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When my 2012 Toyota Prius first came out, it was very efficient on the gas, and we would fill up ever 2-3 weeks with a daily commute of about 2 miles each trip plus other non-constant trips like shopping and such. Today, I fill my Prius up at the pump almost once a week with a lower working commute and less non-constant trips to shop and such.
However, with hybrid technology being better than ever and plug-in hybrids starting to take off in different shape of car, these plug-in hybrids also started to become a bit of a sensation post 2020. The new 2022 Toyota RAV4 Prime has a very long waiting time in places like Canada of almost 2 years! That’s reaching Tesla numbers. On the other hand, with gas prices reaching an all-time high and inflation through the roof, what are RAV4 Prime owners paying for a full tank and how far does it last them?
I asked this question on Facebook’s Official Toyota RAV4 Prime group and to my surprise, a lot of people said the same thing. Imad Salem said, “fill up once every month and a half / two months. Most of trips are local, but I do enjoy taking my family on small road trips on the weekends.”
On average, most 2022 Toyota RAV4 Prime owners said they fill up every month to month and a half with regular local driving. Granted, if you live in a city, this may be longer considering you might be in EV mode most of the time in places like NYC.
Johnathan Hankin had a really good answer. He said, “I forgot, it’s been a few months.” It reminds me of those old Chevy Volt advertisements where they asked actors how much they filled up and one of the female actors said, “my car is so efficient that I literally forgot how to use the pump.” However, she said it in one of those Californian Mean Girls accents, so it made it 10x funnier.
Now with current trends saying that EV and plug-in hybrids are the future, how are we going to see more and more people drive these if the wait times in Canada are anywhere from 6 months to 3 years and one lady getting a wait time of 5 years? The answer is very simple. Toyota needs to see that the RAV4 Prime is not the only successful plug-in hybrid that sells. The Prius Prime did its job but I think Toyota needs to “prime-ify” more and more vehicles to reach people of different markets. Maybe a Tundra Prime or even a Sequoia Prime.
It's not a far reach for Toyota and I think that if they did follow through with this, then a lot more people would be driving plug-in hybrids.
By the way, if you have stranded OEM parts after modifying your car, check out my latest article on what you should do with those.
What do you think? How often do you fill up? 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.
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Comments
This is a point that most
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This is a point that most people do not know. Plug in hybrids are really EVs when you drive them less than their available EV range. In reality that means that (depending on your situation) you may rarely have to get gas. In my first Chevy Volt I averaged 171MPG, and the only gas used was for longer trips than 35-42 miles. And that meant most all of the time, because I had charging at work as well as home, so that doubled the EV range daily.
There is an elephant in the
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There is an elephant in the room that we should talk about. I have been considering a RAV 4 Prime XSE for some time now. The truth is I really can't buy one.
First Toyota doesn't sell that car where I live. Second call a dealership in another state and they don't sell out of state.
The dealers can't order one. If you think you are going to save money by buying one of these cars, think again. If you anticipate a federal tax credit think again.
Some of these dealerships add a "market adjustment " of up to $15,000.
In one fell swoop you just lost money. I believe these dealers are inviting government regulation. On top of consumers going through high gas prices and record inflation dealers are sticking it to the buyers. Not many car writers talk about the tough stuff just what a fine vehicle it is