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Toyota's hybrids have been called many things, but "interesting," "fun," or "fast," likely hasn't been on that list. The 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrid SUV changes all that. Not only is it arguably the best hybrid Toyota has built to date, but it's also the quickest non-Supra Toyota we've tested in the past five years, and the most-efficient Toyota on sale today not wearing a Prius badge.

What's A RAV4 Prime And What Makes It So Quick And Efficient?
The new RAV4 Prime is the plug-in hybrid version of the RAV4. Like the RAV4 Hybrid, the RAV4 Prime sports a 177-hp and 165-lb-ft 2.5-liter I-4 engine mated to electric motors and an e-CVT up front, another electric motor at the rear axle, and a battery pack underneath the rear seats. That's about where the similarities end. The Prime's motors are more powerful for starters—its front one makes 179 hp and 199 lb-ft of torque, while its rear makes 53 hp and 89 lb-ft of torque, with a total combined system output of 302 hp (versus 219 hp combined for the RAV4 Hybrid).

The RAV4 Prime also sports a large 18.1-kWh battery, which, unlike the RAV4 Hybrid's 1.6-kWh battery, can be plugged in. Depending on whether you have the standard 3.3-kW on-board charger or optional 6.6-kW charger (the latter available as part of the $3,765 Premium Package on the top-trim RAV Prime XSE), it can be charged from empty to full in about an hour and a half on a Level 2 240-volt charger, or less than 12 hours on a Level 1 120-volt charger. With a full battery, the EPA says RAV4 Prime can motor for 42 miles on electricity before the engine kicks on, giving the SUV a total driving range of about 600 miles. When accounting for both its motors and engine, the EPA rates the RAV4 at 105/84/94 mpg-e, or 38 mpg combined if you never bother to plug the Prime in and treat it like a RAV4 Hybrid.

How Fast Is The RAV4 Prime?
So, to the test track: In the hands of our well-traveled test team, the RAV4 Prime was surprisingly a bit of a handful as it accelerated from 0-60 mph in an impressively quick 5.5 seconds, and on through the quarter-mile in 14.1 seconds at 98.7 mph. "Well, that was unexpected," said associate road test editor Erick Ayapana, "The RAV4 Prime really made me work to control wheel spin, seeming from the rear axle first, and then the front axle. Regardless, this thing feels strong off the line, good pull from start to the quarter-mile finish."
The RAV4 Prime's straight-line performance makes it the second-quickest Toyota we've tested in quite a long time—the only vehicle faster has been a 2021 GR Supra 3.0, which needed 4.0 seconds to hit 60 mph and ran a 12.3-second quarter-mile at 115.8 mph (we haven't tested the Supra GR 2.0 yet, it'll likely be quicker than the RAV4 Prime, too). Hot on the RAV4 Prime's heels is the NASCAR-lookalike V-6-powered Toyota Camry TRD. Its best run was 5.8 seconds to 60 mph and a 14.4-second quarter-mile at 99.8 mph.
Somewhat surprisingly given its heavy 4,372-pound curb weight, the RAV4 Prime performed admirably in our braking and handling tests. In the former, it needed 127 feet in our 60-0 mph emergency stop test, and in the latter it lapped our figure eight in 27.0 seconds at 0.65 g average.

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