Why Owners Chose The 2022 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid Over the RAV4 Prime

Would buy a Rav 4 hybrid today and pay cash but can’t find one.

Or is it that you can't get a prime unless you live in select states and often pay massively over MSRP?

Prime all the way but I would not pay over msrp. I can go 3+ Months, 1600+ miles on a single tank.

I have had a Prius Prime for almost 2 years now and have forgotten to plug it in once. I have hardly had to buy any fuel, would love to get a RAV4 prime but they're not available and I will not pay these insane prices for a used one

Bought a 21 hybrid Rav4 just before the car shortage began in Feb 2021. Loved the car but when my CRV was totaled last summer I put a deposit down on a Prime SE which has very few features compared to the XLE premium we have so, I opted to pay a bit more for the XSE . However, the XSE was and still is not available and if you can find it it’s $10,000 over sticker and by then hybrids were also pretty much non existent. After thinking about it the 42 miles on a charge is minuscule and the car would need to be charged every other day to make it worth while. So, like others posting, it is not convenient and ultimately I opted for a used car to tide me over until this crazy market cools if it ever does. When the plug in hybrid gets 100-150 mills to the charge , which they eventually will ,then it will be worth getting one. Still don’t like the idea of fully electric vehicles unless they get 500-600 miles on the charge. Then it’s convenient and drivable to most places.

Just got a RAV hybrid, took 4 months, wanted a prime but they are not available within 18+ months. Completely stops that as an option to even consider.

I love my Prime. I have a level 2 charger at home and have no problem plugging it in when it's in the garage. I've been getting as much as 50 miles of electric driving, and basically use only electric driving for local runs.

If and I say IF the Rav 4 prime was made in Canada, I would consider it. I bought my Rav hybrid because of fuel economy and the fact it was made in Cambridge, Ontario. It's a great car. I have also met people who bought the Rav fully electric vehicle, ten years ago..those that did also love the car.

I am on waiting list for Rav4 hybrid. Dealership in MB Canada is not even taking orders for the Prime. That being said, in addition increased vehicle cost, I would have to upgrade house service to accommodate plugin in garage. So hybrid is better option at the moment.

If you never plug it in, what's the point of haiving a prime? I plug mine in every day. I have had both the XSE Hybrid and XSE Prime Premium. Who ever wrote this article must have been smoking crack!! While I did love my Hybrid, I like the XSE Prime Premium much better. First of all because of the options I couldn't get on the XSE Hybrid. With the XSE Hybrid I couldn't get the 360 camera, power passenger seat, A/C seats and auto leveling headlights, with the Prime I can. Advantage Prime. Plus 300hp and way better passing power. Again advantage Prime. I can go 40 miles and never use a drop of gas, advantage Prime. Currently the way I am using my Prime I am averaging over 100mpg. In my XSE Hybrid I averaged about 35mpg. Again, advantage Prime.

When I finished scouting for a supplement to our EV, suitable for some off road, snow use, and range anxiety-free long distance travel, I decided the Rav4 Prime was best suited to the task. As others have noted, limited availability resulted in many dealers marking up the Prime's MSRP by $15k (I did find another willing to let one go for only $10k over MSRP). Not interested in such a fleecing, I searched until I found one for "only" MSRP! It was across the country from me, but I was fine with that. We're now closing in on 14k miles and, although my wife would attest to the stern assertiveness necessary to have done the deal, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

This article just proves that not every thought needs to be written or said.

"I would forget to plug in my car after I get back from work"
Any reasonable person wouldn't forget to plug in their car considering gas prices (and not to mention, using myself as an example, I'm averaging about 160mpg with my PHEV)

Theres also the fact that for ever one PHEV, Toyota is making about 20 Hybrids. The "choice" isnt really there for most.

We purchased a 2020 Prius Prime in July 2021. It had 16000 miles. It's computer showed that overall miles-per-gallon was about 73. We have faithfully plugged it in to recharge every time we return to our home and if available, at free charging stations wherever we might find ourselves. Now, at 21,000 total miles the computer shows we are getting 94 miles-per-gallon overall. This includes four trips of over 250 miles each. We rejoice that we have filled the gas tank only five times (ha,ha, only 9 gallons each time). What's not to like? We considered ordering the RAV plug in hybrid, but decided it was too expensive and waiting at least 8 months was not best for our needs.

The prime is fast, efficient, quiet, and if I don’t have to give my hard earned money to the oil companies that are totally abusive, it makes me feel good. This car was worth the wait..we hardly use any gas at all..The cheapest place for electricity is Quebec, Canada where we live.

My wife and I bought a RAV4 Hybrid in 2021. The price between that and the prime was minimal to consider. The reality for us in that in Denver there are not many places we could plug it in and we currently live in an apartment and aren't willing to shell out $200/mo for a garage. We would have loved to get the prime if we had a garage or house we could charge from, that would make it worth it. And based on the housing market affording one seemed beyond the first 5 years of owning it. Could consider trading it in if circumstances change

I am at 3000 miles with my RAV4 Prime. No gas fill up in last 3 weeks. We spent the money for level 2 charge plug. All of our around town driving is electric. Daily charges increase electric utilities by $10/month. Love this car.

In MPLS it’s May & dealers won’t even put you on a list for getting a RAV4 Prime. “Can’t get them”, they say. The auto news rags keep touting them but good is it if they aren’t really available???!

RAV4 Prime is perfect for my situation. We have a Level 2 charger in the driveway, and 59 solar panels on the roof. I rarely drive more than 50 miles per day, just plug in overnight and go to the gas station only about every 6-7 months unless we go on a long trip. Love it.

I’ve own both, a RAV4 XSE hybrid, and currently a RAV4 XSE prime. I prefer the prime because of the fact that I can plug it in and save on Fuel. Gas prices in my area or a 4.89 a gallon, and I can plug in my prime for much less than that, and I also have solar at my house as well. I feel it’s a better value in the long run.

Nope. The hybrid is more popular than the prime because it was (still is?) near impossible to buy the prime for about a year. Wait lists of 300+ names on them at dealerships all over the country, each with a deposit down. In Washington state there were literal fights breaking out over them and for a while Toyota stopped selling primes anywhere in the state. I was calling random dealerships all over the country and when I’d inquire about buying a prime, they’d literally laugh at me over the phone. They’d say “On the other hand, I can sell you a hybrid model in any color you want.” Gee, I wonder why the hybrid model is more popular? This article is just wild.

I'd treat it like a pure EV. The 40 mile range of the Prime would handle 90% of my driving. Only long trips would require gas. Still a moot point, because as you say, they are not available for 2-3 years, and in that time EV technology and the market will be far different.

Sorry, this is wrong. We charge our Prime whenever we need it. It is ready every morning at 7:30 am. 100% of our local driving is EV. Gas is only used on highway parts of trips ... On The Highway!, all else is EV. Why would you buy a PHEV and use it as a Hybrid? This article presentation is just lazy ignorance.

DISCLAIMER: I had a prius prime before my rav 4 prime. I dont think I can go back. We also own a Tesla.My 10 gallon tank of gas gets about a month before I need to fill up. Most of my errands are within my 46 mile electric range so I average 100 miles to tank. MY commute is 80 miles so this is what kills me. YOU ARE MISSING OUT IF YOU DONT PLUG IN! IN Maryland we got the home charger for about $300 after rebate ($1100 cost) and I got a $7500 credit which makes it the same cost as the hybrid. Thinking about getting the fully electric car since I have gotten over my mile anxiety and more pumps are appearing.

My wife has had a RAV4 Prime since early August 2021. She has put several thousand miles on. I've had to add gas conditioner to the tank because it is still at the three quarters full mark on the initial fill from the dealer. I am shocked at all the contributors who can't be bothered to plug theirs in, especially with the current price of gasoline.

I'm trying to figure out if parts of this article are real. Who would buy a plug in hybrid and not plug it in? Who spends extra money and seriously says they "couldn't find anywhere to plug it in"? They all come with the wall charger that you just plug in when you get home.

The money I'm saving with my Prime over a hybrid right now is literally hundreds a month. The Rav4 Hybrid doesn't really get that great of fuel economy, so when I switched to the Prime, its like night and day on efficiency.

As for waiting 3 years for a Prime..... thats not a thing. No one that's ever been in the market for a Prime has ever waited 3 years......period. Then the quote went on to say something like a 24 or 25 model year? What?!? Like I said in the beginning, I'm trying to figure out if this article is even real or not and if it is, who the hell allowed this to be posted. Iv owned my Prime for almost a year now and have logged thousands of miles to and from work all on EV. Thousands and thousands of miles not going to a gas station, not paying $6 gal for gas and not having to worry about postponement of trips due cost. You can't compare the Prime to the Hybrids. Except for the looks, they are miles apart on just about everything else.

I just bought a Rav4 hybrid. I would never buy a car you have to plug in. Too inconvenient!we are not ready for electric cars yet!!