The 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is the most desirable and costliest of the nine RAV4 compact crossover variants. It runs 42 miles on battery power and when that’s exhausted, the RAV4 Prime becomes a traditional hybrid delivering 38 mpg. “Prime” is how Toyota references its PHEV lineup, which currently comprises RAV4 and Prius.

When equipped for quickest recharging and headlamps optimized for safe nighttime driving, the RAV4 Prime XSE with the Premium package costs $48,360. That’s before an available $7,500 tax credit pushes the price below the equivalent RAV4 hybrid.

On both RAV4 Prime trim lines, SE and XSE, the cabin color choices are fairly monochromatic, black with red accents. Toyota

What is most surprising is that this 4,300-pound vehicle gets to 60 mph in 5.7 seconds, faster than the TRD Camry and smidge faster than the four-cylinder Supra. That’s because the built-for-comfort 177-horsepower four-cylinder Atkinson (high-efficiency) gasoline engine is supplemented by three electric motors to give the RAV4 302 total horsepower. One of the motors delivers 53 horsepower to the rear wheels and makes the car all-wheel drive. The gas engine powers the front wheels only. That’s enough all-wheel-drive traction to deal with snow or sleet on a hilly driveway or a gravel road.

For daily commuters or frequent chore runners, the 18.1-kilowatt hour battery can power the RAV4 Prime Monday through Friday without gasoline (recharging each night). On a long trip, the combination of electric power and the 14.5-gallon gas tank provides a 530-mile driving range.

The fear of being stranded after the battery is depleted (otherwise known as “range anxiety”) is eliminated by the RAV4 Prime’s ability to swap to hybrid drive after the battery is depleted. In warm weather, 45 to 48 all-electric miles around-town is attainable, though the range could fall to 35 miles at highway speeds. Driving 60 miles—0 on electric, 20 on gas—costs roughly 6 to 8 cents a mile: about $2.00 each for the electricity and for a half-gallon of gas.

To recharge an exhausted battery the 3.3-kW onboard Level 1 charger needs 12 hours using the included 120-volt cable. Plugged into a 240-volt charger drops charging time to 4.5 hours. Using the 6.6-kW Level 2 charger offered only on the XSE, as part of the $5,760 Premium Package, cuts charging time to 2.5 hours. For most drivers, the advantage of the faster charger is getting at least half a fill-up if the driver remembers to recharge only when the alarm goes off in the morning.

The top trim line, RAV Prime XSE, has black Softex (faux leather) upholstery. The passenger seat has fewer adjustments than the driver seat.  Toyota

This is a Toyota, so it’s no surprise the RAV4 Prime is well-suited for what most North American drivers do: drive to work, cart the kids between school and activities, run errands and take road trips. Its 33.5 cubic-feet of cargo capacity is good for a compact crossover, but smaller than the gas-only RAV4’s 37.1 cubic-feet. It does sacrifice some rear storage space because of the battery’s location, but it still sits mid-pack among segment rivals.

The RAV4 Prime’s 180.9-inch (same as regular RAV4 variants) length makes easy work of parking in tight city quarters or crowded parking lots. There’s also plenty of room in both rows for five passengers—adults and kids alike. The RAV4 Prime also offers five USB jacks and a Wi-Fi subscription is available via AT&T.

On these metrics, the RAV4 Prime nails it. And most days, it consumes no gas and driving on battery costs one-third to one-half what it costs to fill the tank.

The RAV4 Prime’s ride is smoother than the other RAV4 variants, possibly because the battery and three motors bring the weight to 4,300 road-hugging pounds, 545 pounds more than the hybrid and as much as 865 pounds more than gas-only models. Its weight may also be why the Prime RAV4 isn’t deft making quick lane changes and its steering gear lacks road feel.

The RAV4 Prime rear seat is roomy and each passenger has access to a USB jack. Rear legroom, 37.8 inches versus 41 inches in front, isn’t quite class leading, but it’s offset by a tall seat cushion, so adults ride comfortably. Toyota

Seven Toyota models have a TRD, or Toyota Racing Development, trim line—some for sporty on-road driving, including the Camry, Avalon, and some for better off-roading, including Tacoma and the gas-engine RAV4. A RAV4 Prime TRD Sport for paved roads would give the Mazda CX-5 turbo some competition.

With one exception, the RAV4 delivers state-of-the-art safety and driver assists. The umbrella safety suite, Toyota Safety Sense 2.0, comprises a pre-collision system with pedestrian detection, lane keeping assist and lane centering assist (Lane Tracing Assist), adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go capability (Dynamic Radar Cruise Control), automatic high beams and road sign recognition. Also standard is blind spot warning and rear cross-traffic alert, although it lives outside the TSS 2.0 umbrella.

The combination of passive and active safety features brings peace-of-mind knowing that the owner, or owner’s teen drivers, are less likely to cause a driver-distraction collision. Adaptive cruise control and lane centering assist provide a measure of interstate-highway self-driving that eases long drives by pacing the car in front, slowing if the car in front brakes suddenly, and keeping the car centered in its lane.

The 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime measures 180.9 inches long. Cargo space is good although the big lithium-ion battery under the load floor reduces capacity behind the rear seat from 37.6 cubic feet to 33.5 cubic feet. That’s still good for a compact crossover.  Toyota

The one miss is headlamp technology. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety rates the standard XE and XSE headlamps as Poor, its lowest rating. But IIHS assigns the highest ranking, Good, to the steerable LED low- and high-beam headlamps available only on the XSE Premium. The $5,760 Premium package required for the best headlamps also includes a head-up display, a panoramic moonroof, surround-view cameras, heated and vented front seats, a 120-volt adapter, a wide-angle-camera inside the rear mirror and front-and-rear parking assist.

That means opting for the highest-priced RAV4 Prime to get the safest version, which nears $50,000 before federal and state EV tax credits.

Overall, it’s understandable why the RAV4 compact crossover is the fourth best-selling vehicle on the market. The plug-in RAV4 Prime after tax credits is more inexpensive than the RAV4 hybrid and it provides significant savings to drivers who travel less than 50 miles a day. PHEVs such as the RAV4 Prime are excellent vehicles that bridge the combustion engine vehicles of the past century with pure battery-electric vehicles. The also make a case for continuing to grow the network of public charging stations needed to support wider adoption of electric vehicles in the next decade.