Skip to main content

The 2022 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid May Be Your Camping Best Friend, Here’s How

Owners are saying that the 2022 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid is a very camping friendly car when it comes to charging and handling campers.

Everyone who grew up in a household where your parents didn’t want you to spend too much time in front of the TV definitely loves camping. The wilderness, the sounds of the insects at night, having to use the very old bathroom located 3 miles away from where you camp. All of these things make camping fun for us. However, as you got older, camping evolved from “bare necessities” to luxury RVs with Wi-Fi, TV, cable, etc. Now your only worry was finding a good reliable outlet and a camping site with “okay” internet service.

If you are one who embraces evolution, the 2022 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid is the perfect hybrid camping car for you. A lot of owners on Facebook groups and forums shared that their camping experience with the 2022 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid was the best yet. On Facebook’s Toyota RAV4 Hybrid group. Wally Hueneke asked, “Hi can I connect my camper battery direct to the small hybrid battery?” Which is kind of a funny question considering you should never touch the hybrid battery in any hybrid car. Those things are very dangerous and without the proper know how you could seriously hurt yourself.

The 2022 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid May Be Your Camping Best Friend, Here’s How

However, the point of this article is the discussion that started after that question. A lot of people took to the comments and while some were oriented and warning Hueneke not to touch the hybrid battery, others told of how helpful their RAV 4 Hybrid was while going camping. For the record if you do wish to touch your Hybrid batter for any given reason, make sure to use proper safety equipment and take it to a dealership where they can work on it correctly. High voltage is no joke people.

This discussion on the group gave an interesting topic because there are off-road oriented models of the RAV4 such as the TRD and the new upcoming Woodlands Edition. However, disregarding the aspect of suspension accessibility, the 2022 RAV4 Hybrid is also good at camping due to it’s internal power set by the battery.

Let’s say you wanted to power an outlet to plug in your laptop or projector. The RAV4 doesn’t have a wall outlet so you buy one of those adapters that you plug into the cigarette adapter. The only reason why the 2022 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid is great for camping is because of it’s hybrid technology. For some cars, it needs to be in the run position for the engine to run so that you can charge something. In a hybrid, you have to have the hybrid battery working in order for the charger to work. Will the battery drain? Of course but after driving it the kinetic energy will recharge the battery bringing it back to life again.

What do you think? Would you take a 2022 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid out camping? Let us know in the comments below.

Harutiun Hareyan is reporting Toyota news at Torque News. His automotive interests and vast experience test-riding new cars give his stories a sense of authenticity and unique insights. Follow Harutiun on Twitter at @HareyanHarutiun for daily Toyota news.

Comments

Walk the walk (not verified)    June 17, 2022 - 11:55PM

Once again you've penned more garbage, proving you are clueless. The 12V battery that runs 12V charging plugs is completely seperate from the main hybrid battery pack, and should never be allowed to run down, or you're stranded. It's a smaller version of the same 12V battery found in a regular car. IThe 12V battery is not recharged by the regenerative braking system, as the main battery is.

Former Prius owner for 10 years.

Dont do what this dude says. Read the owners manual!

Walk the walk (not verified)    June 17, 2022 - 11:55PM

Once again you've penned more garbage, proving you are clueless. The 12V battery that runs 12V charging plugs is completely seperate from the main hybrid battery pack, and should never be allowed to run down, or you're stranded. It's a smaller version of the same 12V battery found in a regular car. IThe 12V battery is not recharged by the regenerative braking system, as the main battery is.

Former Prius owner for 10 years.

Dont do what this dude says. Read the owners manual!

Mark A (not verified)    September 10, 2022 - 12:26PM

I have 2021 RAV4 XLE Hybrid and camped for a month in Rocky mountains, sleeping on a mattress (which almost fit) in the back. Surprises:

I thought I could get in and out through the motorized back hatch. Sorry, remote worked only if the car was off. Also, I couldn't run CPAP and electric cooler overnight unless the vehicle was locked from the inside, other wise it turned off after an hour and flashed a security light on the panel. So this is what I did:
1. remove headrest from driver's seat
2. turn on car, pressing on brake
3. squeeze in from side rear door
4. reach over driver's seat and lock the car (on the driver's door lock button)
5. car ICE will turn on for a minute every 20-30 minutes to recharge the hybrid system (one notch only) so AC, CPAP, etc run all night