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Post by jasehutch on Nov 20, 2019 18:05:50 GMT
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Post by shcm on Nov 20, 2019 18:21:34 GMT
Yeah and the 0-60 time is only about 1.7 times this thing  www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-50438614While not a staggeringly great range compared with some, I like the claimed 40ish miles on battery power only. Useful commuting range. I know other have been doing similar for a while, but great improvement over the current RAV hybrid set up. :TU: |
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Post by firemac on Nov 20, 2019 19:16:36 GMT
Hopefully the improvements will make it more attractive to the market in the UK as the 4.5 doesn't seem to be selling as well as previous versions. Or at least there doesn't seem to be a lot of them about. A pity as I think it is a great looking car.
On the other hand, I read somewhere recently that the 4.5 is one of the biggest selling SUVs in the US.
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Post by philip42h on Nov 20, 2019 21:36:47 GMT
Hopefully the improvements will make it more attractive to the market in the UK as the 4.5 doesn't seem to be selling as well as previous versions. Or at least there doesn't seem to be a lot of them about. A pity as I think it is a great looking car. On the other hand, I read somewhere recently that the 4.5 is one of the biggest selling SUVs in the US. From threads over one "the other place" it appears that the waiting list is six months or more - they are certainly selling here faster than Toyota can supply them. |
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Post by phaeton on Nov 20, 2019 23:06:04 GMT
Sorry I don't understand what they are trying to achieve with it, it's got a 2.5 litre engine & can go 40 miles on the battery, what's the point? The Nissan Quashi or whatever it's called has a 1.3 litre unit, putting something similar in with 100 miles range makes sense. Sorry but they are just playing at it, they are either so far behind the curve on technology, or it's a tax dodge.
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Post by firemac on Nov 20, 2019 23:50:59 GMT
Sorry I don't understand what they are trying to achieve with it, it's got a 2.5 litre engine & can go 40 miles on the battery, what's the point? The Nissan Quashi or whatever it's called has a 1.3 litre unit, putting something similar in with 100 miles range makes sense. Sorry but they are just playing at it, they are either so far behind the curve on technology, or it's a tax dodge.
It might be that they are prioritising the needs of the US market , given the success of the car there and based on a recent article I read that suggested that EVs would never reach anywhere near the global market penetration of IC-engined vehicles primarily because the US will never make the necessary quantum change away from ICs, especially petrol-fuelled ones. Additionally it argued that in the absence of any significant technological advances in battery design, range anxiety will continue to be a major downside in the European market thereby making plug-in hybrids a virtual no-brainer product of choice for mainstream manufacturers for the foreseeable future. |
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Post by shcm on Nov 21, 2019 7:06:44 GMT
[From threads over one "the other place" it appears that the waiting list is six months or more - they are certainly selling here faster than Toyota can supply them. From Toyota's website, they are claiming it's the 2WD model variants that they can't keep up demand with. 4WD models are available.
Sorry I don't understand what they are trying to achieve with it, it's got a 2.5 litre engine & can go 40 miles on the battery, what's the point? The Nissan Quashi or whatever it's called has a 1.3 litre unit, putting something similar in with 100 miles range makes sense. Sorry but they are just playing at it, they are either so far behind the curve on technology, or it's a tax dodge.
It might be that they are prioritising the needs of the US market , given the success of the car there and based on a recent article I read that suggested that EVs would never reach anywhere near the global market penetration of IC-engined vehicles primarily because the US will never make the necessary quantum change away from ICs, especially petrol-fuelled ones. Additionally it argued that in the absence of any significant technological advances in battery design, range anxiety will continue to be a major downside in the European market thereby making plug-in hybrids a virtual no-brainer product of choice for mainstream manufacturers for the foreseeable future. I suspect also, that because Toyota trade to some extent on a reputation for reliability (whether you believe it or not), they are not going to put bleeding edge shiny powertrain into something as mainstream as the RAV. Too risky. Often, new bleeding edge shiny can also mean increased risk of unreliability. You can do all the usual accelerated life testing, but ultimately, until you go high volume you don't have true real world failure statistics.....and boy can Japanese companies provide product statistics. Night and day compared with European equivalents, in that respect. I expect this powertrain will be an evolution of the other Toyota plug in hybrids despite what any marketing hype might say. Boring old reliable (subjective) Toyota or Renault/Nissan/(mitsub), you choose.........................  |
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Post by philip42h on Nov 21, 2019 7:18:27 GMT
Arguably, all Toyota have done is to produce a PHEV version of their existing self-charging hybrid. Thy needed a slightly bigger battery to make that worthwhile and the improved performance is just a happy side effect of the extra electric torque.
It works for me. For virtually all of my local pottering - for which my diesel RAV is so ill-suited - it would be an EV. And as soon as I want to go a bit further it reverts to being a self-charging hybrid with no effect range limitation at all (just like the Outlander PHEV).
And I'm pretty sure it is a 'tax dodge' designed to appeal to the company car buyer ... there do seem to be a rather high proportion of 4.5s, especially 2WD 4.5s, appearing as company cars because of the 'lower' emissions figures.
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Post by philip42h on Nov 21, 2019 7:23:37 GMT
[From threads over one "the other place" it appears that the waiting list is six months or more - they are certainly selling here faster than Toyota can supply them. From Toyota's website, they are claiming it's the 2WD model variants that they can't keep up demand with. 4WD models are available. That is true ... as I understand lead times are much longer on 2WD models and some buyers are switching to AWD simply to get them sooner. But lead times are 'long' whichever variant you order. And, I suspect that this is because of the 'unexpected' success they are having in the company car market (but that's just 'opinion'). |
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Post by jasehutch on Nov 21, 2019 20:06:36 GMT
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Post by philip42h on Nov 21, 2019 20:24:52 GMT
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Post by clarki on Nov 23, 2019 13:18:17 GMT
I've a friend who lives in the states now and he says the new rav is doing very well over the pond. Apparently Toyota US do cracking lease deals on the rav (started on the 4.4) and has continued to 4.5.
Problem here is go into a Toyota dealership and they'll empty your bank account to get into a 4.5. Add it's iffy looks and bland/low rent interior and you can see why people go elsewhere for something a bit more agreeable.
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Post by philip42h on Nov 23, 2019 13:40:05 GMT
I've a friend who lives in the states now and he says the new rav is doing very well over the pond. Apparently Toyota US do cracking lease deals on the rav (started on the 4.4) and has continued to 4.5. Problem here is go into a Toyota dealership and they'll empty your bank account to get into a 4.5. Add it's iffy looks and bland/low rent interior and you can see why people go elsewhere for something a bit more agreeable. And your friend over the pond is correct - the RAV 4.5 is styled and pitched to meet the needs / demands of the US market where they buy far more of these sort of cars than we do ... ... on the other hand, RAV 4.5 is also doing pretty well over here too. From the Toyota blog (linked above): So, a far smaller market than the US but perfectly respectable. Sadly, I rather suspect that we, private buyers of earlier RAVs, may no longer be Toyota's target market ...  |
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Post by Rambler on Dec 7, 2019 9:30:05 GMT
I've a friend who lives in the states now and he says the new rav is doing very well over the pond. Apparently Toyota US do cracking lease deals on the rav (started on the 4.4) and has continued to 4.5. Problem here is go into a Toyota dealership and they'll empty your bank account to get into a 4.5. Add it's iffy looks and bland/low rent interior and you can see why people go elsewhere for something a bit more agreeable. And your friend over the pond is correct - the RAV 4.5 is styled and pitched to meet the needs / demands of the US market where they buy far more of these sort of cars than we do ... ... on the other hand, RAV 4.5 is also doing pretty well over here too. From the Toyota blog (linked above): So, a far smaller market than the US but perfectly respectable. Sadly, I rather suspect that we, private buyers of earlier RAVs, may no longer be Toyota's target market ... Seeing quite a few of the Mitsubishi Eclipse cross in Colchester area. Seems with the lack of Rav4 availability and expense , some in my area are changing. I know the rear design is different but... I like ' different '.  |
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