, I want to add Inverter temperature to the Car Scanner display.

[@ljiangmchen850]

If in auto mode, how long will the battery last for a long trip like 300 miles?

[@GoldenK9Campers]

If you're in Auto E/V mode it will last for about 45 miles.

[@flipnblips6418]

How are the tires lasting with the Prime weighing more than the regular hybrid? I think the prime is about 500-700 pounds heavier than the regular hybrid due to its bigger battery and if you have a panoramic roof.

[@GoldenK9Campers]

I think there holding up pretty well. Have almost 36,000 miles on our prime and it's at 8/32 tire depth.

[@mikepfly2]

Are those the stock tires? Really enjoying your videos as I start my prime hunt. Also curious if the oem hitch you got installed prevents your tailgate kick sensor from working? I've seen conflicting answers.

[@DaveS2468]

“You can find the RAV4 Prime more easily, and actually get a better deal on it”. I feel that you are significantly misleading your viewers by making this statement. I don’t know where you’re getting your information to have come to this conclusion. My local dealers were all quoting me a 2-3 year wait time for a Prime. I live in the Upper Midwest, and searched out up to 500 miles (which includes the Chicago metro), and only one dealer could sell me a new RAV4 Prime, for which they wanted $10,000 over MSRP. I was able to find a RAV4 Hybrid at my favorite local dealer, in the trim level and color that I wanted, with no dealer markup over MSRP, for delivery within 2 months. I would much prefer to buy a Prime, but I can’t wait forever, and absolutely refuse to be gouged by a greedy dealer. I have been driving a Chevy Volt for the past seven years, so I know and love the benefits of driving a PHEV. But I need a new vehicle, so I’m “settling” for the RAV4 Hybrid. I’m sure it will be a great vehicle. But I will miss skipping the gas station, the immediate torque and the quietness of EV mode.

[@GoldenK9Campers]

I was asked to help find a RAV4 Prime for a friend. It took me 2 days but I was able to find 2 dealers that had upcoming allocations at MSRP. It's not easy, but it's not impossible. They Hybrid is a great vehicle though.

[@jlawr4427]

Well, still almost impossible to find a R4P like yours with the Premium Package. You'd have to settle for less and with two years worth of price increases and no more tax credit it just doesn't make financial sense anymore. Still a great car, but I'd wait for the 2025 RAV4 Prime which will hopefully have a solid state battery, charge over night on 120v and go 120 miles on EV.

[@GoldenK9Campers]

Technology certainly is changing fast. Not a bad plan.

[@angelortiz9880]

Whats the range on it.

[@GoldenK9Campers]

In summer, we get 50 miles of EV range.

[@Fuck_Snowflakes]

Yeah, but the dealer mark-up. Big nope. 65K-70K in NC.

[@GoldenK9Campers]

That's crazy markup.

[@Fuck_Snowflakes]

@@GoldenK9Campers it is.

[@davidc8937]

The additional horsepower is a luxury a la Hellcat

[@GoldenK9Campers]

very true

[@allencrider]

RAV4 Primes are too expensive, I see them new in my area for between $45,953 to $60,661. Better to go 100% electric with Tesla Model Y at $47,490 to $54,490.

[@GoldenK9Campers]

We take too many long trips to consider full EV yet. Lots of states don't have enough charging stations.

[@jmaccloskey]

@@GoldenK9Campers I find that people abuse the charging station etiquette, leaving their cars hooked up too long. What L2 charger did you decide on for home? Like the ChargePoint if I can count on no subscription required in future.

[@GoldenK9Campers]

@@jmaccloskey I didn't invest in the L2 charger. For the most part, my wife uses the car as her daily commuter. And she plugs in at night. Not necessary for us.

[@laura-ann.0726]

@@GoldenK9Campers- This is exactly why I went with the Rav4 Prime SE instead of the BZ4X or a Tesla Y. I take too many long road trips to remote places like Death Valley National Park, and camping trips up in the Sierra, where there is no possibility to charge an EV battery and I probably won't live long enough to see EV chargers in National Forest campgrounds. A lot of these campgrounds don't even have electric service at all. The Rav4 Prime can go about 640 miles on $60 worth of gasoline. A Tesla Model "Y" needs 182 kW-hr of electric power to make 640 miles, and if you are charging at Electrify America stations, at 48¢/kW-hr, that's $87 worth of power. Wait a minute, isn't an EV supposed to cost less than an ICE car to operate? Sure, but that's ONLY if you are getting all your charging at home, at 10~15 cents per kilowatt-hour! This is the dark side of EV's that EV sales people don't want to talk about: if you are doing a road trip, and dependent on for-profit public EV fast chargers (Electrify America, Ev-GO, Charge Point), they cost 48¢/kW-hour. Tesla's Superchargers cost less, 25¢/kW-hr, but that's only good if you own a Tesla, and there's a Tesla charger station along your route or near your destination. Most EV's that are larger and heavier than the Chevy Bolt average about 3.5 miles per kilowatt hour. The Bolt, and the Prius Prime, can get about 6 miles per kW-hr on city streets at 30 to 40 mph, but this drops sharply to about 4 miles per kW-hour at Freeway speeds. I looked hard at the economics of owning an EV vs a PHEV, and the Rav4 Prime clearly beats the BZ4X in practically every test you might think of to compare the two. The BZ4X is only $2,000 less than the Rav4 Prime SE, an insignificant difference in cars that cost north of $48,000 by the time you pay sales tax and DMV fees. The Rav4 Prime can squeeze 640 miles, non-stop, out of $60 worth of gasoline, whereas the BZ4X would have to make 3 stops to charge it's battery to go 640 miles, each stop would take 2 hours to charge to 100%, and cost $28. If it's very cold or very hot weather and you are running the heat pump constantly, those 3 charging stops for the BZ4X become 5 stops, whereas the range in the Rav4 Prime only drops to about 620 miles. The Rav4 Prime can go 40 miles on cheap home electric charging, so it has most of the benefits of the BZ4X in terms of saving on gasoline costs, at least for short in-town errand-running. If you run a Rav4 Prime completely out of gas, you can emergency-re-fill the tank from a jerry can - inconvinient, but there are 100,000 gas stations in the US, and in a pinch, you can ask AAA to bring you some gas. If your BZ4X battery runs dry by the side of the road somewhere, you will be towing the car to a charging station. Expensive, embarrassing, and inconvenient. In a word, NO "Range Anxiety" with a Rav4 Prime. As for purchase price, the BZ4X XLE (the base trim level) with the AWD option ($2080 extra) ends up costing THE SAME (about $44,500) as the Rav4 Prime SE! For my money, if these vehicles are gonna cost the same up-front, the 640 mile range and no Range Anxiety makes the Rav4 Prime the clear winner, especially in states where gasoline is under $3.50/gallon (all through the Southeast, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tenneesee, Virginia, Georgia). Oh, and anywhere that it gets really cold in the winter months, like the Upper Midwest, the Rocky Mountain states, and New England, you will never see that 240 mile advertised range in a BZ4X if the ambient temperature in much less than 30°F. If you have to run the battery and cabin heaters, you will lose at least 35% of the battery range. If it's -10°F to -30°F, you will lose 50% of the range, and if it's any colder than -30°F, your BZ4X might not run at all, and you will have extreme difficulty charging it unless it's in a heated garage. With a PHEV Rav4 Hybrid or Prime, the ICE engine's waste heat is supplying all the energy needed to keep both the cabin and battery warm and comfy.

[@laura-ann.0726]

@@GoldenK9Campers - I'm using a 16 amp Lectron portable Level 2 EVSE that I bought for my Prius Prime. I have a gas clothes dryer, so I wasn't using the NEMA 10-30 dryer outlet in my garage, so it was available to use for the EVSE. The Rav4 Prime can charge at 28 amps, but my 30 amp dryer outlet won't support that much continuous current, so I am restricted to using the lower-power 16 amp charger unless I want to spend several hundred $$$ on putting in a 50-amp outlet. The limiting factor is the wiring and the circuit breaker: that dryer outlet was wired with 10 gauge Romex (I looked in the breaker box and confirmed this). Running a 24 to 32 amp EVSE, the outlet needs to be wired with 6 gauge Romex, a 50-amp breaker, and a NEMA 14-50 or 6-50 outlet.

[@Hometown6112]

8000 more no thank you

[@GoldenK9Campers]

I hear that.