Toyota Prices Its RAV4 Prime, the Crossover With a Plug

By bestowing a name once associated with the Prius on its top-selling RAV4 crossover — while adding beefed-up electric motors, battery pack, and charging port for good measure — Toyota catapulted the compact CUV’s power and price.

For those looking to get off the line in a hurry while using less fuel, what kind of pocketbook pain awaits them in a new RAV4 Prime?

An easy question to answer, now that Toyota has revealed pricing for the plug-in hybrid arriving this summer. After destination, a “base” SE goes for $39,220. For that sum, buyers will find 302 combined horsepower on tap from a 2.5-liter four-cylinder and electric motors fore and aft, a zero-to-60 time of 5.7 seconds, and 42 miles of gas-free range drawn from a 17.8 kWh battery pack.

It’s the quickest RAV4 in the model’s long history, Toyota claims, beating even the defunct previous-gen V6 model. And it’s not cheap, either, as the well-equipped uplevel XSE trim carries a sticker of $42,545.

Of course, that MSRP does not take into account the $7,500 federal tax credit available for plug-ins with batteries of 16 kWh or greater. That shaves off quite a bit, bringing the RAV4 Prime’s base price much closer to the entry level LE Hybrid model, which (for 2020) starts at $29,470 after destination. That’s a lower-trimmed vehicle with no legit EV mode. Add state-level green vehicle incentives into the mix, and the RAV4 Prime could start looking like a bargain.

You’ll be able to tell the two trims apart by their standard content. Whereas the SE sees 18-inch wheels and an 8-inch touchscreen, the XSE bumps both wheel and screen size up an inch.

With its RAV4 line, Toyota already had both the best-selling compact CUV on the market and the hottest hybrid (eco-conscious crossover shoppers long ago left the once-revered Prius in the dust). With this PHEV variant, Toyota completes the trifecta, making up, somewhat, for its lack of a fully electric vehicle.

[Image: Toyota]