2014 Toyota RAV4 EV - Review

2014 Toyota RAV4 EV - Toyota & Tesla get together and make an electric vehicle. Only sold in California in limited numbers. Watch to find out more...
Four sections: walk around w/ thoughts, interior POV, driving impressions, & charging/details.
The Evolving World is dedicated to the advancement of technology that changes the world forever. As far as automobiles go... we are only interested in electric or fuel cell electric vehicles.
We welcome all comments, suggestions, & requests. Please like or subscribe.
Future reviews will include:
2018 Hyundai Ioniq electric.
Toyota Mirai - Hydrogen car
2018 Nissan LEAF
Honda Clarity - Hydrogen car
2018 Tesla Model E (3)

[@Gibson99]

4:10 - Those aren't seat belt mount points in the back - those are cargo tie-down points. The seatbelt in the ceiling is for the middle seat in the 2nd row. it clicks into a small buckle right next to the driver rear passenger's buckle.
The round holes are for the cargo net, which is suspended by 2 bars. The square holes are for the retractable cargo cover. ALL rav4s this body style had those, even the ones with 3rd row seat. The net/bars and cover are stored under the floor in the rear cargo area. That's part of what's underneath - basically a small trunk.
Source: I currently own a 2006 rav4 v6, which is the same body style as this EV.

[@Gibson99]

8:20 - the sliders in the sun visors are for when it's turned sideways, to block sun thru the side window. though sometimes i'll slide them out an inch or so to fill the gap between the visor and the mirror.

[@QCCHARGE]

The 2012-2014 Toyota RAV4 EV does NOT use a heat pump. It has a conventional electrically powered 6kW resistance heater, manufactured by Denso (and very prone to failure). There is a second resistance heater devoted strictly to battery heating, also, manufactured by Zerostat.
The three fluid containers on the driver’s side, under the hood are:
1) brake fluid (light honey colored)
2) coolant used for the Tesla components (blue/green colored G48 fluid)
3) coolant used for the Toyota cabin heater (pink, Dextron fluid)

[@theevolvingworld]

It seemed like a coolant type heater (the pink one) & was bubbling a lot with the radiator fan constantly cycling on and off. The three reservoirs I'm referring to are: the two blue/green filled ones (one right one left) & the pink one which has now been verified as for heating. I don't know why a "conventional" resistance heater would need liquid? Kinda of like making toast by heating up some liquid and then pumping into a radiator around the bread slice with a fan blowing on it to cook the bread. Why the extra step... and rather wacky at best.

[@Gibson99]

probably so they could use as many stock toyota parts as possible, so they wouldn't have to redesign the entire dashboard to fit a new heater core. heat up the coolant and circulate it thru the same heater core that the ICE version used. keep it simple and speed up the design process. and simplify servicing too. i bet other parts are also the same as the ICE version, such as brakes, hubs, maybe even axles. aside from the obvious motor differences, the only other EV-specific parts under the hood are probably just the motor mounts. headlights, even though they're different from what the regular rav4 came with, look like they are a bolt-on accessory, similar to aftermarket headlights. and in fact, they look just like the cheap aftermarket projector retrofits you can find on ebay and amazon.

[@JamesKlafehn]

I love this car. I have had many of them. I still have my 2014 Rav4 EV
that I purchased new in CA and shipped across the country to NY. Check
out my 6.5 year review of my Rav4 EV. th-cam.com/video/wZVZqaw6x4A/w-d-xo.html
You can also search for me here on TH-cam. James Klafehn

[@sabrinachery1995]

You should try Sport mode next time!

[@RWarrior777]

Where can I purchase that after market charger? Enjoyed the video !

[@theevolvingworld]

This is the only company that made the CHAdeMO L3 charger for this car. QC Charge seems to be currently sold out: qccharge.com/collections/toyota-rav4-ev

[@RWarrior777]

@@theevolvingworld thanks , i gave them my email so they can notify me when available 🙂🙏

[@RWarrior777]

How long can i drive the vehicle with fully charged battery? Or how many miles? thanks

[@JohnWoodell]

Can you provide a link to the company that does the aftermarket DC fast charge modification.

[@theevolvingworld]

shop.quickchargepower.com/ I have seen these installed & in use.

[@QCCHARGE]

The DC fast charge kit is called JdeMO, and is available from www.QuickChargePower.com

[@theevolvingworld]

Any chance of doing a CHAdeMO compatible fast charger for the Fiat 500e ?

[@QCCHARGE]

The Evolving World, yes, we could do the Fiat 500e, but we need ten customers who also want it!

[@theevolvingworld]

That's crazy! There's like 26,000 of these made (so far), some ten times more (and growing) than either a RAV4 EV or a Tesla Roadster. And yet not even ten want it? I'd reckon there's at least 20% that can use it. There's simply a lack of connecting customers with product. I might be able to help with that.

[@be236]

Where's the charging port?

[@Wildman2291]

Do you buy these or does paramount let you film with them?

[@theevolvingworld]

I bought the Fiat from them.

[@Kylehoulihan]

No rav4 has ever had a beam axle.

[@leonelbarra-alvarez8424]

HI, what is a beam axle