Sometimes, covering the conventional requires the unconventional. Cars don’t get much more conventional than the Toyota RAV4. This is bread-and-butter, basic, crossover transportation. If that’s all you really need, then we strongly suggest you go out and look at the RAV. However, if the RAV is a bit too jack-of-all, master-of-none, we’re going to outline three alternative takes on the RAV4’s crossover formula.
There’s an epic battle royal brewing in the mid-size CUV segment. Over the past year, Honda, Ford, Mazda, Hyundai, and Mitsubishi have refreshed their family friendly crossovers. We can officially add Toyota to that list. This is the 2013 Toyota RAV4, and it just debuted at the 2012 Los Angeles International Auto Show.
Toyota is teasing the 2013 Rav4 ahead of its reveal at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
Range is where the Rav4 EV clearly has an advantage—thanks to that same set of batteries that take so long to juice up. The EPA rates it at 92 miles of combined highway and city driving when charged in Standard mode and 113 miles on Extended. In testing, Toyota engineers saw range go as high as 145 miles. Comparatively, the Fit EV has a combined range of 82 miles, the Focus EV gets 76 miles, and the Leaf 73 miles.
Toyota has announced that it is suspending sales of eight models involved in the recall for the sticking accelerator, a recall wholly separate from the floor mat-related recall of certain Toyota and Lexus models. Because of a possibility of the pedal becoming stuck while depressed, certain year models of the RAV4, Corolla, Matrix, Camry, Avalon, Highlander, Tundra, and Sequoia, will not be sold until the problem has been solved.