2020 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid XSE AWD Drive Review: Adventure Is Out There (If You Want It)

RAV4 Hybrid is equally at home in the office parking lot or the Angeles National Forest camp grounds.

All cars have one fundamental job to do, and that is to get their drivers from point A to point B, over and over and over again. However, cars can also be extensions of their owners’ personalities, whether it’s a function of their function (i.e. can they carry a lot of people comfortably, like a large SUV, or carry almost nobody, purely for fun, like a convertible), or a function of their aesthetic (does it look cool parked outside my work).

While many people simply need that first part covered, others often want a vehicle with some amount of that perceived cool factor bundled in to their new purchase. And, curiously enough, few vehicles seem to have this lifestyle ideology baked into them more than the Toyota RAV4. In fact, the RAV4 will likely be the most viewer requested vehicle I end up driving in 2020. So, it better be good, or, at least, be perceived as being good, because a lot of people sure are interested in it.

To that end, Toyota threw me the keys for a week to the most practical and flexible example of a RAV4 that the company currently sells: the RAV4 Hybrid, with the cool-looking XSE package.

Now, a bit of housekeeping here: Toyota announced earlier this year that a plug-in hybrid variant of the RAV4, dubbed the RAV4 Prime, is coming in 2021. It will offer superior fuel economy due to its increased ability to do “pure EV” driving. It will also have over 300 horsepower and blow the doors off many unsuspecting sport compacts in a straight line, which is rad. This RAV4 Hybrid isn’t that, but it’s the closest thing you can get for the time being.

Instead, this RAV4 Hybrid is as conventional as your neighbor’s Prius. It features an inline-four cylinder gas engine that displaces 2.5-liters and is paired to a hybrid-electric powertrain. This system uses a battery to power two electric motors, one at the front axle and another at the rear axle, giving the RAV4 Hybrid “electric all-wheel drive.” The battery is charged as you drive along, siphoning precious electrons from the gasoline engine (when needed), or, more commonly, when coasting, decelerating or braking.

There is no plug, like a full EV, and there is no notable additional maintenance required with the system, which makes it all very simple for the end user. Though, this relative simplicity means that the RAV4 Hybrid isn’t going to get a million miles-per-gallon. It also means RAV4 Hybrid ownership will still entail regular visits to the gas station. However, it may be less regular than you would expect, because despite it all, the RAV4 Hybrid is rated at 41 MPG city, 38 MPG freeway and 40 MPG combined. All of this offers a theoretical range well over 500 miles, which is very impressive.

In the real world, the RAV4 Hybrid does an excellent job of making its case as the Official Obvious Choice™ for most folks looking for a new vehicle.

The Hybrid model starts at just over $28,000. This XSE model, with a few options, rings in at $38 grand, which is right around the median new vehicle transaction price in the United States. This means that most people will be able to swing the payments on it, when push comes to shove, and that’s a good thing because the RAV4 Hybrid is a truly rewarding ride.

It’s comfortable and quiet on the open road, happy to waft down the interstate with cruise control set at your favorite nominal just-over-the-speed-limit pace. This is thanks, in part, to the fact that the hybrid powertrain produces a combined 219 horsepower, which makes the RAV4 Hybrid surprisingly agile.

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The interior of the RAV4 is a slight step behind what you would find in a loaded Honda CR-V, or Mazda CX-5, but I suspect no one will mind. Sure, the materials don’t feel as nice as what you would find in its competitors, but the RAV4 has always felt a bit more rough and tumble than the competition -- ready to get a bit dusty as you do some off-roading on the way to your adventurous lifestyle where you “hike” on a flat trail for a few hours before returning to civilization and posting about it on instagram (#LetsGoPlaces).

Joking aside, the RAV4 has a similar type of simplicity about it that many other Toyotas do. 

For example, it has the same infotainment setup that is shared with a lot of the model line-up. It uses a mix of buttons, knobs and a touch screen, which is the correct way to do it. The interface may not look as flashy as what you would find in a Honda, or that new Subaru StarLink setup, but it is very intuitive to navigate.

Additionally, while features like Android Auto and Apple Carplay are standard, this particular RAV4 also has the upgraded 11-speaker JBL Audio system,a $1,620 option. It won’t melt your face off with bass, but it sounds great, especially once you turn the volume knob up above “20,” whatever that correlates to. It also has wireless charging for your electronic devices which works excellently.

Being a new Toyota, the RAV4 also has Toyota Safety Sense, which is the company’s suite of active and passive safety tech. In addition to the standard back-up camera, my favorite features definitely have to be the full parking proximity sensors (part of the $640 XSE Technology Package), which let you know exactly how close you are to knocking your mirror off, or curbing a wheel when parking, the blind spot monitoring system and rear cross-traffic alert. That last one is especially clever, using the RAV4’s proximity sensors to see approaching traffic when reversing out of a parking spot or driveway, and beeping if it sees something headed your way. Blind spots be gone.

While the tech is important in all new cars, it still has to work as, well, a car. To that end, the seats should fit anyone under about 6’6”, and I mean anyone.

The outward visibility is also excellent. Just look around, the RAV4 has a ton of glass. So between all that glass and the safety tech, it makes maneuvering this thing a piece of cake. If you want to cut someone off but aren’t sure if you’re going to make it, these systems will give you just enough leeway to pull off that abrupt three lane change in a manner that would make any Angeleno’s heart swell up with pride.

Curiously, this XSE model apparently has a “sport tuned” suspension. I hustled it through some winding mountain roads in search of some appropriately lifestyle-y off-road spots to shoot the photography for it, and I can confirm that it will hang on in the corners with more agility than literally anyone will ever need.

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Despite that, however, the RAV4 soaks up broken pavement with ease, and can be best described as “comfy.” It doesn’t seem to have the rich, creamy secret sauce that Honda and Mazda are using to tune their suspensions right now, but no one will complain about the ride quality.

Indeed, with that 219-horsepower hybrid powertrain, the RAV4 is a total cruiser. Sure, it has plenty of power, but the personality of it is such that you will never feel the need to use it. Just know that if you put your foot down, it will definitely go.

That relaxed personality means that, especially around town and in traffic, the RAV4 will likely spend much of its time driving in pure EV mode. It’s pretty cool seeing how far it can go without using the four-cylinder gas engine at all. Toyota even has this display in the infotainment showing what the hybrid system is doing in real time.

That would explain how, after over 300 miles and one week of driving, where I drove around town, up and down through winding mountain roads, on the open freeway, and in Los Angeles’ most congested hell holes that we all know as the freeways here, I managed exactly 40 miles to the gallon, which is awesome for a crossover SUV.

The Honda CR-V and Mazda CX-5 certainly aren’t matching that. Nissan axed its Rogue Hybrid at the end of 2019. There’s always the Ford Escape Hybrid, but it just doesn’t feel as nice. So, it would seem that if you don’t want to step up to one of the plug-in hybrid electric SUVs, the RAV4 is almost in a league of its own, at least until that RAV4 Prime comes out.

And that’s the ringer. You can have your lifestyle-y adventure SUV that looks equally at home in the office parking lot as it does at the Angeles National Forest campsite, all while getting 40 mpg.

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