Toyota RAV4 SUV - MPG, running costs & CO2
Low emissions will win the Toyota RAV4 friends
Unlike the vast majority of its rivals, Toyota has taken the bold decision to offer the latest RAV4 with only a hybrid powertrain. To help distinguish it from the growing number of plug-in hybrids, they call it a 'self-charging hybrid', because it harvests the energy normally lost as you drive from deceleration and braking into a battery pack meaning you’ll never need to find a wall socket or charging station.
It’s still impressively efficient for an SUV, which is all the more surprising given its large 2.5-litre petrol engine. Thanks to the boost from its electric motor, fuel-efficiency is rated at up to 50mpg for the front-wheel drive model, with the all-wheel drive car capable of around 48mpg. Both models are company-car tax friendly thanks to CO2 emissions of 126-133g/km. This results in a medium Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) rating.
During our test with the front-wheel drive RAV4, we achieved just over 47mpg from a mixture of town and motorway driving. When driving in town traffic, we found that careful use of the accelerator makes it easy to maximise the cars pure-electric running, achieving around 40mpg when the petrol engine was used too.
Every RAV4 will cost £140 a year in road tax, unless you really go to town with the optional extras and push it over the £40,000 mark, in which case there's a £325 surcharge the first five times you have to pay tax.
