I had a chance to check out the new RAV4 Prime plug in hybrid. It's a 302 hp RAV4. The gas motor makes 179 hp and 199 ft lbs of torque, plus a front electric motor putting out 118 hp/149 tq and the rear one 53 hp/89 tq. 0-60 is 5.4 seconds. Toyota hasn't made anything this quick in a long time. By comparison the only other Toyota SUV that comes close is a supercharged 3rd gen that
MotorTrend tested at 6.4 seconds, so wow.
The coolest thing is it has a battery that is 75% the size of my old Nissan Leaf and thus can drive 42 miles on all-electric. Most of my driving is within that range, so I could benefit highly from a drivetrain like this. The nice thing is the RAV can off-road and drive up to 85 MPH without engaging the gas motor. The old Prius Plug ins were limited to 62 MPH and were the bane of my existence for years when I had to follow Prius' in the carpool lane doing 61 MPH.
Will Toyota slip this powertrain in the 6th gen 4Runner? I am wondering. Land Rover, Ford, Mazda, Hyundai, Jeep, Mitsubishi, Audi, MB and Volvo are all stepping up with plug in hybrid SUVs. Lots of cool 4wd tricks can be done with separate motors, not to mention how cool it would be to go wheeling without running an engine.