Prius has been the center of attention in the hybrid world for about 20 years. With Toyota building more hybrids than ever before, a successor to Prius was inevitable. Here are two ways the Toyota Rav4 is beating the Prius at its own game.
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The Toyota Prius has been a long-standing favorite in the hybrid community for a long time. The word hybrid is synonymous with Prius. Every star has their moment to shine, and Prius, while still a hot-selling hybrid, is getting beat at the game it had created.
Here are two ways that the Toyota Rav4 is beating the Prius.
The 2021 Toyota Rav4 Hybrid Is Outselling The Prius
While the numbers are close, they do not lie. Midway through the model year, Rav4 hybrid was at 29,319 units. Prius, still having a strong following, was on the heels at 29,241.
Those numbers may seem minuscule, but the thing is, Prius has been an active leader for so long, it was just a matter of time before sales slowed down. The numbers do not mean that Prius no longer has a place; it just means that the preferences of owners are changing.
The 2021 Rav4 Hybrid Dominates Prius In Performance
Prius is a fun car, not exactly a Supra but fun enough. The Rav4, however, has stepped up its game. The horsepower numbers alone are making the Rav4 very appealing. 302 horsepower on a hybrid car that is getting 37 miles per gallon is pretty fantastic.
The zero to 60 in 5.8 seconds in nearly twice as quick as the 2020 Prius. Interesting enough, the fuel economy is still very acceptable and especially for a small SUV.
Conclusion
I think that the Rav4 hybrid is a very intriguing vehicle that has certainly caught my eye. I love my Prius for sure, and I think that it has a place in our society. I feel it will always be around in one way or another.
Thanks for reading, be sure to check out my other story, Three Things Most Do Not Know About The First Generation Prius
Watch the 2021 Toyota RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid Prime video presentation and click to subscribe to Torque News Youtube channel for daily automotive news analysis.
Peter Neilson is an automotive consultant specializing in electric cars and hybrid battery technologies. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Automotive Service Technology from Weber State University. Peter is also an Instructor of Automotive Technology at Columbia Basin College. Peter can be reached on Linkedin and you can tweet him at The_hybrid_guy on Twitter. Find his page on Facebook at Certified Auto Consulting
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The 2021 model isn't for sale
The 2021 model isn't for sale, how can it be outpacing the Prius?
The RAV4 Prime looks like it
The RAV4 Prime looks like it will be a better deal than the RAV4 Hybrid or Prius Prime. It matches the specs of it's unpluggable brother, and beats most all of the capabilities of the Prius Prime, especially with much farther EV range and good acceleration. As long as dealers don't tack on extra window sticker fees to jack up the price, the RAV4 Prime should be a bargain. Especially once you figure in federal and state subsidies. Certainly the Prius Prime will still be cheaper, but the Rav4 Prime looks like a better deal than the Prius, and all of the lesser RAV4 models.