RAV4 next to the Model X

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Incredulocious

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 29, 2013
Messages
165
Location
Santa Cruz, CA
I came across my first parked Model X in person today, at Pogonip (Santa Cruz, CA) and took some pictures of the two vehicles together. Unfortunately, they're not parked level to each other, but still fun to see. I still like the form factor of the RAV4, but it sure would be nice to upgrade our 130 miles / 45 kWh to their 260 miles / 90 kWh, all wheel drive and supercharger access! (Of course, at the height of the Toyota discounts, you could buy four RAV4's for one P90D, if it had been available.)

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Ha, and I *just now* found out that my friend received delivery of his white Model X. I'd ask for a test drive and take some pictures alongside his (heh, maybe do an embarrassing drag race between my RAV4 and his Model X too), but he had it delivered to his home in Poth, Texas rather than in San Jose, CA.

Phooey!
 
Great pictures, Incredulocious!

I'm surprised at how similar the heights are for each car. I've been telling my wife that she's probably going to be sitting lower in the Model X than she has been in her Rav4 EV, but it looks like I was wrong. The Model X looks short, but I guess it isn't!
 
Model X looks smaller than I expected when placed next to the RAV4EV

Now if we could just swap in the 70 or 90 kWh battery.
 
I went to the test drive in Sunnyvale on 2/1/16 (my brother has signature reservation, he's also a Rav4 EV owner).

It's very different from the Rav4 EV; as it should be since it costs many times more. Firstly, the acceleration is incredibly fast; it can to do to the Rav4 what we do to most ICE cars off the line. It's the fastest car I've ever been in period. It's almost scary; like driving your own private roller coaster!!! Handling is superior; feels very solid like top European makes. Re-gen is much stronger, you have the option to select stronger or weaker modes (even the weak mode is much stronger than in the Rav4 ... this took a bit getting used to, and something that I'm not sure I like since I've gotten used to "gliding" in the Rav4).

Novelty items: Falcon wings and see thru roof. Yes, they're really pretty COOL ... but not very pragmatic. Surprisingly, I really liked the roof. It reminded me of driving in a convertible, but without the wind blowing. The down side is the wimpy little sun visor that's provided and stored above the door jam ... totally cool ... but almost useless ... just like riding in a convertible; wear a hat! Much has been said about the doors ... IMHO, how you like the doors says a lot about you, so you need to see it in person and form your own judgment.

Storage and carrying capacity. To me, this is a major reason for buying a SUV in the first place. The X beats the Rav4 in passenger seating, but it's not quite ideal. The third row seats give option to carry 6 or 7 passengers, but the space is suitable for kids and petite frames only (or a short ride under 15 minutes). The second row seats (we drove the 6 seat model) was underwhelming. Although already "improved" and made in-house by Tesla in a separate factory in Fremont, it was still not that comfortable. Yes, much more comfortable than the seats in the Rav4, but not up to the standards of an $120,000 +++ car. It felt like a high end office chair, but without armrests (what! ... yep no armrest for 6 seater). The "frunk" is roomy definitely wished we had one, but everything else was just ok. Most people wouldn't spend that kind of money on a car and move stuff around in it, and here's where I think the Rav4 has it beat. I've moved a bed (twin size mattress and box sp.), a 7 foot A frame ladder, numerous boxes and many cubic yards of peat moss ... and after I get my JdeMO installed, I plan to carry all my gear and go scuba diving in Monterey. Could I do that in an X? Maybe I could, but I wouldn't!

Sorry to any Tesla fans if my "observations" sound negative because it really is an AWESOME car with performance that will blow away most performance cars that cost much, much more! At that selling price, it's not going up against Toyotas, but Audi, BMW, and Lexus.

Would I ever buy one? .................. maybe in a year or two?
 
Luckyduckie said:
Most people wouldn't spend that kind of money on a car and move stuff around in it, and here's where I think the Rav4 has it beat. I've moved a bed (twin size mattress and box sp.), a 7 foot A frame ladder, numerous boxes and many cubic yards of peat moss ... and after I get my JdeMO installed, I plan to carry all my gear and go scuba diving in Monterey. Could I do that in an X? Maybe I could, but I wouldn't!

We do have fellow RAV4 EV owners with both Tesla Model S and X (and Tesla Roadster, too).

I also have a Model S, but the RAV4 EV is my preferred daily driver (with JdeMO and a future larger battery pack coming).
 
LuckieDuckie: you completely forgot the mention one key difference between Rav4EV and X - Autopilot. To me that alone throws away all other EVs out of any contention except Model S. You need to drive it with AP turned on for a reasonably long drive for you to get over the initial nervousness. It takes a day or two of getting used to it and only then it will sink in as to how mind blowing and game changer it is.

Tony: how is it that I don't see you in the TMC forum?
 
So this isn't you?

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/member.php/9747-TonyWilliams

Gosh - this whole time I thought that was you!

Which mod did you piss off? They're a touchy bunch of fanbois over there, for sure.
 
Here are some more pictures of a Rav4 EV next to a Model X. First picture is with air suspension at Very High, second picture is with air suspension at Low, while the third and fourth pictures are taken from the side showing the cars have very similar dimensions... so much so that you can't really see either car on the other side in both shots. As you can see from the headrest heights, the driver in the Model X sits a little higher than the Rav4 EV.

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Not to revive an old thread, But I was recently in the bay area and there was a line of Toyota Mirai's. I chatted with one of the owners. They are a pain in the ass. Many of the filling stations are off line. He had to drive 15 miles to this one, and at about 15 to fill from empty, car number 5 in the line is in for an hour to fill.

TOYOTA, bring back the Teslota!

The Rav4 is 150 miles range from being the Perfect EV.
 
I agree - Toyota really blew it. How many people would have bought a 200-mile Rav4 EV for half (or even a third) of the price of a Model X? I would have been one of them!
 
Blastphemy said:
I agree - Toyota really blew it. How many people would have bought a 200-mile Rav4 EV for half (or even a third) of the price of a Model X? I would have been one of them!
A 200 mile RAV4 would have been more expensive than that. The MSRP on our cars was $50K. A 200 mile version would have needed a 70+kWh battery and been more than 60K.
 
Blastphemy said:
I agree - Toyota really blew it. How many people would have bought a 200-mile Rav4 EV for half (or even a third) of the price of a Model X? I would have been one of them!
Nope. Very poor support from the dealers mixed with Tesla friction, high cost of repairs, and not exactly reliable or easy to diagnose.

Now if Tesla would make a RAV like vehicle direct that might go. Or if Toyota would make an EV direct it might work.
Yes needs 250 minimum range.
 
smkettner said:
Nope. Very poor support from the dealers mixed with Tesla friction, high cost of repairs, and not exactly reliable or easy to diagnose.

Now if Tesla would make a RAV like vehicle direct that might go. Or if Toyota would make an EV direct it might work.
Yes needs 250 minimum range.
Nope. Toyota sold the Rav4 EV like the compliance car it was, so it never had a chance. Had Toyota gone all-in on a more robust Rav4 EV (200-mile range, actual 4-wheel drive for the Rav"4", etc.), it would have been a best seller, years before the Model X or Model 3 were released. Instead, Toyota went all in on Hydrogen Fool Cells, and lost that bet big time.
 
Blastphemy said:
smkettner said:
Nope. Very poor support from the dealers mixed with Tesla friction, high cost of repairs, and not exactly reliable or easy to diagnose.

Now if Tesla would make a RAV like vehicle direct that might go. Or if Toyota would make an EV direct it might work.
Yes needs 250 minimum range.
Nope. Toyota sold the Rav4 EV like the compliance car it was, so it never had a chance. Had Toyota gone all-in on a more robust Rav4 EV (200-mile range, actual 4-wheel drive for the Rav"4", etc.), it would have been a best seller, years before the Model X or Model 3 were released. Instead, Toyota went all in on Hydrogen Fool Cells, and lost that bet big time.

Toyota can still make the 200-300 mile range Toyota RAV4 EV with ubiquitous access to fast charging. They choose not to.
 
All we can hope is the solid state batteries Toyota is working on can become viable at reasonable cost.
 
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