--- title: "2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime Gets 90 MPGe, Does 0-60 Faster Than a Porsche Macan" description: "Bar the Supra, it'll be the quickest-accelerating Toyota you can buy." date: "2019-11-20" modified: "2019-11-20" authors: - name: "Chris Tsui" job_title: "Contributor" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/chris-tsui" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/31086/2021-toyota-rav4-prime-gets-90-mpge-does-0-60-faster-than-a-porsche-macan" categories: - "Car Tech" - "Electric Vehicles" - "News" - "News by Brand" - "Toyota News" tags: - "compact" - "hybrid" - "RAV4" - "suv/crossover" - "Toyota" --- # 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime Gets 90 MPGe, Does 0-60 Faster Than a Porsche Macan ![]() *\www.thedrive.com\* Toyota promised in early October that the [RAV4 would gain a plug-in hybrid option]() and, alas, here it is. Inheriting a suffix from the automaker's other plug-in offering, [the Prius Prime](), this is the 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime, a surprisingly quick and supremely fuel-efficient crossover for a post-[Ford Mustang Mach-E]() world where environmentally conscious family SUVs need not be boring. I never liked the idiom "have your cake and eat it too" (what's the point of having a dessert you can't eat?) but RAV4 Prime owners will look forward to doing so every day of the week. That's because Toyota's latest plug-in is the quickest, most powerful RAV4 ever made but also the most fuel-efficient. Projected to get 90 MPGe, the 302-horsepower PHEV will sprint from zero to 60 miles per hour in a brisk 5.8 seconds—the quickest accelerating new Toyota this side of the [Supra](). ![message-editor%2F1574114176741-2021\_rav4prime\_exterior\_06.jpg]() **Toyota** Yes, according to Toyota, a plug-in compact crossover is officially the second quickest car it makes. That's quicker than the 86, quicker than the [Camry TRD](), and quicker, in fact, than a base model Porsche Macan. It does this while running on regular-grade gas, to boot. What a world we live in. When the plug-in RAV4 isn't drag racing Porsches, it'll travel up to 39 miles on electricity alone, the furthest of any plug-in hybrid SUV on sale today. ![message-editor%2F1574114193063-2021\_rav4prime\_exterior\_05.jpg]() *Toyota* ![message-editor%2F1574114201646-2021\_rav4prime\_exterior\_04.jpg]() *Toyota* Under the hood lies a differently tuned version of the 2.5-liter four-cylinder from the regular RAV4 Hybrid. It now makes five more pound-feet of torque—168 over the Hybrid's 163. The Prime also features electric AWD that, like the RAV4 Hybrid and Prius AWD-e, uses a separate electric motor dedicated to powering the rear axle. Utilizing a new lithium-ion battery, the Prime boasts 83 more combined horsepower than the Hybrid with a grand total of 302. Toyota says the floor-mounted battery contributes to a lower center of gravity and hasn't affected interior space. ![message-editor%2F1574114223732-2021\_rav4prime\_interior\_03.jpg]() *Toyota* ![message-editor%2F1574114228890-2021\_rav4prime\_interior\_08.jpg]() *Toyota* Going on sale summer 2020, the RAV4 Prime will be available in either SE or XSE trim. The XSE adds the option of that two-tone, black-roof color scheme, 19-inch wheels, LED accent front lights, the first paddle-shifters ever fitted to a RAV4, the biggest touchscreen ever fitted to a RAV4 (nine inches), the option of the RAV4's first color heads-up display, and a myriad of other convenience goodies too numerous to list here one-by-one. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto will, thankfully, come standard on both trims. ![message-editor%2F1574114245442-190374-car-sf90-stradale.jpg]() *Toyota* ![message-editor%2F1574114266177-2021\_rav4prime\_exterior\_19.jpg]() *Toyota* ![message-editor%2F1574114270956-2021\_rav4prime\_exterior\_15.jpg]() *Toyota* ## Author Chris Tsui is *The Drive*'s former Reviews Editor and current freelance automotive journalist. He's based in Toronto. ### Author social links [Instagram]()