10). Narrow rear door opening 9). Not as much rear seating room as regular RAV4 (also must upgrade to xse to get rear pockets on front seats) 8). Charging speed could be better (240V 5-6 hrs) 7). Has a REVERSE 60/40 rear seat 6). Infotainment display would have problem with iPhone connection - volume control (fixed/updated) 5). When driving, could not flip to maps setting on display while taking a phone call (fixed/updated) 4). Smart key (keyless entry) rarely works 3). Braking system is “grabby” 2). Gas engine has to be running to use defrost 1). Below -20F , you do not have any heat on electric only. Must use gas engine and turn off eco mode.

The 60/40 seat configuration was actually a selling point for me. I wanted to be able to put 2 paddle boards in and have my wife still fit in since they’d go all the way over the front passenger seat. This way she can ride behind driver seat with two boards inside. If we don’t want to use the racks.

O man, I just ordered mine, and when I saw this video i got frozen, but after watching it I relaxed, because none of the things bothers me except maybe narrow back door entrance

The heat below 20 and the defrost gasoline only seems to be a "you can't have it all" problem. Its a HYBRID. There is a petrol engine because it not supposed to be all electric. If you use the battery to power a resistance heater your going to loose significant all battery miles. Personally I am thrilled that Toyota was intuitive enough to maximize the battery life and not dribble drain it with unnecessary power loads. Run the damn engine for 5 min to defrost the windshield and heat the cabin or buy a full electric.

So you’re saying an inch really makes a difference eh. 🤔

I just bought this the other day. I love the cabin room. I came out of a Honda Accord. great car, but it was tight for me getting in and out. I am surprised by the stereo in the RAV. Sounds very good. I love the sport mode. So far so good. I bought the bright white one. It had the black trim package. Roof and rims are blacked out. TY for the video.

Thanks for the honest review. Some of the issues won’t be issues for me since I’m short and don’t have kids. I’m also old so having the rear hatch open and close slowly is a plus :). As for heating, with a hybrid the battery output capacity is much lower than a pure EV. Heating the car on battery especially at low temperature is really going to drain the battery so Toyota opted to limit that option. It’s a compromise between range, comfort and the alternative of using the gas engine for heating.

Minor issues.. I want this car so badly but having a hard time getting one. It’s got a high resale value, AWD, very quick acceleration and 40 mpg. It’s got everything I’m looking for in a car. I’m so done with my gas guzzling Corvette, Tundra and Jeep Wrangler right now.

Somehow, whining about the car working exactly the way it should and it needs to given the real world / physics is SUCH a first world problem.

5’3” retired - so none of this matters so much, except probably grabby brakes and keyless entry. Thanks 😊. Still waiting in the southeast.

So important that we share our real experience with the products we use. Thank you! Toyota also got the same problem as Tesla with new technology such as smart key.

The gasoline engine starts when the defrost is activated because your AC compressor also kicks in to remove the cabin humidity that causes the need to defrost the windows. That compressor adds quite a load, similar to driving up a hill that triggers the gas engine.

The rear seat split is smart safe. If you want to haul something of size, you want it on the other side of the driver for space and in case of a collision.

Your list are not real complaints. You actually convinced me to look into buying the rav4 prime. Thanks for sharing!

I experience the 'brake grab' issue in my Chevy Volt as well. It's no where as bad as what you described, but I definitely feel when the friction brakes start grabbing when stopping. Tesla handles this better where the brake pedal is friction brakes only. This way there's no issues with trying to blend regen and friction brakes together. The low temperature cabin heating thing also occurs in the Volt. Below 15f, the engine will turn on randomly to heat the battery and/or the cabin. It doesn't require any interaction from the driver though, it just happens automatically.

Break grab may be related to rust on the brake rotors, which accumulates in all cars but is usually worn off immediately. In cars with regen braking, the brake rotors don't get used as much, so you don't clean them off quickly. As a result you have 'grabby' brakes when they do kick in. A few seconds of aggressive braking (engaging the rotors) following periods of rain or snow may be enough to reset the pads.

About the folding rare seats, its better this way so incase you have a long pole or something, you can fold down the passenger rare+ passenger seat and haul it. When you are hauling, its safer to keep kids at home since you might leave the trunk hatch open

The issue about using ICE to heat the cabin in your RAV4 Prime is inherited from HEV technology Toyota has for 20 years - I have it in Prius 2005 not heating at all when it is very cold outside except after driving at least 5 miles with ICE on. In a lot of videos on KZfaq RAV4 Prime was praised for its heat pump so I am very amazed to learn about your frustration with it.

Hey James. Looks like you have some cool after market accessories added to your 2021 RAV4. Is there a video with a list of them or can you provide a list? Thanks for what you do!

I have one and will second the heat pump issue. A couple issues not mentioned are that the buttons in the door and overhead arent backlit. To lock the car or turn on the overhead lights is really hard when you can’t see them.

Thanks for the review. Very insightful. Trying to decide which car is best for a combination of off-roading and fuel efficiency.

Toyota made those door openings narrow to force us fat Americans into larger SUVs 😂

I do mostly suburban driving in Florida(prius prime). If its been raining the first stop or two will grab a little, expect it, then the rest of the trip is fine. As you said the transition is at about 8mph, that will equal about two wheel revolutions before the stop. Just enough to squeegee and scrape off the rotors. I'm from Buffalo(go bills) and remember my 08 prius being worse in the winter.

Loved your candid overview of this vehicle, why can't we see more of this in reviews? Also think your concern and care for your son (and wife who sits in the rear with him) is wonderful, he is blessed.

I appreciate the candid discussion of pros and cons. While no product is perfect, the RAV4 Prime is a significant investment (and cost premium vs alternatives) for most people. I have now owned my RAV4 Prime SE for 4 months and while my experience isn't aligned with all of the issues listed in this video I appreciate the perspective and that it might be applicable for other buyers with different needs and expectations. In the spirit of adding to the discussion here's my top 5 pros/cons. Big picture I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this vehicle for most people. I love most things about it. Pros 1. Ride quality in electric and electric/hybrid mode - very refined with quiet cabin and good acceleration (every day driving). 2. Great EV range for PHEV - I started with 34 miles range, and its steadily increased to 50 miles range. 3. Comfortable drivers position - great visibility, good seat support. Sunroof, heated seats, heated steering wheel enhance driving. 4. Good EV battery position - low center of gravity, does not project into cargo space. 5. Lights - remarkably good for stock, very good visibility in most conditions. Cons 1. Some lower quality cabin materials (vs XSE) - hard plastic doors, non-lighted window switches, hard/slippery finish in storage bins. Hard to justify given positioning within RAV4 lineup. I also own a base-model 2020 Prius Prime, which I expected to be lower fit and finish than 2021 RAV4 Prime given the big difference in overall price. However that is not the case, the interior of the Prius is more refined. Odd. 2. Tires - underwhelming. Will definitely invest in separate rims and snow tires for Winter 21/22. 3. Passenger seat - no height adjustment. Would be ok to be manual adjustment, but nothing. 4. Wired Car Play. Its inconvenient to attach phone every single time. Fortunately Carlinkit 2.0 [$100 / Amazon] works very well with head unit to enable wireless Car Play. Recommended upgrade. 5. Occasional instability when braking; well known with Toyota hybrid vehicles - braking "skips" momentarily under heavy braking conditions on rough road surface (eg, man hole covers).

Hey, about your problem with keyless entry. I have the same problem with my 2016 RAV4 Hybrid. And I noticed it always happens when my smartphone is close to the key. If I keep them seperated everything just works fine. Maybe that is also the case for you.

I have only gone down to 24 degrees and electric still operated this winter. The electric heat seats work well. The defrost works when I set defrost and feet setting to the right. If I press the defrost only button on the left side it does turn to gasoline only to defrost. Try the right side button click it until you see the defrost and feet symbol. I just leave it on that setting.

I’m looking at getting a 2019-2021 RAV4 in a few months here on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. We get a little snow in the winter but it’s mostly mild winter temps. Not so sure about spending the money on a hybrid.?. Though you’re video is making me think hybrid is the way to go. Any small, big or in between problem is so important for someone like me, who knows little about cars, to catch and know so they don’t turn into much bigger probs down the road. Thank you very much for this video James!

I actually prefer the 60/40 split that way. It makes it so you can haul more long items inside from rear to the dash and still have room for a passenger behind the driver. One example is a Christmas tree. No need to have to strap it to the roof. Another is lumber.

Jim I have no issues with the door lock and unlock. I don't "pinch" as you mention just simply touch the top of the handle towards the front (where you note to pinch it). While I haven't experienced the breaking nor the no heat issues, I have the dragon growl I reported to Toyota. The heat pump is angry and growls at me upon start up in cold temps; but keeps me toasty warm. LOL so I guess I will take the growl over no heat. Keep us posted on the opening where the mouse was, possible to block that vent or opening? Interesting. Never owned a Tesla, but love this car as I didn't want charger anxiety for road trips for EV and is the main reason I bought the R4P. Even with bitter cold weather in Upstate New York (yup, no sun) I still average 88.1-91.6 mpge and smile as I pass the gas stations. Is it perfect, no; but i still love it!

Great to hear these real world observations. It's interesting what some of the big KZfaq reviewers leave out.

I had key problems too same thing, they ordered a new key and I take it next week to get fixed. Other key has been flawless.

5:30 that’s exactly as advertised, and probably enough for most people. 18 kWh battery, 3.3 kW charger, yeah it’s going to take nearly 6 hours to full charge. As someone who would drain it daily, it would be charged again every morning - and even a 120/12 “extension cord charge” at work would get me over half a charge while at work.

I will buy one soon, exactly like this one, a nice car.

Got a 2012 V6 -best Toyota ever-and np with the proximity entry! But I enjoyed your vlog!

What I understand is the prime is basically the Hybrid with an extra battery attached to the other one . Supposedly the charging will be better on the upcoming pure electric since the battery will be one big battery. Also to unlock with keyless you have to press the two line things as well. Also the prime has a heat pump but the regular rav4 hybrid has the electric heat.

I am not sure about the US version, but in CA , the top of the line (Rav4 Prime) has memory seats. However, for some reason, the mirrors are not part of the memory settings like almost every other car I was researching (that have memory settings). To me, that was a lazy or weird or cheap design decision. I don't have this car but we were considering it. And we would trying one car for a while so having driver settings memorized it's a cool feature. The car seemed exciting enough from reviews, then I noticed the top of the line model with tech package or whatever has memory settings, and yes, I can press a button to adjust the seat but ... wait ... I have to adjust the mirrors manually. What ?!

Door handle unlock: Mine always works. Never had any issue on my Prime SE. A quick touch to the backside of the handle and I have all the doors unlock. My Mazda 3 would auto lock when I walked away. I miss that a little. Toyota just doesn’t offer that on any vehicle.

I have the weather package also. Haven’t had a chance to use the wiper/ de ice. Now I know not to expect much

About the brake issue. I drive a Ford Fusion Hybrid. I notice that my reign braking is good to about 4-5 mph before the traditional brakes activate. I’ve noticed that after being parked for a couple days, the first stop is always harsh. But, that seems to clean the rust off the rotors and there is no issue after that. I also notice they grab a lot when they are wet. So after a car wash especially, and after long distances in the rain. But city driving in the rain, they are used enough, they stay pretty well dry. I’ve become quite tuned into the sounds the car makes, and there is a slight hum when it transitions from regen to traditional brakes, so between that and knowing it happens around 5mph, if I suspect they are going to grab hard, I’ve learned to feather off the brake just the right amount to get a smooth stop. Not the same vehicle you have obviously, but your experience seemed similar to mine. Cheers!

Great video man, I have a 19 rav4 xse hybrid and have the fuel tank issue, almost two years and still no fix from toyota!

Kind of a first world problem(s)

Thanks for the video, as you mention, hate is a big word but some inconvenience, agreed. Heat can be issue, I guess, use a bit more gas in the winter... Still breaking in mine so I don't mind do much now...

I think I was driving behind you one time on the garden state parkway a few months ago looks great

Grabby brakes at slow speed: I have the same issue with my 2019 Prius Prime. At speeds below about 15 mph, the MG rotors are spinning too slowly for the stators to generate any significant amount of electrical current, so the brakes switch over from regen mode to friction mode, and the switch is rather abrupt. The grabbiness is also not the same in "B" mode as it is in "D" or "N" modes, so you have that to get used to also. But I just look at it as another minor quirk. All cars have quirks of one kind or another, and in the Toyota plug-in hybrids, I'd say the overall functionality of the vehicles and the amazing energy and fuel efficiency make the small quirks pretty unimportant. In my Prius Prime, the most annoying thing is that the stereo has no "Folder" mode for MP3 music on a CD or thumb drive that's organized in folders. Charge time: The 5 hour charge time with the standard 3 kilowatt L2 is a much more serious issue for the Rav4 Prime. My Prius Prime also has only a 3 kW charger, but the traction battery is only 8 kW/hr, compared to 18kW/hr in the Rav4 Prime, so my Prius charges in only 2.5 hours from dead flat. I agree completely with James that Toyota really needs to make the 6kW charger standard on all the models that have a traction battery larger than about 10kW/hr. I'm also not a fan of the 18" wheels on the Rav4 Prime: the selection of A/T tires is way smaller for 18" wheels than it is for 16" and 17" wheels. I'd want to put BF Goodrich TA/K0-2's on the car, and they are simply not available in the Rav4 Prime's OEM wheel size. Toyota probably use these low-profile tires for more sidewall rigidity and better fuel economy, but for anyone wanting to put serious A/T tires on the car, you will probably have to ditch the 18" wheels and buy new 16" rims in addition to new tires. Defroster turning on the gas engine: Same issue on all plug-in hybrids, including my Prius Prime, and here's why: in order for the car to have an EV mode, the heater/airconditioner has to be capable of running independent of the gas engine, and the solution Toyota uses is a heat pump using a scroll compressor that is driven by an electric motor running off the traction battery. This compressor can pump in either direction, to either heat or cool the cab. BUT - in very cold weather, Toyota discovered that it can't pump nearly enough heat to de-ice a frozen windshield in less than a full half-hour or more, and few drivers would tolerate a delay that long. So, the car's control computer runs the gas engine, which heats up quickly, and the hot coolant is pumped to a heater core in the HVAC manifold, same as in any conventional gas engine car. This system can produce ten times more BTU's of heat into the car than the scroll compressor can, albeit at the cost of some gas burned. But if you have to run the gas engine to heat the interior, switch the Hybrid system to CHARGE mode, and you can recover some of that gasoline as traction battery charge instead of just burning it for heat. No heat in the car in winter unless you run the gas engine: Same in all plug-in hybrids, including my Prius Prime. The simple fact is that Plug-in hybrids just aren't great cars for extremely cold climate use. Another problem is that the lithium-ion traction battery in these cars really, REALLY doesn't like to be any colder than about 35°F; my Prius Prime's traction battery actually has a heater grid in the battery tray to warm the battery if the ambient temperature gets too low. If you left a Rav4 Prime or Prius Prime parked outside overnight in sub-zero temperatures, I'm not sure if the car would even function at all in EV mode for at least 1/2 hour, until the heater grid could warm the battery up to at least +35°F. I live in central California, where it hardly ever gets below 38°F, so I've not had to put up with these cold weather issues to the extent that someone living in, say Minnesota, or Fairbanks, Alaska would.

Other than charging being a bit slow, my experience with the RAV4 Prime has been great! I literally never have a problem with the keyless entry.

I’ve got a normal Toyota hybrid (not plug-in). The reason brakes grab suddenly is you’re slowing down with regen, but regen doesn’t work at speeds close to zero, so it has to switch over to the brake pads. If I slow down by slowly increasing pressure on the pedal, it would do sudden grab. But if I slow down with constant pressure on pedal, then it would only grab when the car is stopped. It took some time to learn to do that.

Door openings are so important. My wife, we are elderly, has arthritic and sciatica uses. Her physical therapist said sedans are part of the problem. He suggested suvs or vans for people that have difficulties. We traded our sedan on the new Toyota Venza. Fantastic easy in/easy out access. My wife is so much more comfortable. Glad you are making that point.

The gas probably comes on under 20 degrees to preserve the small 42 mile range or protect the cells. Does your range halve or significantly decrease in sub 20 degree weather? The KZfaqr car care nut, master mechanic & hybrid specialist did mention that when the gas kicks on, to not force the hybrid into EV mode with the EV button, that the engine comes on to protect the battery pack and that the Toyota engineers built and programmed this safety feature in & know what they are doing, FWIW, but I’m no engineer, so what do I know. Glad you enjoy it, bro, even with these minor inconveniences. It does look to be superior to the Model X in dependability, & that’s what counts, especially not getting stranded in a snow bank in freezing temps, lol!

This a terrific RAV4 Prime video. Thank you for making it. I had seen your positive reviews, and was glad to see the few areas where the RAV4 Prime falls short. The issue with the heater was not discussed anywhere else. Your videos contributed to me making an informed decision (I'm probably buying the RAV4 Prime). Keep up the great work.

Useful info.. the heater not working without the gas engine is a bit of an issue. For load area and folding seat combinations I am very impressed with my LR 3. 3 equal size seats you can fold flat.

Thank you for sharing I still think I would like to buy one when I can afford it. In Sydney it is fairly warm. My main concern is fuel efficiency.

the issue with the mouse nest in the charging area definitely needs to be looked at. I would suspect that the mice are climbing up the charging cable into that spot. You might try and see if you can keep the charging cable from being anywhere on the ground. You definitely do not want them making a house inside the chassis of your car. Brakes being a bit grabby has been a common issue with Toyota hybrids for a long time, I have a 2008 Prius and below 8 miles per hour the friction breaks blend in, I have the opposite problem, if the brakes are cold they tend to kind of judder when grab like when you go to a car wash and you get your brakes wet and for the first few seconds they grab a bit weird., but once I drive around for a while or after I do some hard braking and they warm up it doesn't behave this way anymore. your problem could have gone away because it took some time for the brake pads and the brake rotor surface to wear into each other. The key fob issue is interesting I have the smart key access in my 2008 Prius also and sometimes it doesn't react correctly but not to the degree you're talking about. I think your skin has to actually touch the back side of the handle I've never tried it with gloves on myself but that could be the issue since you have a lot of winter where you live you're more likely to have gloves on. But there could certainly be a fault with the smart key access receiver inside the car I would definitely have that looked at. I'm surprised the heat pump system can't maintain heat at 20° f. I wonder if they went with a somewhat small heat pump. I've seen people do car camping in Tesla's at minus 20 Celsius and it can maintain cabin heat without any problems. I'm kind of surprised also that they didn't just make it somewhat automatic, and that if the system cannot maintain the set cabin temperature that the gasoline engine automatically starts.

Again while I really like my RAV4 Prime, my biggest gripe would be no lighting of the buttons on the ceiling for the moonroof, overhead lights, etc. and the buttons on the door.

I would be happy to put up with those negatives if I could get one here in Australia. We have all the rav4 models except this one and I want this one because it is a plug in. My wife has a Volt and the brakes are really touchy at slow speeds. I put it down to the re-gen kicking in plus brakes.

Thanks Bro for your valuable observations for Rave 4 Prime. Like the fact Toyota can do OTA updates

Yea! I think Toyota cut a few corners that are unnecessary. As for the heat, if I am not mistaken, I look at a video of a guy testing how long it take to warm up the cabin on electric only on his prime. I will look back for the video just to confirm.

Yes in EV mode, heat pump is the source of heating, but heating is only operational at outside temperature -10C or higher. So no heating from outside temperature -11C down to -20C and so on. It will stay in EV mode even when you activate the Defroster but only when outside temperature 15C or higher. If those are not met, the engine will run and the source of heating will be the hot water that radiates the heat thru the heater core.

James, I had the similar issue with keyless entry on my Ford. I figured out what the issue was. When I was next to some big powerlines, it would not work very well possibly due to EM interference. Could that be in your case? Also, for the heater below 20F, I think the issue is that Toyota used heat pump as a heater. If I'm not mistaken heat pumps work only so well up to certain temperature. I have heat pump in my house in NC. It works awesome there. I never saw a heat pump in NY.

You have the soy based plastic which rodents love to eat. I know, because on my '16 Rav4 XLE hybrid had squirrels eat away some wiring and a lot of the wiring harness. I bought new wiring, installed it and then went nuts with the electric plastic tape and wrapped everything I could find.

So much focus on the back seat and back door. That's all well and good if you've got a family to deal with, otherwise not an issue for the rest of us.

My escape phev has done the opposite braking where you just don't have brakes because the regenerative quits for a second and you haven't engaged the discs yet

You just convinced me to buy it. Good review.

Looked like the front seat was reclined more in the prime when you were reviewing the back seat space

Great video. Glad I haven’t had some of the issues that you’ve had, I’ve been lucky. My Prime is supposed to be coming this week and am looking forward to using it. Currently driving a ‘19 Rav AWD.

Your glasses match the paint swatch.A beautiful day for sure!

Thanks for that video. The problems you mentioned is not an issue with me. No kids, live in desert so very little snow. But thanks for this information.

Go get an Escape so it will give you real reason to complaint about.

My prime SE has the same problem with the brakes. Only when braking while going over bumps at the same time

Great review James.. for a family with a child & daily usability is a basic expectation from your car... all points were important no matter how small they were towards purchasing a vehicle. Appreciate it, thank you for sharing your experience.

I agree that the 60/40 seat should be flipped I have a kid seat as well. My prime has the 6.6 and yeah I wish solid state batteries were here and it charged in a couple minutes too. I don’t have all the issue you mentioned as in in TX don’t have the sub 20 degree days. My charger door works fine, my keyless entry works fine. Yes the engine starts if you hit the defrost button. The brakes are grabby the last 15mph. But not that bad, you just have to be more careful not to have a dead foot on the brake. The gate closes fast enough for me. The rear doors are wide enough too. My biggest annoyance is that the car turns on my IPhone or Android blue tooth when I get into the car and starts playing songs from my phone. That’s really my main issue. Maybe someday Toyota or aftermarket will offer a solid state battery replacement for more range but I totally love the fact that I have gas power as well.

Good info as I’m in the market for this car...For the on board charger, you can’t really compare it to the pure EVs. With smaller batteries on PHEVs, you can’t have a high speed charger much above 7kw. I had the same complaint and learned that. If you think about it, it makes sense...like trying to shoot a fire hose into a 1 gallon can versus a 20 gallon vat. But, agree with another poster, if you really want to travel on EV, get a full EV! Easy day! Seats: I wish all cars did a 40/20/40 split. I HATE auto hatches...wish they would just leave it manual. Both Toyota and Honda make them too slow and noisy with all the bells/whistles going off while closing and opening. Good to hear the OTA possibility. As for the engine coming on....yeah, I’m finding out with most PHEVs, even if it has a pure EV mode, it needs the engine to either heat or cool the cabin. Again, small battery is limited in the things it can do. Same with getting heat below 20 degrees...if you want heat/cool in pure EV mode, get an EV. With a small battery in a PHEV, it’s a lot to ask to run the car and heat up a resistive heater...

One of my biggest annoyances with the RAV4 Prime is having a wireless phone charger, yet it doesn't support wireless Android Auto. That pretty much makes wireless charging absolutely useless! Oh, and the key fob issues are at the top of my list.

Thanks for your perspective

Great vid. Swaying me away from the rav4 prime though. Was going to upgrade after my clarity lease expires, but I do charge my battery occasionally during the daytime using level 2. The 3kw charging might be enough to turn me off.

I have a 2015 Toyota RAV4, and the Smart Key System keyless entry ALWAYS works. It's interesting to see that a newer car has a problem with it.

The door unlocking, you say you have to "put your hand behind the door handle" to unlock it - I assume you already know that you have to grip (or at least touch the inside of) the handle for it to unlock. I'm only mentioning this since I've never experienced the problem you describe on my R4P. Also, for those that may not know (I didn't until I read it in the manual), by default settings, keep holding the handle (manual says for approx 2 seconds) and all doors will unlock (at least it works that way on my XSE). Thanks for the vid - we all have little things we don't like, or that don't work well in our particular situations. Overall I think the R4P is nicely done.

Another Great Video JK. I have had our Rav4 XSE W/Tech package for 6 weeks now. This is a fantastic video, but there are some head scratchers for me on the Rav4 Prime, as well. I live in Canada, and the first thing you need to know is that the Road Sign Assist (RSA) is NOT available in Canada - Wat? Also, there are no Tire Pressure sensors - another Wat? The HUD (Headsup display) is good but it has a really annoying thing - when the vehicle starts, it shows the temp in the HUD - very useful in Alberta, as the road conditions change so much depending on the temp. But guess what - The temp display disappears after 5 seconds of starting the vehicle (this was confirmed to be "normal" operations with the dealer and Toyota Canada). Another annoyance - TOYOTA - why is there no storage bin for the charge cable? Like I say - I have a thousand things that are great, just these silly annoyances.

No issues at all with Tesla heat pump in Model Y. Puts out great heat, very quickly--So hot you'll be turning it down. Seems much more efficient than the M3 I had without heat pump. You can preheat cabin(& battery) from your phone. If plugged in, power to preheat will come from panel. Highly recommend!

Good to know, thanks a lot for the review!

Btw, the keyless entry in my Rav4 Prime XSE has ALWAYS worked for me so far.

Thanks for great insights. The heating issue is real but I can understand the reason that it would drain the battery fast if it improves heating. Below 20 is rare and is just for 1 month in a year so I can compromise gasoline increased consumption considerably.

Thanks and very insightful. Some of these would be annoying to me as well

Will you do “10 things I hate about my wife”??? 😂😂

I have the regular hybrid and had no issues with the keyless entry. I just leave the key in my front pocket.

Sincerely hope your listened to before the next batch roll through the assembly line because some stuff should've been better huh.

Good informative post. I have a 2006 Rav 4 Sport, with 4 wheel drive not all wheel drive. Cheers !

Does it turn on a steering wheel heater and/or seat heaters? I’m in Florida so we only care about A/C.

I had a mouse get in through my cooling vent for the battery in my Prius. Ended up making its way to the squirrel fan for my AC. Unfortunately I turned on the fan and chopped the mouse up the bits the inside of my car stunk for months while Waited for the little pieces to decompose that I wasn’t able to reach in and get out after tearing have to dash apart. So be careful about mice getting in

Great video, James. (I would also like to compliment you on a most excellent first name.) I have seen some of those with mine, as well...although the passenger side unlock has been fine for me. One thing that is weird is that the keyfob doesn't seem to unlock all the doors when I hit it twice... But that charging door kind of sucks. It is a pain to close properly-you wouldn't think so, you just push it in, right? But it doesn't seem to latch consistently. Also, a small light in there for plugging in at night would be a nice touch.

Heat pumps don't really work below -5C/20F, so the reason the gas engine kicks in is because it lacks a standard restive heater. That being said gas engines are "inefficient" because they lose a lot of energy to heat, but when you're using that heat it doesn't really count against the efficiency. I understand what you mean though, it takes a lot of gas to heat the engine block before it can heat the cabin. You could try getting a magnetic block heater and use that to pre-heat your oil before you head out so at least you wouldn't have to burn as much gas.

Lol funny thing is those people that complain about toyota, it's always about small stuff. It's never about the motor or the transmission or anything that's super costly to fix. Then just get other brand that don't even last 50k miles and your putting in new motor or transmission.

Perfect timing James - I just got the call and need some convincing or not to make the jump lol

This may or may not be related but on my FJ Cruiser there is a feature called Electronic Brake Force Distribution (I think that's the right title). It's supposed to assist you with braking under emergency situations or hard braking. In my experience, this feature may prematurely kick in if I'm braking and hit a pot hole or bump...the truck sensor mistakes it for hard braking and begins applying additional brake pressure. The slightest tap on the brake jolts the truck to a stop. So my guess is you might be experiencing the same thing. My FJ is a 2010 so I've gotten used to it over the decade but it still catches you off guard when it happens. Next time this happens, observe if you've hit a bump while braking.

I have seen 2 videos that conflict with yours regarding the gas engine turning on for heat in cold conditions. I wonder if there was a change in the HVAC for 2022. I haven't noticed this yet with my prime XSE that I just got...time will tell. Not cold enough to turn it on yet. I do agree they could improve the access opening to the rear seats. I would prefer electric plug to be located toward the front of car closer to charging outlets. Thanks for sharing your experience.

I think your key fob is broken. Between your remote start having issues and keyless entry. I have zero issues with this.

If I carry inside a long and wide object on the right side and I advance and lower the passenger seat forward, Id rather have my 60% behind on the right down for the large object there.

Hey, James! Try to switch battery in you key, and see if it helps! Nice video, cheers !)

I have the same issue with my 2019 Hyundai Tucson Night Edition. Slowing down almost to a stop and it feels that the brakes do a light , quick grab on the car and let go. Very light for my car but noticeable. I tested the car on a down hill road and left it come to complete stop by itself and did it , that makes me believe it my be a transmission issue. Got used of it. Dealer is clueless when they checked it. Thanks for the video.