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Toyota delivered more RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles (PHEV) in Q4 than was forecasted or expected. In total, Toyota delivered 3,200 RAV4 Prime vehicles in the second two quarters of 2020 following its mid-year launch. This is a much faster ramp than Toyota had indicated the company would follow.
Related Story: Toyota Delivered More RAV4 Primes In First 9 Weeks Than Tesla Did Model 3, X, or S
Toyota Doubles RAV4 Prime Delivery Rate
Toyota told Torque News in October that the company had delivered 960 RAV4 Prime PHEVs in its first quarter of sales. That rate of sales was faster than even the Tesla Model 3’s first quarter when introduced. In Q4, the RAV4 Prime’s second quarter of sales since its US launch, the pace was twice that of its first three months of sales. Toyota delivered 2,240 RAV4 Primes from October through December. That pace of US sales is faster than the Tesla Model 3, Chevy Volt, and Nissan Leaf had in their first six months of sales. In December, Toyota delivered more than 1,000 RAV4 Primes, showing that its rate of deliveries last month was triple that of its first few months.
Toyota RAV4 Prime Becoming the EV To Watch In 2021
The RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle has quickly gained a strong following of fans and shoppers hoping to score this hot new electric vehicle. Dealers, particularly in California, are seeing overwhelming shopper interest resulting in some dealers charging higher than MSRP and still closing deals as soon as inventory arrives.
Related Story: Tesla Owners Are Buying Toyota RAV4 Prime Plug-in Hybrids – Here’s Why
Tesla Owners Among Notable RAV4 Prime Buyers
Some notable buyers are existing Tesla battery-electric vehicle owners. This should be no surprise. Past polls we have conducted show that green vehicle shoppers generally seek out newer and better electrified vehicles as their old EVs age.
In the case of Tesla owners, it isn’t that the RAV4 Prime is a “better” EV, but rather that it offers more flexibility in situations important to SUV owners. For example, some Tesla owners who purchased a new RAV4 Prime point to the RAV4 Prime’s ability to tow for significantly greater distances and to then refuel with ease. Have you ever tried backing a BEV into a charger space while towing two snowmobiles on a trailer? Or tracked a BEV’s range drop in winter while towing? Battery-electric sport utility vehicles have a long way to go to match the winter towing abilities of a plug-in hybrid like the RAV4 Prime.
Other owners point out that the RAV4 Prime suits their commuting needs without using any gasoline, but also offers an “unlimited range” and hybrid efficiency on long road trips with uncertain charging availability. Gasoline is available everywhere, and a RAV4 Prime owner can add about 550 miles of hybrid range in under ten minutes. Adding that much range to a Tesla BEV, if a charger is even available, takes over an hour, and requires more than one stop.
2021 Will Make Or Break The RAV4 Prime
In calendar 2021, Hyundai, Ford, Kia, Mitsubishi, and other brands have all announced that a new PHEV the size of the RAV4 Prime will be available. Toyota’s lead in the segment will only continue if its volume of sales continues to grow over time.
Toyota initially launched the RAV4 Prime in the “ZEV States” in America that offer incentives, and mimic the California green vehicle model. For the RAV4 Prime to truly make an impact, Toyota will need to expand that availability. As of today, frantic RAV4 Prime shoppers are buying out of state if their local dealer does not fall into Toyota’s list of target markets.
Toyota Hybrid Sales Skyrocket - Beats Tesla?
Toyota’s “conventional” hybrids, meaning those without a plug, have also taken off. The RAV4 Hybrid continues to be a top-selling vehicle, not just in the context of green vehicles, but by any measure. Toyota sold just under 116,000 RAV4 Hybrids in 2020. Amazingly, Toyota and Lexus hybrid sales went up by 22% in 2020 to over 336,000 units. Tesla doesn’t publish its US sales numbers normally. We hope they make an exception this quarter. GoodCarBadCar estimates that through the end of Q3 Tesla's US deliveries were about a quarter-million vehicles. It would be interesting to see which company is the leader in US green vehicle sales. We suspect it remains Toyota despite the recent success of the Tesla Model Y.
John Goreham is a long-time New England Motor Press Association member and recovering engineer. Following his engineering program, John also completed a marketing program at Northeastern University and worked with automotive component manufacturers. In addition to Torque News, John's work has appeared in print in dozens of American newspapers and he provides reviews to many vehicle shopping sites. You can follow John on Twitter, and view his credentials at Linkedin
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Comments
I drove the Mustang Mach-E
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In reply to Walked into the dealership in by ctuna (not verified)
I drove the Mustang Mach-E back to back with the Y this past week. You should consider that model as well. I like it better than the Y. No spare tire in any of these other options, unfortunately.
I too would have bought a
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I too would have bought a RAV4 prime last year. I noticed a LE in Cali for 52k, lol. Toyota made huge mistake, now I will wait until Sorento, Hyundai, come out with their version-likely have more comfortable seats. Toyota is to me a 50:50 proposition, last year I would have been 100% sold- what was Toyota thinking?
Toyota made the mistake of
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In reply to I too would have bought a by David Holland (not verified)
Toyota made the mistake of building a vehicle so amazing that it sells out and buyers are paying premium prices for it? Should the company have held off on doing so for a few years until the battery supply chain matured?
No, what they should have
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No, what they should have done is to properly plan for the expanding success of EVs and build up a decent battery supply channel. It was clear from Toyota's CEO that he still doesn't support or plan for the growing EV market. I agree that Toyota has had an effective plan to add hybrid and plug-in models to their product offerings. But especially for their flagship RAV4 Prime, they should have supported it better by insuring proper battery supply, and producing as many of them as demand required. I actually don't think that battery supply was really the problem anyway. I think that Japanese automotive leaders have been actively delaying battery-only electric and PHEVs, just as American legacy automakers have dragged their feet, because their traditional models are easier and cheaper to develop and more profitable, short-term.
Dean I agree with you 100%.
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Dean I agree with you 100%. It is a CEO problem. Toyota owns 51% of Panasonic & they have control of their battery supply. They made more money off their gas guzzlers.
RAV 4 prime is still to hard
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RAV 4 prime is still to hard to get. Dealers laugh at you when you ask about getting one and often ask 10 to 20k over MSRP. Tesla just did some improvements to the Y and lowered the price another 1k . Trouble with Y is the Y you buy this month will not be the Y you get next year. Tesla and any electric car makers that hit the Fed Electric write off may get to add another 400k cars at the lower rate with the New Green Plan under Biden. I hesitate on the Y because I need to carry Stand UP Paddle Boards and Windsurf Board that don't easily fit inside and I think the glass roof is questionable for Racking.
Customers should Boycott the
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Customers should Boycott the dealers who charge more than the MSRP. Put their names on forums & boycott them. They already charge 3 prices to service your vehicles so it is kept in their warranty.
I would have bought one last
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I would have bought one last year. I would even buy one now, but this seems like more of a PR stunt then a real car you can buy. I'll probably be able to buy a Mach-E before the RAV4 Prime is available to me. Kind of a joke.
Dealer website said they had
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Dealer website said they had 6 RAV 4 primes on the lot . They only had two.
Test drove the SE motor is kind of buzzy. They wanted 5k over Msrp
on the SE and 10k over for a XSE . I don't think you can compare it to
an SE or Model Y . I saw a Mache the other day it's smaller than I pictured.
toyota waited to long to put this out and in 5 to 10 years hybrids will not be
popular for most types of vehicles.
I am surprised this article
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I am surprised this article refers to the RAV 4 Prime as a "green" vehicle. I have had a Bolt, my neighbor has a Tesla, and the other has a Leaf. Those are green vehicles. Anything that you have to pump gas in is not a greeen vehicle, wishful thinking though.
So diesel pickups meet your
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In reply to I am surprised this article by Bob Foss (not verified)
So diesel pickups meet your definition? Have you and the neighbors pooled your resources to buy a community spare tire yet?
LOL. Yes you are correct,
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In reply to So diesel pickups meet your by John Goreham
LOL. Yes you are correct, diesel is worse, not from my perspective, but from governments around the world. Here in Nevada, diesels are phased out for county buses, and some cities in Europe already ban diesel cars but no I guess anything that uses fossil fuels is not green, you are right. For those using EVs, using the current grid is still using fossil fuels, but for many they use the Sun via their home solar panels, which get preferential install rates here. Thanks.
My son has a RAV4 Prime and
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My son has a RAV4 Prime and lives in Renton, just south of Seattle. He just had his first service at 3000 miles. 2400 miles was on electric. He gets about 40 miles on electric only. He can drive to Seattle and back, and stop for shopping, and still not use the gas motor. He works locally, so travels to and from work on electric, and on the freeway on electric only has no problem keeping up with traffic. But on longer trips into the backwoods, he doesnt get range anxiety or have to stop for 45 mins to recharge. So is it green no, but a lot greener than a gas guzzler or diesel. Seems there are shades of green.
Referring to the RAV 4 Prime
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Referring to the RAV 4 Prime as an EV is inaccurate and somewhat insulting. 90% of its range is with a fossil-fuel gas engine, like the Volt was. Green vehicles don't emit pollution like Prius and the RAV 4 Prime do. And here in the U.S. (southwest) we use solar power from our home panels to charge EVs/PHEVs, but the gasoline portion of the RAV 4 makes it simply a hybrid, definitely not an "EV".
Hey Bob. Sorry that your
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In reply to Referring to the RAV 4 Prime by Bob Foss (not verified)
Hey Bob. Sorry that your viewpoint disallows you from understanding how a plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle operates. Vehicles that can propel themselves using electricity only for the duration of a typical commute differ from gasoline hybrids.
Yes, you are correct, here in
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In reply to Hey Bob. Sorry that your by John Goreham
Yes, you are correct, here in the U.S. the RAV4 Prime and the Escape plug in which we have on our street do about 90% of their range with gas, and yes 10% electric. So yes, the 10% is "green" but actually here it is really green in that the charging is not on the grid but with solar power from solar panels...which is something we feel is good, though many in the East and North dismiss solar power. As a retired military officer I feel somewhat "unpatriotic"....I had an EV, lease was up, but couldn't get a good deal on an EV, or even a downgraded PHEV, which I have had the chance to test drive, so feel kind of dumb as you indicated as I am driving a gas burner (2020 Honda CRV) but when that lease is up I'll have to go "green" again. Thanks so much. I enjoy this site as it is interesting to hear other's opinions and see how many people are just getting the feel of EVs. Stay safe this summer.
Join the RAV4 Prime facebook
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In reply to Yes, you are correct, here in by Bob Foss (not verified)
Join the RAV4 Prime facebook clubs. There are two great ones. Or the Honda Clarity club. You will see how most users operate their PHEVs. Most owners relish the EV miles, and charge to full daily. Many go months or more without adding gas. And when a road trip presents itself the vehicles are HEV not conventional ICE.