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RAV4 hybrid coming?

Discussion in 'Toyota Hybrids and EVs' started by Eug, Mar 3, 2015.

  1. Eug

    Eug Swollen Member

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    My wife wants an SUV, while I'd prefer a Prius. My Prius was destroyed last week, so I'm looking for a new car. Since I wanted to wait for Gen IV, I thought instead of buying another Prius now, I could buy her a Rav 4 or something to replace her tiny Yaris, and then get a Prius 2016. I'd drive the Yaris in the meantime.

    Then my wife sent me some articles mentioning a hybrid Rav 4 for 2016. However, as far as I can tell, these are bogus articles. If you do a Google search you'll find them, but to summarize, they are poorly written articles from no-name sites, which I suspect are just pages to generate hits, but with no verifiable information in them.

    Has anyone seen any mention from a respectable source of a hybrid Rav 4 coming?

    because if there is one, maybe I'd just get a crap used car for a year and then get a hybrid Rav 4 and a Prius Gen IV. But I suspect 2016 will still be same. Also, my understanding is the whole Rav 4 line won't get updated any time soon, since it was last updated recently.

    EDIT:

    It's official! The 2016 RAV4 hybrid will be shown on 2015-04-02 at the New York International Auto Show.
     
    #1 Eug, Mar 3, 2015
    Last edited: Mar 26, 2015
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    there has been talk of all wheel drive, but nothing official from toyota. what about hyhi or lexus?
     
  3. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    The new Lexus NX is based on the, stretched, Rav4 platform. It being available as a hybrid as started the rash of Rav4 hybrid rumors. I wouldn't expect to see one soon. The HiHy is still around, but sells in small numbers. It is high priced, and the mpg numbers not extremely exciting. I think a Rav4 would just end up following the same path.
     
  4. Eug

    Eug Swollen Member

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    ?? There is already a Rav 4 AWD. In fact, that's what we've been considering, esp. since there is a CAD$1500 off incentive right now. Or are you talking about the Prius?

    Good point. BTW, I went to see the NX yesterday and it's nice, but it's also too expensive for my tastes. And I felt the RX (which has a lot of off-lease units available for sale) was bigger than we need.
     
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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  6. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    RX is a great car. We have had an RX300, RX330, RX350, RX400h, and now RX450h. Highly recommend. It is big for most of the world, but in the USA it is a baby SUV. The biggest we would go.
     
  7. css28

    css28 Senior Member

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    Technically, I believe the RX shares a platform with the Highlander.

    As another suggested, you might consider a hybrid Highlander (I bet they're expensive though).

    You could pick up a used Prius v (use winter tires in the winter to get some traction).
     
  8. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    The RAV4 is due for a midlife update (current one was launched in 2013 so 2016 would be the 4th year of its life cycle). The NX and RAV4 share the same architecture. There's no reason why Toyota can't offer the same powertrains between the two vehicles. Of course there's also the question of "will Toyota wait until the next generation RAV4?"
     
  9. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    No technical reason why Toyota couldn't put what is the Camry hybrid drive train into the Rav4. I think they won't for the same reasons the HiHy isn't selling well; the MPG numbers won't be big enough to sell it for the price they want.
     
  10. Eug

    Eug Swollen Member

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    Well, I wasn't aware of this, but Toyota to Discontinue Venza Crossover.

    While this in itself doesn't mean anything, my guess is a lot more people would buy a RAV4 hybrid than a Venza, and the discontinuation of the Venza opens up a new price point that a hybrid RAV4 would fit in nicely.


    I was thinking more on this, and this plan doesn't really make practical sense. Sure I could get a beater for year, but that means we'd have one beater and one sub-compact (Yaris). I wouldn't enjoy that very much, and my wife would probably hate me. Furthermore, that beater would still cost us money, money that could be put toward a new car.

    So, even if a RAV4 did appear with hybrid soon, it probably wouldn't be soon enough. And even if it were soon enough, it'd be considerably more expensive than the LE AWD we're looking at, both for the hybrid itself and the likelihood it'd be spec'd with higher end features.

    Right now Toyota Canada has some nice incentives on the non-base model 2015 RAV4s, with $1500 off, even though they're not advertising them. One dealer I called didn't even know the cash incentive on the RAV4 existed, but after I asked about it, they verified it does exist. (I think yesterday there was an even bigger discount, but it was on the 2014 IIRC.) With that, and the fact that past the first year, the RAV4 might be driven less than my next car (Gen IV Prius?), the fuel economy factor wouldn't be a deal killer in terms of cost, esp. with prices where they are now.

    This way we have a nice new RAV4 now, along with the secondary Yaris, and then next year I trade-in the Yaris for a new Prius Gen IV... or maybe a Lexus hybrid sedan. ;)

    Mind you, we haven't even tried our child car seats in the RAV4 yet or test driven it yet either, so who knows...
     
    #10 Eug, Mar 4, 2015
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2015
  11. Eug

    Eug Swollen Member

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    I actually woke up in the middle of the night thinking about this. I've decided I'll likely wait actually... at least until the official Prius Gen IV announcement.

    However, this does present a dilemma for me. What the heck am I going to do for a car in the interim? I saw a used Prius 2001 with 240000 km on it for sale for just a few thousand... Nah. Gotta think of something else.

    BTW, speaking of incentives, they're really trying to get rid of the Venza quick. Toyota Canada is offering a $3000 cash incentive to buy that now defunct model.
     
    #11 Eug, Mar 4, 2015
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2015
  12. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Nothing new. My friend got $3,000 off for a 2011 he purchased back in late 2011 (when the 2012s were on the lot). He took that over the Camry Hybid due to the low mileage he'll accumulate (I think he only has 11,000km right now. In the same period, I've put on nearly 50,000km.)
     
  13. Eug

    Eug Swollen Member

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    I checked out the Prius v yesterday and it turns out it can't even fit my Britax car seat rear-facing. Strangely enough, it fits OK in the regular Prius, and even better in my old 2004 Prius. Yes, the Prius v has a huge cargo area in comparison to the others, but they for some reason designed it so it decreases rear leg room. It basically made the Prius v a complete non-starter for me, but that's OK because I didn't like it anyway. However, as mentioned elsewhere, I ended up buying a 2012 Prius plug-in. Definitely not what I was planning, but part of the reason was for the really nice options package, which would be quite expensive on a new Prius and which is not as common for the Prius used market. Yes, I succumbed to the upsell. ;)

    I found a dealership that immediately offered the RAV 4 to us for invoice + $300, and we'd get the $1500 rebate. My wife likes the car too, and it has ample space for rear-facing car seats. But as mentioned we're going to wait a while.

    We'll probably still end up buying a RAV4, but not today, despite the amazing Toyota + dealer pricing right now.

    I'm curious, how often has Toyota updated a vehicle line to hybrid in the middle of its yearly cycle? I guess you could call the Prius plug-in a mid-season update since it came out here in Canada in September, but IIRC we kinda knew about it before then, although I may be mis-remembering.
     
  14. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Not often. The only one I can remember is the 2006 Highlander Hybrid and RX400h. The Highlander ran from 2001-2007 and the RX300 ran from 2004 to 2009 so hybrid versions were added mid-cycle.
     
  15. Eug

    Eug Swollen Member

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    Actually I meant mid-season, as in mid-year, not mid-several-year-cycle.

    What I meant by that is that the Toyota Prius Plug-in didn't show up until late 2012 , and then became the 2013 (as you informed me in the other thread). The regular 2012 Prius showed up long before the 2012 Plug-in.

    Going back to the old brochures, the Canadian 2012 Prius family brochure made no mention of the Plug-in, but the 2013, 2014, and 2015 brochures all include the Plug-in.
     
  16. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Ohh. Yeah that doesn't happen. I think the Plug-in was a very unique scenario.

    Indeed it doesn't. Makes sense. The 2012 Prius family brochure would've been printed near the end of 2011 (after the Prius c and Prius v were launched)
     
  17. Eug

    Eug Swollen Member

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    Hmmm... In that case, based on precedent, that makes a RAV4 hybrid coming any time soon rather unlikely. That said, we'd be willing to wait for a mythical 2016 hybrid RAV4 model if the thing gets announced relatively soon for release by the end of 2015. Fingers crossed...

    Or who knows, maybe they'll shock us and introduce the RAV4 EV here in Canada. ;) Nah, I don't buy this either. My guess is such a vehicle would sell horribly here too, at least at expected price points.
     
  18. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    "Or who knows, maybe they'll shock us and introduce the RAV4 EV here in Canada."

    That would be a shock considering they cancelled it in California.
     
  19. Eug

    Eug Swollen Member

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    Yeah I know, and they've also cancelled their relationship with Tesla too AFAIK.

    Also, I myself would not buy one, even if they did come out with one. We're MUCH more interested in a hybrid, and we definitely don't want a Highlander. The RAV4 hybrid would be perfect for the wife. The Lexus NX hybrid is too pricey.

    Personally I think a RAV4 hybrid would sell reasonably well actually. The size is good, and the price point is reasonable if it's in the $28000 - $30000 range for base. However, we'd probably buy something with AWD and an XLE type trim.
     
  20. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Probably not. Ford left the market when it dropped the Ford Escape Hybrid in 2012 (2011 was the last model) as the C-Max was supposed to be the substitute (never mind that it doesn't have AWD). Unfortunately, I don't have a good feel for the market (and I follow Toyota fairly closely). I thought Toyota might've joined the party with the last gen RAV4 (esp. since there is space where the 3rd row would go to put the batteries for a hybrid setup) but they never did. Now that Ford pulled out, I'm not sure if Toyota sees value in it adding a hybrid (why did Ford pull out? lack of interest?) or whether they rather try a different area (like the minivan market). I thought they might do a Venza hybrid but they just announced that it will cease production in June 2015.

    The RAV4 EV would be nice but note it's only FWD. At US$50,000 it's pricey (but $30k cheaper than a Model S 60kWh). It's fun to drive (if you've driven the 3rd Gen RAV4 before, you'll notice the lower centre of gravity) and Sport mode is fun.