Toyota RAV4 review - MPG, CO2 and Running Costs
Clever hybrid tech makes reasonable running costs
During our test on mixed roads including city and motorway driving, the RAV4 returned as much as 61mpg and didn't dip below 40mpg at any point. This correlates well with the RAV4’s official combined fuel economy figures of 48.7mpg to 50.4mpg for front-drive models and 47.8mpg to 48.7mpg for four-wheel drive versions, depending on trim level. Our figures also compare favourably to the smaller, slower and similarly powered Kia Niro Hybrid. Emissions are equally impressive – official NEDC-corrected CO2 emissions of 102 to 105g/km are quoted (depending on driven wheels and wheel size).
It's worth factoring in the effect that the RAV4's impressively low CO2 emissions have on Vehicle Excise Duty (£140 across the range) and, more importantly, Benefit-in-kind taxation for company car choosers. The entry point of the RAV4 range, that front-drive Icon model, and all the other all-wheel-drive models have BIK of 24 per cent, while all the other front-wheel-drive versions are 25 per cent. Toyota reckons a RAV4 user-chooser will save more than £120 per month in tax over a comparable Volkswagen Tiguan petrol or diesel.
Insurance groups
The RAV4 sits in insurance groups 25E to 30A, depending on trim level and specification. Those are roughly on a par with the hybrid versions of the previous-generation RAV4, but quite a bit higher than rivals such as the (admittedly cheaper) Skoda Kodiaq and all but the highest-specification versions of the Volkswagen Tiguan.
Depreciation
Our experts predict that the Toyota RAV4 will hold on to around 39 to 42 per cent of its value come trade-in time after three years and 36,000 miles. By contrast, the Skoda Kodiaq should hold on to around 47 to 52 per cent over the same period depending on specification; a Honda CR-V Hybrid is expected to hold on to almost 51 per cent when specified with four-wheel drive and SE trim.
