Toyota's super-popular RAV4 could soon be getting a plug-in hybrid variant, with what appears to be a PHEV version spied undergoing on-road testing.
The move would not just give Toyota a true rival to the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, but would further strengthen the appeal of the RAV4 in Australia.
Demand for hybrid versions of the brand's popular SUV has been "unprecedented", so it's only natural that Toyota would look to add even more eco-friendliness to the lineup.
“We’re only two weeks into taking orders, but the current order intake is at 65 per cent hybrid,” Toyota Australia's vice-president of sales and marketing, Sean Hanley, told CarsGuide in May.
“I think it will settle below that, in the longer term - and we will continue to see where the market moves. But the RAV4 hybrid order books are definitely exceeding our expectations when it comes to volume."
Details of the plug-in hybrid remain thin on the ground - and Toyota is yet to comment publicly - but we'd expect the new model to use the 2.5-litre, four-cylinder engine currently at work in the RAV4 Hybrid. We'd then expect a bigger battery and more powerful electric motors, providing a pure-electric range of up to 50kms.
We reached out to Toyota in Australia for comment, who told us "we have nothing to announce at this stage".
Andrew Chesterton
Contributing Journalist
Andrew Chesterton should probably hate cars. From his hail-damaged Camira that looked like it had spent a hard life parked at the end of Tiger Woods' personal driving range, to the Nissan Pulsar Reebok that shook like it was possessed by a particularly mean-spirited demon every time he dared push past 40km/h, his personal car history isn't exactly littered with gold.
But that seemingly endless procession of rust-savaged hate machines taught him something even more important; that cars are more than a collection of nuts, bolts and petrol. They're your ticket to freedom, a way to unlock incredible experiences, rolling invitations to incredible adventures. They have soul.
And so, somehow, the car bug still bit. And it bit hard.
When "Chesto" started his journalism career with News Ltd's Sunday and Daily Telegraph newspapers, he covered just about everything, from business to real estate, courts to crime, before settling into state political reporting at NSW Parliament House.
But the automotive world's siren song soon sounded again, and he begged anyone who would listen for the opportunity to write about cars. Eventually they listened, and his career since has seen him filing car news, reviews and features for TopGear, Wheels, Motor and, of course, CarsGuide, as well as many, many others.
More than a decade later, and the car bug is yet to relinquish its toothy grip. And if you ask Chesto, he thinks it never will.
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