2025 Toyota Rav4 Prime

Pros

• Longer range using only electricity.
• Shockingly fast acceleration.
• It was a peaceful and pleasant trip.
• There is enough room for people and their stuff.

Cons

• We need to be managing better.
• Longer lengths between stops than usual.
• The feeling of disconnected driving.
• The front passenger seat is not comfortable.

How does the RAV4 Prime get its power? If you want to go fast, the RAV4 Prime is faster than its regular and hybrid brothers. During Invoices’ tests, it went from 0 to 60 mph in an incredibly short 5.9 seconds. As an example, the basic RAV4 takes 8.9 seconds. The RAV4 Prime is very smooth and easy to drive on normal commuting routes.

Toyota hasn’t been able to make an agile sports car that can match the engine’s power, which is a shame. It’s hard to tell how much input is needed because it handles badly, with a lot of body roll and bad driving. Anything that even slightly bothers automated driving helps them lose their minds. The car also has trouble with its brakes. When you step on the RAV4 Prime, the pedals feel very soft. During our tests, the little SUV could have done a better job of stopping quickly.

How comfortable is the inside of the RAV4 Prime? There are enough adjustments on the driver’s seat to make it easy to find a good seating setup. The front passenger seat, on the other hand, has mostly stayed the same, which may make some people unhappy on longer trips. On hot days, the available seat ventilation is a big plus, and the synthetic leather padding (Toyota’s SofTex) lets air flow well. One more thing that stands out is that the back seats have better support for your thighs.

Due to its ride quality bias, which puts comfort over speed, the RAV4 Prime rides smoothly on rough roads. There is a good amount of noise reduction from the road and wind, but the fuel engine sounds rough when going fast. Not only that, but it’s also very quiet.

How is the state of the inside? The RAV4 Prime does a great job here. It’s easy to use the tools because they are logically placed and have clear labels. All of the other systems are easy to use, but the drive modes don’t make it clear what they do; you’ll need to read the directions. The wide doors and good ride height make it easy to get in and out. Taller people won’t have to bend down to get in, but shorter people won’t have any trouble.

Anyone over six feet has enough room in any seat for their head and legs. The short front window pillars make it easy to see ahead, but the big pillar between the front and back doors blocks the view to the side. Another worry is that the driver can’t clearly see the touchscreen.

What’s wrong with the tech? The optional 9-inch screen makes it easy to connect with entertainment systems quickly and without being distracted. It reacts quickly and comes with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which are already set up. To keep from getting in the way, the sizes and locations of actual shortcut buttons could be changed. The JBL audio update could be better, but it does make the sound clearer and deeper.

Toyota’s advanced driver assistance systems work well most of the time. The best feature for us is the traffic-adaptive cruise control, which works well in both heavy traffic and smooth highway driving. To drive on anything other than a smooth highway, though, the lane-keeping assist option makes steering too hard.

What’s going on with storage? The standard RAV4 has 37.6 cubic feet of cargo room, while the RAV4 Prime only has 33.5 cubic feet. Still, there is enough space for your things, and it’s easy to fold down the back seats. There is more room inside for storage, with more shelves on the dash, a wireless charging station, and a big bin in the middle of the armrest.

People with young children will like the RAV4. It’s easy to find safety seats that lower car seat mounts and put them in place. Similarly, it’s easy to connect to the top three points. Boosters and seats that face forward fit easily, but the front seat will probably have to be moved up in order to fit a rear-facing baby seat on the passenger side. The very high front passenger seat needs to be fixed.

How much fuel does it use? The RAV4 Prime easily went 48 miles on electric power alone on our standard test route, which was six miles more than the EPA predicted. That will cover most people’s daily driving and getting to and from work. When we started the gas engine, we got an average of 34 mpg, which is about the same as the RAV4 Hybrid. The battery should be fully charged, and the gas tank should be full. This should let you drive about 600 miles.

How much does the RAV4 Prime cost? The RAV4 Prime costs a lot more than the regular RAV4. The gas savings will not show up in the price of your regular RAV4 Hybrid for a while if you choose to buy that over Prime.

The Prime has some great features that are only available in this plug-in hybrid car, and the quality of its construction is good enough to justify its price. Toyota’s regular guarantee covers hybrid parts for longer. It also comes with free regular care for two years.

It could be faster or more fun to drive, but the RAV4 Prime is still a good plug-in hybrid SUV. Its all-electric range of 42 miles is about four times that of its closest rivals, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and the Kia Niro. It helps that it gets to highway speeds quickly, and the sporty look may draw people away from less common competitors.

Toyota hasn’t said anything public about the 2025 RAV4 Prime yet as of this writing. We’ll change our grade if anything changes, but based on last year’s RAV4 Prime, you should get the top-of-the-line XSE trim level. It can also get the Premium deal that people want, and it works much better than other technologies.

Different kinds of Toyota RAV4 Prime

The Toyota RAV4 Prime is a plug-in hybrid version of the regular RAV4, which can fit five people. It comes in SE and XSE trim levels, which are like the better trim levels on the RAV4, which only runs on gas.