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Toyota RAV4 Prime Charging Times: How Long Does It Really Take?

Learn all the ways you can charge your RAV4 Prime. Plus learn how long each method takes.
2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime XSE Premium Package Supersonic Red profile front end

The most popular small SUV in the country has many different offerings for customers.

People can choose between traditional gasoline-powered RAV4 and RAV4 Hybrid (gasoline engine plus electric motors). Both are solid options and are incredibly dependable and reliable.

Also, potential owners can really decide to go next level and purchase a RAV4 Prime. With gas prices so high these days, the potential to drive in all-electric mode for up to 42 miles is certainly appealing.

Toyota RAV4 Prime Charging

New Toyota RAV4 Prime models come standard with a provided charging cable. Both the RAV4 Prime SE and XSE (these are the only trim levels) are equipped with a 3.3kW onboard traction battery charger. This is all the equipment you really need to charge your new vehicle.

You can upgrade your XSE with a Premium Package that bulks up your onboard battery charger to 6.6kW for faster charge times.

RELATED VIDEO: My demo of RAV4 Prime charging and what "My Room" mode is

Your RAV4 Prime can be plugged into a standard 120V outlet. The benefit here is you can typically charge your RAV4 Prime at home and at work.

There are three main methods for charging, each with different charging times.

2021 RAV4 Prime Charging Methods

2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime XSE Premium Package Supersonic Red charging profile front end

First, you can plug your provided charging cable into a standard 120V outlet at home or work. You will use the base 3.3kW onboard charger. This charging process takes approximately 12 hours.

Next method: you can still use the base 3.3kW onboard charger. But this time you charge while plugged into an upgraded 240V system. This significantly reduces your charging time to about 4 hours and 30 minutes.

The fastest method is to purchase a Toyota RAV4 Prime XSE with a Premium Package. This upgrades you to the 6.6kW onboard charger. Then, you can plug into the upgraded 240V system. Now you only have to wait approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes for a full electric charge.

2022 Toyota RAV4 Prime

The 2022 RAV4 Prime is essentially a direct carryover from 2021 RAV4 Prime. You will not see much difference between the two model years. Perhaps that will help you with your research before buying.

Toyota RAV4 Prime Features

2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime XSE Premium Package Supersonic Red profile view

In my opinion, there are many reasons to consider a Toyota RAV4 Prime.

It utilizes both gasoline and electric power to produce 302 horsepower, which is the most powerful RAV4 of all time.

RAV4 Prime can travel 0-60 mph in under 6 seconds, which makes it one of the fastest Toyota models currently on the market.

And, of course, there is the fuel efficiency benefit. As I said before, in electric-only mode people can travel up to 42 miles on one single charge without using a drop of gasoline. The posted estimated fuel economy is 94 MPGe (what new owners really get for mpg).

One tank of gasoline (with a full 14.5 gallons of fuel) provides a driving range of around 600 miles. That can get people a long way during a road trip.

Time for Your RAV4 Prime Comments

Thanks for reading everyone.

Do you own either a Toyota RAV4, RAV4 Hybrid, or RAV4 Prime? If so, how do you like yours so far?

With RAV4 Prime, what is your fuel economy so far? Is it exactly what you had hoped? How far have you been able to travel in electric mode alone?

See you next story.

Also Read: How long you may wait to get a RAV4 Prime

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Comments

Janet Lewis (not verified)    April 27, 2022 - 11:33AM

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I have owned a RAV4 Prime for almost 4 months and love it. While the stated electric charge range is 42 miles, when I charge overnight, it is now at 49 or 50 miles of range and it is more than enough most days to cover my commute of 42 miles return. Heavy traffic means I use less charge; conversely, if I drive 70mph it burns through the charge faster. Warmer weather (now in the 50s/low 60s during day) seems to have improved mileage. With just a few long-distance trips so far, my average MPG for over 4000 miles is about 94mpg. I will definitely look to Toyota when we replace our ICE Mazda CX5 ICE vehicle with a BEV.

Alison Sherer (not verified)    June 10, 2022 - 8:54AM

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We got a 2022 RAV4 Prime SE last week. It came with the standard 110v charger which takes 12 hours to fully charge. We are considering upgrading to 240v but can’t figure out exactly how to do that. We called toyota parts to find out if we can order a different cable but they don’t seem to know anything about that. We know we will need to have an electrician install the 240v outlet. But do we use the same charger or what kind of charger do we use? We don’t want to damage our vehicle.

Totoy (not verified)    June 13, 2022 - 5:12PM

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You will need a different charger. You will need a Level 2 Charger. Search on Amazon 240v EV Charger. I have Lectron Level 2 EV Charger (240V 32 Amp) and it works on my Toyota Prime..

Nancy Bumford (not verified)    July 15, 2022 - 4:46PM

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In the article, it states "you can still use the base 3.3kW onboard charger. But this time you charge while plugged into an upgraded 240V system. This significantly reduces your charging time to about 4 hours and 30 minutes.". So I'm confused....if we upgrade to a 240V outlet, can we use the charger that comes with the car (as stated above) or do we need a level 2 charger?

cgreyg (not verified)    August 17, 2022 - 12:50PM

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You need to buy an aftermarket level 2 charger that will have a plug that fits into a 3 pronged dryer outlet (220 volt outlet). I got one on Amazon for about $220. The one I chose was nifty because it came with an adapter to change the 240 volt dryer plug into a regular 110volt plug. So I can use this charger on either 110v or 220v. The one toyota supplied only has a regular plug for 110volt outlet and it is only rated for 110volt. I have the 2021 Prime XSE with the 3.3kw charger package. I have owned for 11 months and have about 15,000 miles. There are a lot of aftermarket chargers available.

Troy (not verified)    March 25, 2023 - 7:07PM

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Both SE and XSE will accept 220VAC You would need to get a charge cable (j1772 EVSE) that has a 220v plug installed, some international EVSE units will accept 250v to 260v but it must be labeled as such, also look for the UL LISTED label. There are numerous brands, some allow you to select the charge current which would let you charge from a generator or a non-standard outlet with suitable adapters.

Ray (not verified)    September 24, 2022 - 1:27PM

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Does the aftermarket cord off Ebay void your warranty if something goes wrong is my question. Also, will a 240V cord reduce your battery life like the dealership states. I was told to only use the 3KW cord that comes with the base Prime I have. Where can I find info stating I can transfer this much power this fast and not harm the battery and charging system. Can someone post that info from a recognized Toyota source? A phone number even? Is it in the manual of the vehicle somewhere?

cgreyg (not verified)    September 25, 2022 - 9:20AM

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Page 114 in Owners Manual of Rav4 PRIME. Estimated Charging times: At a Commercial Charging Station with a 3.3kw Charger. Charging voltage at 240 V. Estimated Charging Time is Reduced to 4 hours and 30 minute. So they are explicitly telling you you CAN charge the 3.3kw with 240v.

Page 118 discusses using a public charging station to charge at your destination. There are no public charging stations that offer anything less than 240 volt charging. Toyota again is expecting you to use 240v charger with the 3.3kw model.

There are no guarantees on anything. We won't know if Toyota will honor the Lithium Battery Replacement warranty until some customers have successfully gotten the battery replaced. Toyota would never know you were using an aftermarket charger unless you told them. Especially since they expect you to use public charging stations.
I wish I had more answers for you.

All I can say for certain is that I have had the car for one year and have only charged 110v with no issues. I have used 2 different 110v chargers, one in the driveway and one in the garage, depending on where I park. I have not had any problems. I used amazon, not eBay, so I could read the user reviews of the chargers. That should help you to make a decision. The user reviews on EV Chargers are very detailed and written by people much smarter than me. In fact, you might get some answers there in the customer reviews of different EV chargers on Amazon.
I currently cannot spend $2000 to have a 220v plug installed. One day, I hope to have that available to me. I have never used a public charging station, it just doesn't seem worthwhile since I can drive on gasoline if needed.

Another thing to think about, no matter who made the vehicle, all Lithium Based Batteries operate on the same principles. Tesla tells their owners not to charge to 100%, but to charge to 80-85% and that will help the battery have many more "charging cycles". The toyota system ONLY charges to 100%. So no way to cut it off before that point. Even if you build the Charging Schedule to have the charger turn on at a certain hour, the Owners Manual says that it will ignore your start time and start charging earlier to reach 100% charge by your desired ending time.
According to lithium battery experts, that shortens the life of the battery. I even read this with my new iPhone, better to charge to 85% than a 100%. So I have started trying to time my charging where I don't get all the way to 100%. But hard to do manually. Again, who knows what Toyota might actually do if you try to get a free battery replacement 6 years from now. I think one thing that would be used against Toyota in court is that their charging system only goes to 100%. Which other EV manufactures warn against. Even if you try to use the Charging Schedule to only charge 3 hours, the vehicle will override your attempt to charge to less than 100%.
Overall I am very, very happy with the PRIME being my first venture into electric vehicles. I charge it all of the time and barely use gasoline because I like the powerful electric engine. At 13,000 miles, I have seen no decline in the battery at this time.

Troy (not verified)    March 25, 2023 - 6:48PM

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Most full-electric vehicles are not charging up to the peak voltage of the pack, you are exactly right on the damage that causes (think about a properly inflated latex balloon vs one that is about to rupture, we've learned how to deal with the limits).

As for the 220VAC receptacle, search for 'Dryer Buddy', these let you share an electric clothes dryer or oven receptacle for significantly less than what you were quoted by an electrician. You would need to park reasonably close to one of these appliances to be feasible solution. There is also an adapter for the main service meter base that enables tying in right after the meter (the power company WILL need to come out to reinstall that meter, that's how they get paid so they're picky about those)

Ed (not verified)    July 3, 2022 - 3:41PM

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Does the RAV4 Prime charge the empty battery itself when driving in gas only mode when there isn't a electricial outlet olption available to charge the car? If so how many hours / miles of driving would it take to fully charge the battery?

Dan (not verified)    September 7, 2022 - 6:24PM

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It does have a "charge mode" where the engine will charge up the battery, but I never use it, as I estimate plugging into the wall is 25-40% of the cost of using gasoline. Supposedly it takes about 3 hours to charge to 80% with gas. Even if you are not in charge mode, the car will keep enough power in the battery to run the car like a normal hybrid.

Ray (not verified)    September 24, 2022 - 1:14PM

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I'm concerned with using a 240 Cable off Ebay that might void my warranty on my Prime that is a 3.3 kw non-premium. Can you produce something that states the use of a 240 power cable won't void the warranty? Have a Toyota phone number that I can call to verify or some documentation? Dealerships are telling me to use only what comes with it.

Troy (not verified)    March 25, 2023 - 6:33PM

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Look into the charging standard SAE j1772, equipment compliant with j1772 will not damage anything. The onboard charger does the battery charging (unless your vehicle has a DC charge port, Toyota doesn't need that for these). Both 3.3kW and 6.6kW will use either 115VAC or 220 VAC (probably up to 260VAC but I wouldn't push it to 277VAC). Purchase a cable that is listed with the electric testing lab for your country (UL, TUV, CE, Intertek etc.) and you're set. Ideally get a warranty with the EVSE (charge cord), quality matters here, I've gone through 4 low quality portable units in the same time as the permanent Bosch Level 2 charger still going strong.

mike@collegePark (not verified)    February 25, 2023 - 9:33PM

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My electrician said the outlet will be 250V 20A.
is this ok with using 3.3kW charging cable which came with the car?
Of course I will arrange an 240V to 110V adapter so i can use the original cable.
Thanks in advance.