Toyota saw fit to bring a 2021 RAV4 Prime prototype to this
year’s Chicago Auto Show, which makes sense seen as how the weather in the
American Midwest tends to favor all-wheel driven vehicles.
Unlike in LA though, the Japanese carmaker
now chose to put the RAV4 Prime in an enclosed area by itself, so visitors
won’t be able to access the crossover, which is a bit unfortunate. Then again,
the LA car didn’t have any prototype stickers on, so Toyota might just be doing
the sensible thing here by keeping your hands away from an unfinished product.
The RAV4
Prime won’t be going on sale until sometime this summer, which means interested
parties have no choice but to wait for what can be described as the most
powerful, most fuel-efficient and quickest RAV4 ever created. In case you still
don’t know what’s going on underneath this crossover’s hood, we can tell you
that while its plug-in hybrid unit might be based on the engine in the RAV4
Hybrid, in the Prime it features more powerful electric motors and a
high-capacity lithium-ion battery pack.
The 2.5-liter four-pot has been modified
to produce 176 HP and 228 Nm of torque, while the total
system output stands at 302 HP – that’s 83 HP more than you get in the
RAV4 Hybrid. As for performance, the Prime can get you from zero to 96
km/h in just 5.8 seconds, whereas the all-electric range is rated at 63 km, with an estimated combined fuel economy figure of 90 MPGe. According
to Toyota, the RAV4 Prime features the longest range of any plug-in hybrid
crossover.
Ultimately, buyers can choose between SE
and XSE trim levels for the RAV4 Prime, with the latter even boasting synthetic
leather seats, ambient lighting, wireless smartphone charging, and a large
9-inch infotainment system.
