I think that the Toyota RAV4
I think that the Toyota RAV4 Prime is going to be a sales hit in this market. It can be argued that this was a conservative move by Toyota to build a PHEV crossover in 2020. Especially when they had already built a couple generations of RAV4 BEVs, and also considering that rivals like Ford and Tesla have CUV BEVs coming in the same time frame. Japanese companies often choose the safest route towards the future, but I am happy that at least Toyota is offering a PHEV. The smart part of this move is that they will grab all of the buyers who want to move to an EV but who want the security of having a gasoline engine as a backup. There is a HUGE market of people who now own gas/diesel cars and trucks who will be attracted to make this easy step into electrification, with no real downside. The best part for buyers is that the governmental subsidies should bring this Prime model close to the regular hybrid RAV4's price. That would still put it in the ballpark price of the Chevy Bolt and Hyundai Kona BEVs, but thousands less than the base models of the Tesla Model Y and Ford Mach-E. Part of me is disappointed that Toyota is backpedaling from building a EV RAV4, but part of me thinks that it is a relatively smart move considering that their even more conservative Japanese automaker rivals Honda and Nissan have not even moved to building plug in hybrid versions of their CUVs.