2021 (21) Toyota RAV4 2.5 VVT-i Hybrid Black Edition 5dr CVT 2WD

By Jonathan Crouch

Introduction

Toyota's RAV4 mid-sized SUV soft roader has been around so long it's easy to forget quite how far it's come. The fifth generation XA50 model launched here is 2019 was bigger, better finished, and far more efficient, thanks to Hybrid and, later, also Plug-in Hybrid power. And Toyota didn't forget that cars in this class need to look good and drive well too. Reacquaint yourself with it. You might be in for a surprise.

History

The Toyota RAV4. It's long been the world's best selling SUV and it's come a long way since it started out back in 1994. With that first RAV4, Toyota re-defined what a car of this kind ought to be. The company didn't follow the usual ladder-framed chassis construction then common in the class but instead launched the first monocoque-bodied SUV in the segment. Which meant that it was the first one that didn't lurch about alarmingly when shown a corner. Fast forward a quarter of a century to this fifth generation version launched here in 2019 and once more, Toyota was keen to innovate. Back then, most mid-sized SUVs of this sort still prioritised diesel power, but this Japanese brand wanted to set a new standard. Having experimented with a self-charging hybrid engine in final versions of the previous generation model, the company standardised it here. Which made this car, in its own way, as much as standard-setter as its predecessor was. A PHEV version joined the line-up in 2020. This MK5 RAV4 sold until it was replaced by a MK6 model in 2026.

What You Get

“I want people to love this car”, said this MK5 RAV4's Chief Engineer Yoshikazu Saeki at the car's original launch. '”To 'like' it - to share it on their 'phones”. Lower, wider and more angular, this design certainly had a degree of character and individuality we hadn't seen in RAV4 design since the 1994 original. Behind the wheel, RAV4 regulars will notice the cabin's airier feel and much higher quality. A smart 7-inch central display in the instrument binnacle adds to this perception of greater sophistication, which sits to the right of the brand's usual Hybrid system indicator, with its normal 'Charge', 'ECO' and 'Power' sections. Your infotainment needs are covered off by an 8-inch 'Toyota Touch 2' screen that covers off the usual DAB audio, Bluetooth, navigation and online connectivity options. It isn't cutting-edge in terms of graphical sophistication. We do though, like the neat 'Energy Monitor' which shows you at any given time what's being charged or powered by what. You also get comfortable seats, good all-round visibility and plenty of cabin storage. You might be a little disappointed to find that the rear bench doesn't slide - as it would in rivals like Volkswagen's Tiguan or Audi's Q3 - but the backrest reclines for greater comfort on longer journeys and headroom's good too, despite the lower roof line. Thanks to this fifth generation model's extra 30mm of wheelbase length, there's also plenty of room for legs and knees - and, helped by the 10mm increase in body width, Toyota claimed that lateral space between two rear-seated occupants had been increased by 40mm too; in other words, there's less chance of a couple of adults digging each other in the ribs. Once the tailgate's raised, a decently sized 580-litre luggage area is revealed. And when the rear seat is folded? Well there's no fold-flat front passenger seat option to allow for the carriage of really long items, so it's just as well that there was 60mm of extra luggage area length for this MK5 model, as part of 1,690-litres of total capacity.

What to Look For

Not much goes wrong here. Nevertheless, we've heard of a few things. Rainwater can apparently leak into the interior though deteriorated seals in the roof rail plastic clips. We've also heard that the Hybrid engine coolant bypass valve can fail, which leads to coolant leaks and engine over-heating. On AWD Hybrid and PHEV versions, the high-voltage cable feeding the rear electric motor can suffer from heavy corrosion. And we've heard of the infotainment screen freezing or needing continuous re-boots, so check its workings thoroughly. Look particularly closely for dents and scratches around the bodywork given that the car will have been driven to places where it will be easy to pick these up. And inspect the interior for child and luggage damage and make sure that the upholstery and the carpets aren't stained. And of course insist on a fully stamped up service history.

Replacement Parts

(approx based on a 2021 RAV4 PHEV excl. VAT) Expect to pay around £7-£38 for an air filter and around £15-£27 for a pair of wiper blades. A set of genuine Toyota front brake pads can cost anything between £45 and £87 per axle, depending on brand. For front brake discs, think around £48-£97 per disc. A front shock absorber is about £45-£115. A starter motor costs in the £450-£800 bracket.

On the Road

If you've any experience of the RAV4 model line, it won't take long behind the wheel of the Hybrid version of this fifth generation model to realise that's what's served up here is a big dynamic improvement on the forgettable experience you got at the wheel in the previous generation model. Thanks to a much stiffer GA-K platform and a lower centre of gravity, the car turns keenly into corners at speed and there's less understeer than you'd expect in a car of this kind, plus plenty of traction to power you out of the other side of the turn. The self-charging hybrid powertrain's was new at launch, using a re-worked Lexus-derived 2.5-litre VVT-I 'Dynamic Force' engine that puts out 176bhp, with the rest of the output provided by electrification. The 2WD variant gets one electric motor mounted on the front axle and develops a combined total of 215bhp. Most customers though, paid the extra for the AWD-i 4x4 system, which adds a further electric motor on the back axle, upping total power to 219bhp and providing significantly increased extra traction. Like all Toyota hybrids, this RAV4 can be driven in three ways. By the electric motors only (as is the case from start-off for up to 1.2 miles using the provided 'EV' mode); with just the engine (if you're giving it full throttle); or more usually, with a combination of both. During deceleration and under braking, the engine switches off and both electric motors act as high-output generators, recovering kinetic energy that automatically recharges the batteries for the next time the hybrid system is able to switch back to electric-only mode. The result of all this is a level of running cost efficiency that sees this front-driven model able to deliver an NEDC-rated CO2 figure of up to 102g/km and a combined WLTP-cycle return of over 51mpg on green pump fuel. Less impressive is the belt-driven CVT auto transmission this set-up must necessarily be mated to, which doesn't take kindly to aggressive throttle inputs. Adopt a smoother style of driving though and you'll probably get on with it just fine. What about the PHEV version? Well there's certainly no shortage of power available here - as is obvious very quickly when you spear away from rest, exercising a few of the 302 available braked horses residing beneath your right foot: in the Toyota model line-up at this time, only the top version of the Supra sports car had more. As with the ordinary self-charging RAV4 Hybrid (which in 4WD form can manage only 222bhp), the powertrain here features a four cylinder 2.5-litre petrol engine mated to an e-CVT belt-driven auto gearbox. But with the Plug-in set-up, the output of both the combustion unit and the front electric motor it's mated to are both boosted - to around 180bhp each. That's to compensate for the extra weight of the necessarily much larger 18.1kWh battery this PHEV model needs for its impressively long 46 mile all-electric driving range. Unlike with an ordinary RAV4, all-wheel drive is mandatory with this powertrain, so there's a second electric motor driving the rear axle and producing a further 54bhp - hence the surprisingly potent total output we mentioned earlier. You'll need to select the 'Sport' setting from the '3-mode driving dial' down here by the gearstick to really get a feel for that - your other drive options are 'Eco' and 'Normal'. Various powertrain operating settings are also offered, starting with the battery-only 'EV' mode the car always pulls away in. The alternative 'HV' mode is more realistic for normal driving as it runs this Toyota as a regular full-Hybrid, the software seamlessly blending in either petrol or electric power sources as required. A full press on the same button connects you to a further 'Charge mode', which sees the engine note rise as it (rather inefficiently) charges the battery when you're driving. But you don't have to make any of these driving mode choices unless you really want to because an additional 'Auto EV/HV' mode button is also provided, which essentially makes all the decisions for you. Its choices seem effective too because the advertised 46 mile electric driving range figure turns out to be not beyond the bounds of achievability and the WLTP-rated efficiency stats are difficult to better in this class - 282.5mpg on the combined cycle and 22g/km of CO2, which means a super-low 6% Benefit-in-Kind taxation rating. When plugged into a conventional garage wallbox, the built-in 6.6kW on-board charger can replenish the battery in around two and a half hours.

Overall

Petrol/electric engines aren't of course the ultimate answer to planet-friendly SUV motoring, but they proved to be a great alternative to smoky diesels. By the time of this MK5 RAV4 model's launch, Toyota was more experienced in making them than any other brand - and it showed in RAV4 Hybrid efficiency. That's a boring but important reason why we might recommend this car to you. Fortunately though, unlike some of its predecessors, this fifth generation RAV4 also has a few more emotive draws.