Rav4's have been discussed here on occasion for people looking for a smaller car for slick roads and off-road-light. I just read that Toyota has come out with a hybrid version. This might prove to be a good one for snow country highways, but I don't know if it'll be good for any off-road at all. It's definitely not a 4Runner. It's supposed to get 35 mpg highway, though, which a 4Runner sure can't do. It might prove to be a very good commuter.
It's an all wheel drive. The gas motor runs the front wheels and the electric runs the rears. A computer shifts back and forth between them as needed. The electric will act like a power booster for the gas. When all 4 are pulling, it has a higher towing capacity than the gas alone. The article didn't say whether you could turn them both on manually for rougher stuff. It did say that if you get any slippage with either motor, the other one will kick in so fast that you won't feel it.
They've really improved their tech with the Prius which is proving itself. The big difference is the AWD since the Prius is strictly FWD. The RAV4 has the battery pack under the cargo area floor so there's a slight hump in the floor.
Then there's the price, about $30k. The hybrid version is about $750 more than the gas version. However, they've jacked the price on all versions about $1000 this year so you're paying $1750 more than in '15.
Get it in red so the blood from the deer on the cargo rack doesn't show.
