Toyota RAV4 Edge Hybrid 2024 Review

The 2024 Toyota RAV4 is priced from $39,760 plus on-road costs for the base-grade RAV4 GX, a stripped-out front-drive petrol-engined proposition, and maxes out at $58,360 plus ORCs for the RAV4 Edge Hybrid AWD, which is what we’re testing here and is a far more polished vehicle with lots of pros and not too many cons.

In terms of positioning in the hybrid sphere, the pricing is competitive against the likes of the Nissan X-TRAIL e-POWER ($49,990 to $57,690 plus ORCs) and Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV ($57,290 to $71,790 plus ORCs), while the upcoming Hyundai Tucson Hybrid and Kia Sportage Hybrid will be aiming to steal a few petrol-electric RAV4 sales as well.

Ditto for the excellent new Honda CR-V e:HEV (from $59,900 drive-away), while at the affordable end the GWM Haval H6 Hybrid (from $42,490 drive-away) has value on its side.

The RAV4 – aka Recreational Active Vehicle with 4-wheel drive – was born in the mid-1990s and has evolved over the decades, gaining a hard-won reputation as a reliable and valued (if dull) family SUV.

Today, the RAV4 is arguably more popular than Taylor Swift concert tickets and being a highly sought-after SUV has proven to be poisoned chalice, with demand (and some production delays) outstripping supply – to the point of frustration for many buyers.

Like most Toyota passenger cars, roadside assistance is conspicuously missing from the aftersales report card, costing $99 per annum. But then perhaps that is a ploy, a mind-game played with buyers as if to say, ‘You don’t need a tow truck… these SUVs are bulletproof’.

The rest of the aftersales statement is pretty good, with a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty (extending to seven years for the engine and driveline), and unlike some brands you’re not forced to service the RAV4 at a Toyota dealership to retain the warranty. Service costs of around $260 per annum are virtually unmatched in the class, based on intervals of 12 months/15,000km.

Take into account the retained value is also better than every other competitor in the mainstream mid-size SUV segment and the investment formula begins to make a lot of sense.

The 2024 Toyota RAV4 Edge Hybrid comes with plenty of goodies, starting with the butch-looking 19-inch alloy wheels with mud flaps, LED headlights, daytime running lights and tail-lights, not to mention a roof spoiler plus a tilt-and-slide glass sunroof.

Edge models also get unique bumper designs, wheel-arch mouldings and front grille.

Step inside and the comfortable front seats, complete with good side bolsters and body support, beckon. The front seats also look trendy and sporty and although the seats aren’t genuine leather – synthetic ‘softex’ leather this time around – the upholstery has a remarkably premium, dare I say ‘supple’ feel.

For what it’s worth, only the RAV4 Cruiser model grades get ‘leather-accented’ seats, which translates as partial leather.

The power-operated driver’s seat also features heating and cooling through the cushions, as does the front passenger seat, although the latter only gets manual adjustment, which is a bit disappointing.

The twin digital screens look great and together with the wireless phone charger, USB-A, USB-C and 12-volt sockets deliver plenty of device chargeability and connectivity.

The Edge Hybrid also comes with dual-zone automatic climate control, digital radio that pumps through an average nine-speaker JBL audio system, sat-nav, Bluetooth connectivity, wireless Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto, but no head-up display like some of its mid-size SUV competitors.

Orange accents across the centre console along with overt orange stitching on the seats, doors and dashboard bring add a hint of vibrancy to the cabin, while all the major touchpoints have excellent tactility and, overall, the cabin is quite impressive.

Six exterior paint colours are available, including a pearl green Jungle Khaki finish and Glacier White (both no-cost options), while Eclipse Black, Mineral Blue, Graphite and Atomic Rush cost $675.

A front nudge bar, roof racks, side steps, a dash cam and tow bar are among the countless genuine Toyota accessories available, all of which require owners to ‘contact their dealer’ for a price.

The 2024 Toyota RAV4 comes with a five-star ANCAP safety rating, but that rating is looking a little tawdry given it was awarded in 2019 and the test criteria in 2024 is significantly stricter.

The rap sheet looks pretty good at first glance, with all the usual tech-driven safety systems in place, such as blind spot monitoring, lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition and autonomous emergency braking (AEB).

Rear cross traffic alert is a great feature (although most modern cars worth their salt have this), adding two extra pairs of eyes for when you’re backing out of a busy shopping centre, parked between two massive dual-cab utes and with limited vision.

On the flipside, the projector-beam LED headlights lack dynamic movement and the airbag coverage is arguably sub-par for a modern $60K SUV – it misses out on a front-centre airbag that more up-to-date rivals offer.

The current-generation RAV4 was introduced in 2019, but even in its twilight years the 2024 RAV4 Edge Hybrid has a modern look and feel.

Toyota is vigilant with tech updates throughout a vehicle’s life and the RAV4 has been mildly updated every 18 months or so over the current model’s lifecycle, which means you now get large digital displays and remote vehicle functionality via your smartphone as standard.

Taking pride of place in the middle of the dashboard is a reasonably-sized 10.5-inch touch-screen with sharp graphics and decent GPS-based sat-nav, which is handy if you’re driving beyond mobile phone reception.

The menu layout and operating system are a little clumsy, but you do get Toyota Connected Services that works through an official Toyota app and enables remote functions such as stolen vehicle tracking, along with over-the-air updates and emergency assistance that’ll call triple zero automatically in the event of a major collision.

That said, you get one year’s subscription and after that it’s a monthly fee of $20 to keep it, which is around $240 per year – and not worth it in my book. Look at Hyundai’s rival system, Bluelink, which is free for five years, not one, and has more functionality.

The second display is an even bigger 12.3-inch digital instrument panel, and although customisation options are average it has sharp, highly legible visuals and offers good driving data.

There is a third (small) display screen in the form of a digital rear-view mirror, but you can also switch to the regular mirror if you like. The reversing camera is rather good with detailed imagery streamed from the camera to the central 10.5-inch screen.

There’s a couple of ultra-wide views and an overhead 360-degree view complete with an excellent transparent feature that makes parking a doddle.

The 2024 Toyota RAV4 Edge Hybrid gets the same 2.5-litre petrol-electric powertrain it’s been pedalling for many years. That’s not a criticism because it’s very effective but isn’t what I’d call cutting-edge.

The four-cylinder Atkinson-cycle petrol engine bangs out 131kW at 5200rpm and 221Nm at 3600rpm. The petrol engine drives the front wheels via a continuously variable automatic transmission.

The combustion engine is supported by two main electric motors – 88kW/202Nm at the front and 40kW/121Nm at the rear, which enables on-demand four-wheel drive. The third e-motor starts the engine and then employs it to recharge a small 1.5kWh nickel-metal hydride traction battery.

Combined, the e-motors boost total power output to 163kW. Toyota doesn’t quote a combined torque figure but when you slot it into Sport and nail the throttle she moves with purpose.

The petrol engine can operate solo but it’s usually working in tandem with the electric motors. The system supports EV-only running, but only for very short periods, around half a kilometre at low speeds by my measure. Nevertheless, it’s enough to significantly improve fuel efficiency.

During our week-long test, the 2024 Toyota RAV4 Edge Hybrid wasn’t as frugal as claimed but it wasn’t too shabby.

Toyota claims the petrol-electric RAV will slurp down 91 RON unleaded petrol at a rate of 4.8L/100km.

We filled its 55-litre fuel tank with top-shelf 98 RON premium petrol and ended up with a circa-870km range resulting in fuel consumption of 6.2L/100km.

The 2024 Toyota RAV4 Edge Hybrid is a very good commuter vehicle and excels in suburban and exurban scenarios, the hybrid system making slow-speed driving up to around 60km/h smooth, quiet and relaxed.

It’s also suitably efficient around town but if you nail the throttle – especially from standstill – the petrol engine makes a fair old racket.

The hybrid gubbins are sound, however, and the transition between petrol and electric modes is smooth and seamless and it doesn’t take long to figure out how to best drive the vehicle to reduce fuel consumption.

Ride comfort is best described as very good, the independent suspension fore and aft soaking up cruddy road surfaces, cracks and highway joins with the grace and flexibility of a master yogi.

The 19-inch tyres do a great job balancing ride quality and traction, and together with direct steering, a fairly tight turning circle and reasonable chassis dynamics it is an impressive urban chariot and can even be fun to drive on flowing country roads – something previous RAV4 models struggled with.

The 2024 Toyota RAV4 Edge Hybrid does have an off-road driving mode you can activate, but with 195mm of ground clearance – significantly less than the 220mm ride height of the Subaru Forester, for example – it’s likely to get snagged on anything but a very mild fire trail or bush track.

Dirt and gravel roads are fine and it feels predictable and savvy in these scenarios, but anything more would probably be a risky move in this soft-roader.

The 2024 Toyota RAV4 Edge Hybrid is much nicer inside than anticipated… probably because the last RAV4 yours truly drove was a base model that left a lot to be desired and felt cheap and nasty.

In this instance, everything feels and looks good, from the premium sports seats to the orange highlights and twin digital screens.

Even the smaller bits and pieces have soothing tactility, the climate control dials in particular, while the fitment of a physical volume dial on the central touch-screen is a mercifully useful item, making rapid volume adjustment easy.

Material quality inside the RAV4 is mixed, the lovely seats and dashboard materials juxtaposed with a handful of very hard and unforgiving textured plastics on the doors and centre console area.

Storage solutions are ordinary, with a pair of (admittedly super-deep) spring-loaded cup holders, mid-size door pockets and central bin, a tiny glove box, a pair of shelves with slippery inserts and a sunglasses holder.

Step into the back seat and you’ll find some very comfortable furniture, with the same supple pleather upholstery and good contouring that ensures you sit in the back seats, not on them. Except the central seat, but who sits there? Not me.

There are air vents and twin USB-C ports in the back but no sun shades for the windows like in some top-spec mid-size SUVs.

Two ISOFIX and three top tether child seat anchorages are in there and you get a power-operated tailgate that reveals a low and easily accessible boot floor with a reasonable 542 litres of cargo space.

There’s a temporary spare tyre in the boot and good amenity with four tie-down hooks, netted storage areas, a stowable cargo cover and 60/40-split folding rear seats to extend the load space.

This question is almost a moot point because such a large number of people have already bought one – and are happy to wait a long time for the vehicle to be delivered.

At the end of the day (or year?) I reckon it’ll be worth the wait for the 2024 Toyota RAV4 Edge Hybrid.

Granted, rivals like the Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tucson feel slightly more upmarket and may have slightly better equipment lists, but the warm embrace of a new Toyota is compelling.

It’s arguably one of the safest new-car purchases today with unmatched resale values in this class, strong perceived reliability and it’s a finely engineered and finished vehicle.

It’s worth considering that the lifecycle of most modern vehicles is around seven years, meaning an all-new Toyota RAV4 could arrive in 2025.

But even so, we reckon up-spec RAV4 hybrid SUVs are still worth the wait.

2024 Toyota RAV4 Edge Hybrid at a glance:
Price: $58,360 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol-electric
Output: 131kW/221Nm (electric motors: 88kW/202Nm front; 40kW/121Nm rear)
Combined output: 163kW
Transmission: Continuously variable automatic
Fuel: 4.8L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 109g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2019)