2022 Toyota RAV4 Prime Reviews, Pricing & Specs

It makes sense that Toyota would offer its most impressive PHEV technology in the RAV4 compact crossover SUV, the automaker’s best-selling model and the most popular vehicle in America outside of full-size pickup trucks. There is one other Prime-badged model in the Toyota lineup: a PHEV version of the Prius that can’t match the RAV4 Prime for power, performance, or electric-only driving range.

As you might expect, the Prime models are the most expensive versions of the RAV4. SE and XSE trim levels are available with starting prices ranging from $40,300 to $43,625 (not including a $1,215 destination charge). However, RAV4 Prime is eligible for a $7,500 income tax credit and some state rebates and local incentives, such as the $1,000 check the state of California writes when its residents buy one. You can even get a carpool lane access sticker if you drive a RAV4 Prime, which is like gold in SoCal.

Our test vehicle had XSE trim and the optional Premium Package. The Premium Package adds a bunch of content to the RAV4 Prime including a Weather Package, a navigation system, a head-up display, a digital rearview mirror, a 360-degree surround-view camera, and front and rear parking sensors with automatic braking. Additionally, it installs a panoramic glass sunroof, heated and ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, and a hands-free power liftgate. The test vehicle also came with a Carpet Mat Package, door sill protectors, mudguards, a rear bumper scuff guard, and roof rack crossbars.

Are you ready to learn what our RAV4 Prime XSE cost? Hold on to your butts: $51,166, including destination. Just keep reminding yourself about that $7,500 maximum tax credit. If you qualify for the whole thing, you can substantially reduce the ultimate cost of the RAV4 Prime. If you live in California, that carpool lane sticker is worthwhile, too. Or, to save cash, you can skip the contents of the Premium Package and the dealer add-ons, most of which you can live without.

As far as the styling is concerned, the RAV4 Prime XSE looks about as good as a RAV4 can. The exclusive machined-finish 19-inch wheels are appealing, and the XSE features trendy black roof paint paired with the body color. But aside from a handful of Prime-specific tweaks, the Prime looks like any other RAV4. Whether that’s a good or a bad thing is up to you.

The same is true of the interior, though red stitching and blue ambient lighting help to add some visual excitement. Like the exterior, the RAV4 Prime’s interior emphasizes purposeful utility. The control layout holds no surprises, though the huge, rubberized knobs for the climate control system are almost obscene. Soft-touch and rubber surfaces blend with the hard, glossy plastic materials you expect to find in a basic compact crossover.

The RAV4 Prime uses a 2.5-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine paired with a 18.1-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack, a 134-kilowatt front electric motor, and a 40-kW rear electric motor. The dual electric motors mean the RAV4 Prime has standard all-wheel drive (AWD). What Toyota calls an “electronic continuously variable transmission” (eCVT) distributes the power.

Toyota says the total output for this powertrain is 302 horsepower, enough to scoot the RAV4 Prime to 60 mph in a claimed 5.7 seconds. The electric driving range is 42 miles, according to the official EPA estimate. When used only in hybrid mode with the gasoline engine, the RAV4 Prime earns a combined fuel economy rating of 38 mpg. Start with a full battery and then drain the 14.5-gallon fuel tank, and you should be able to travel nearly 600 miles.

Drivers can choose from numerous driving modes. The standard set includes Eco, Normal, Sport, and Trail. The PHEV set includes EV (electric only), HV (hybrid only), Auto (automatically adjusts between EV and HV), and Charge (gas engine only; charges the battery while driving).

One nice thing about the RAV4 Prime’s drivetrain is that the electric motors are powerful enough to move the SUV without resorting to an assist from the gasoline engine. This way, you can drive purely on electricity until the battery reaches its minimum state of charge, at which time it switches to HV mode.

If you keep the RAV4 Prime’s battery charged—which is easy to do overnight using a standard household-style power outlet—you can save a considerable amount of money on gas. In fact, the EPA thinks that RAV4 Prime drivers will pocket $6,000 during their first five years of ownership.

We drove this SUV all over the Los Angeles area under variable weather and passenger-load conditions, and our real-world electric-only driving range results spanned between 35 miles on a hot day with four people aboard to 46 miles on a cool day with only a driver in the vehicle. During the entire week, the RAV4 Prime averaged 51.7 mpg between using electricity and gasoline.

Though RAV4s are ubiquitous on American roads, you can’t help but be impressed by the Prime PHEV. For driving on pavement, this is the most entertaining RAV4 you can buy. Pair the Sport mode with the HV mode, and you’ll find a generous amount of power and downright speedy acceleration. However, even in Normal and EV modes, the RAV4 Prime is energetic and can tackle hills without using the gas engine, even with four people aboard.

In town or traffic, the regenerative brakes can make the brake pedal feel a little touchy under your foot, making it harder to brake smoothly and evenly. Also, the eCVT can sometimes groan and sound unpleasant. But there are so many benefits to the PHEV powertrain that the good things about it overshadow these two minor complaints.

In addition to rapid acceleration when you want it and pure electric driving without leaning on the gas engine for support, the RAV4 Prime offers an excellent blend of ride compliance and competent handling.

Though you can feel the added weight of the PHEV components mounted low in the chassis, Toyota tunes the RAV4 to eradicate much of the choppy ride quality that commonly accompanies this hardware. As far as handling goes, that added weight low in the SUV, combined with the XSE’s larger 19-inch wheels and tires, contributes to unexpectedly athletic handling.

Hold on. Don’t get too excited. The steering isn’t what we’d characterize as crisp and responsive, and the all-season rubber makes its discomfort known if you decide to hustle the RAV4 Prime on a mountain road. But there is a competence here that helps you to enjoy the drive in a way you haven’t in RAV4 since the third-generation RAV4 Sport trim equipped with a V6 engine.

Every 2022 Toyota RAV4 Prime has an eight-way power driver’s seat and heated front seats. With the SE trim, you get cloth upholstery, while the XSE features SofTex simulated leather. Our test vehicle’s optional Premium Package added ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, a heated steering wheel, and a panoramic glass sunroof.

Everyone who rides in the RAV4 is comfortable, though on hot days the XSE’s SofTex can trap sweat and keep you damp unless you have the Premium Package’s ventilated front seats. Even the front passenger, who does not benefit from a cushion height adjuster, won’t complain too much because that seating location offers decent leg support.

The RAV4 Prime’s back seat offers plenty of legroom, headroom, and foot room for adults. Plus, the rear cushion is large and supportive if perhaps mounted a little too low for optimal comfort. The rear doors open wide, making it easy to get into and out of the SUV, and the RAV4 Prime has rear air conditioning vents and two USB charging ports for back-seat passengers.

You won’t have any trouble finding places to put things inside a Toyota RAV4. In addition to a generous center console storage bin under the softly padded center armrest, there are bottle holders in the lower door panels, a tray with an available wireless smartphone charging pad forward of the transmission shifter, and a good-sized glove compartment. But the deep tray running the length of the dashboard, including to the left of the steering wheel, is a feature more automakers should copy.

The RAV4 Prime’s cargo space isn’t quite as generous as what you’ll find in other versions of the SUV, but it’s still roomy. Behind the back seat, the SUV provides 33.5 cubic feet of volume. Fold the rear seats down to create 69.8 cubic feet of cargo space.

A 7-inch digital instrumentation panel separates secondary analog gauges and provides access to numerous displays and menus through which you can reference data or calibrate vehicle settings.

Additionally, the RAV4 Prime SE has an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system equipped with numerous features. They include Bluetooth, satellite radio, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Amazon Alexa compatibility, and three different connected services plans. WiFi Connect offers two gigabytes of data during the first three months of ownership, while Safety Connect adds safety-related features with a complimentary 12-month subscription. Service Connect is free to use for ten years.

Choose the RAV4 Prime XSE for a larger 9-inch touchscreen infotainment system. It adds a complimentary year of Remote Connect service and pairs with an 11-speaker JBL premium sound system. Thanks to the test vehicle’s Premium Package, we were able to sample the dynamic navigation system, which is complimentary for three years. This package also adds Destination Assist with a one-year trial subscription.

While the voice recognition system doesn’t control the RAV4 Prime’s climate control system, it did accurately perceive and respond to all of our usual test commands. However, in response to a request for directions to the nearest hospital, the results were cluttered with health-related businesses in addition to hospitals.

Additional tech in the test vehicle included a 10-inch color head-up display, a digital rearview mirror, and a 120-volt/1,500-watt power outlet in the cargo area. The camera-based digital rearview mirror, in combination with the test vehicle’s surround-view camera system and front and rear parking sensors, makes it easy to maneuver the RAV4 Prime in parking lots.

Safety Connect is one of four connected service plans that are standard in the RAV4 Prime. You get complimentary service for one year, and then you must pay extra to continue accessing automatic collision notification, SOS emergency calling, a stolen vehicle locator, and more.

Toyota Safety Sense 2.0 (TSS 2.0) is standard on the RAV4 Prime. This collection of driver-assist and collision avoidance systems includes forward-collision warning with pedestrian detection, automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assist, lane-centering assist, adaptive cruise control, and automatic high-beam headlights. Blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert is also standard.

When driving with the adaptive cruise control and lane-centering assist active, the steering can occasionally seem unnatural with regard to its corrections and inputs. This is particularly noticeable when you’re in the right lane and driving past long breaks in the right lane marker for freeway exits and on-ramps, when you’re traveling over scarred pavement from past highway repair work, or when you’re on winding sections of highway.

Otherwise, we had no issues with TSS 2.0’s accuracy and effectiveness. The adaptive cruise control is not quick to respond to clearing traffic conditions by rapidly accelerating back up to the set speed, but it reacts smoothly when other motorists cut into the gap between the RAV4 Prime and the vehicle ahead.

As far as crash-test ratings go, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) gives the RAV4 Prime top marks for occupant protection. However, the IIHS has not fully assessed the model’s safety features, so it doesn’t offer an overall rating for this model. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has not rated the RAV4 Prime for crash protection.

Though our test vehicle was loaded up with options and accessories, pushing the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) above $51,000, we still think the RAV4 Prime is a cost-effective choice in a compact crossover SUV. And that is especially true if you qualify for the full federal income tax credit and you live somewhere that offers rebates and other perks for an electrified vehicle purchase.

Think about it. You could get a new Toyota RAV4 Prime SE, and then effectively discount the price from $41,515 (including destination) to $34,015 with the full tax credit. California (and perhaps other states) throws in an extra $1,000 and allows you to drive in the carpool lane, saving you time with every commute. Keep the RAV4 Prime charged up (you don’t even need a 240-volt charger at home), and you’ll save a bunch of money on gas. Even if you do drive the SUV in hybrid mode, it’s rated to get 38 mpg, which is much better than a gas-only RAV4.

Now, consider how much room is inside of the RAV4 for people and cargo. Add the long list of standard features, generous trial periods to connected services, the strong IIHS crash-test ratings, the complimentary scheduled maintenance for two years or 25,000 miles, and the reputation for reliability for which Toyota is known. Oh, and don’t forget that the EPA thinks you’ll save six grand on gas during the first half-decade you own this compact SUV.

Are you getting the idea that a RAV4 Prime is a good deal? You should be.

Based on our week with the Prime, it’s easy to say it’s our favorite version of the RAV4. Skip all the unnecessary fancy, and this PHEV is more than just cost-effective. It can serve a multitude of purposes for years to come.