5th Generation Toyota RAV4 Master Thread

suxeL

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A part of this is Toyotas diverse production locations. While the Gas only models are exclusively CA built for US market, hybrids are able to be sourced from both Japan and US (at least the first model year it was).
 

suxeL

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So to the EV afficionados, is the Prime allocation for the US market limited by production capacity of batteries and/or just market dynamics due to more favorable subsidizes in other world markets?
 

Joaquin Ruhi

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So to the EV afficionados, is the Prime allocation for the US market limited by production capacity of batteries and/or just market dynamics due to more favorable subsidizes in other world markets?
A bit of each. The Panasonic li-ion batteries' production capacity was constrained to begin with, and the folks actually building the batteries need to keep social distancing (due to, naturally, COVID-19 fears) which further slows down production. The market dynamics aspect comes into play where meeting Chinese PHEV and European CO2 emissions rules trump relatively lax U.S. regulations. Needing to sell some as Suzukis in order for the brand to meet Euro CO2 rules further constrains supply.

Bottom line: U.S. RAV4 Prime has unwittingly become a "compliance vehicle" sold only on the West Coast and Northeast Coast regions with stricter ZEV rules, at least for the 2021MY when we only get 5000 units for the whole country. The Toyota USA consumer site confirmed this when I entered my Florida zip code. It says RAV4 Prime is not available here. I had to enter my cousin's California zip code in order to "build my own". Hopefully, things will be better for the 2022MY, when 20,000 units are expected to be available nationwide.

Nonetheless, a RAV4 Prime SE was delivered at my door yesterday from the local press fleet. True to its "hot" status, I only get it for 4 days max, as opposed to the week we usually get for press vehicles. I drove it briefly yesterday to a routine doctor's appointment, and will say that it certainly lives up to the hype and rave reviews. Tomorrow (weather permitting) we film it, and that should give me much more seat time.
 

Joaquin Ruhi

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Does anybody know if the RAV4 Prime will be available in Canada?
Good question. Late 2019 / early 2020 news releases on the Toyota Canada Newsroom mention that it will be available "later this year" and tout its appearances at the Montreal and Toronto auto shows. Unlike the U.S., however, no follow-up news releases with pricing or estimated on-sale date.
 
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Sulu

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Good question. Late 2019 / early 2020 news releases on the Toyota Canada Newsroom mention that it will be available "later this year" and tout its appearances at the Montreal and Toronto auto shows. Unlike the U.S., however, no follow-up news releases with pricing or estimated on-sale date.
Thanks. I had looked on the Toyota Canada consumer website and saw nothing about the RAV4 Prime.
 

ssun30

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Came across this interesting read which suggests the RAV4 PHV has one of the best ramp up in the industry where 'production hell' is considered normal.

However I don't agree with the article's optimistic prediction of RAV4 PHV's future volume (at least in USA). Upcoming Lexus PHVs will put bigger pressure on Panasonic's quality control, so they either have to accept smaller volume or relax quality standards (which is unlikely).

And to make things worse, they're giving priority to the Suzuki...
Not necessarily a bad thing. The Across PHV carries Suzuki badge so they could allow slightly looser quality control.
 

spwolf

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Came across this interesting read which suggests the RAV4 PHV has one of the best ramp up in the industry where 'production hell' is considered normal.

However I don't agree with the article's optimistic prediction of RAV4 PHV's future volume (at least in USA). Upcoming Lexus PHVs will put bigger pressure on Panasonic's quality control, so they either have to accept smaller volume or relax quality standards (which is unlikely).


Not necessarily a bad thing. The Across PHV carries Suzuki badge so they could allow slightly looser quality control.

Urgh,
a. Not a good rampup for Toyota, but we dont know what they planned.
b. Of course Toyota will not produce lower quality vehicles for Suzuki brand. Reason Suzuki got more units is because they need them more in EU, while Toyota sells so many hybrids, they already have one of the lowest CO2 fleet averages in EU, if not the lowest.
 

Sulu

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b. Of course Toyota will not produce lower quality vehicles for Suzuki brand. Reason Suzuki got more units is because they need them more in EU, while Toyota sells so many hybrids, they already have one of the lowest CO2 fleet averages in EU, if not the lowest.
I assume that the Suzuki Across is essentially the same vehicle as the RAV4, built side-by-side on the same assembly line as the RAV4, with the only real difference being the badge and the front-end -- truly badge-engineered? It seems to be from what I see.

If so, it would be costly to give the Across a different traction battery (one that had been rejected for the RAV4), unless the bill of material and build sheet for the Across specifically state that a different ("lower-quality"?) battery shall be used.
 

spwolf

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I assume that the Suzuki Across is essentially the same vehicle as the RAV4, built side-by-side on the same assembly line as the RAV4, with the only real difference being the badge and the front-end -- truly badge-engineered? It seems to be from what I see.

If so, it would be costly to give the Across a different traction battery (one that had been rejected for the RAV4), unless the bill of material and build sheet for the Across specifically state that a different ("lower-quality"?) battery shall be used.

yes, it is probably the best example of badge engineering ever. They will certainly not use anything of lower quality in them.

There will also be Corolla Wagon hybrid as Suzuki.

Suzuki is becoming part of Toyota, and they are building trust. Toyota is getting rebadged Suzukis for India, and Suzuki is getting rebadged Toyotas to lower their CO2 in Europe.

There are supposed to be some hybrid knowhow transferred and Toyota is supposed to use some small engines from Suzuki in Europe, but none of that is happening yet.
 

Will1991

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Is there any information about battery production?
Will it have locally produced packs? Panasonic only?

China should be a big market for RAV4 PHV’s, so they shouldn’t want production bottlenecks.
 

spwolf

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Rav4 won offroad comparo which was done really well, apparently new system is really good:

Toyota RAV4
Nissan Rogue
Sportage
Subaru Forester,
Volkswagen Tiguan
Chinese Changan CS75
Mitsubishi Outlander
Mazda CX 5