How many people have had zero problems with their Rav EV?

Toyota Rav4 EV Forum

Help Support Toyota Rav4 EV Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I am a new owner of a used 2013 model and am so happy this board exists. I recently had an experience of my car not starting with several warnings appearing (ABS and airbag warning) after being parked in the cold while I was at work. The dealer says there was a bad cell in the 12V battery and replaced it, but after reading all the posts about the electrical failures in the middle of the road, I'm a little unsure if I should keep the car. I love it otherwise but now am a little scared I will have an electrical failure while driving. I did see the spreadsheet on the Check EV warning thread and it seems to be pretty common. Did the firmware update seem to fix the Check EV warning issue? Do any of you regret buying this car? Thanks in advance.
 
I just crossed 2 years and 22,000 miles with no problems. Well there was that canoe incident but that wasn't the cars fault. All forums tend to overemphasize problems because people comment when they have a problem. While there are probably more issues per million vehicles than other Toyotas, I think the vast majority of RAV4 EV owners are very pleased with the car. I know I am.
 
pamc said:
I am a new owner of a used 2013 model and am so happy this board exists. I recently had an experience of my car not starting with several warnings appearing (ABS and airbag warning) after being parked in the cold while I was at work. The dealer says there was a bad cell in the 12V battery and replaced it, but after reading all the posts about the electrical failures in the middle of the road, I'm a little unsure if I should keep the car. I love it otherwise but now am a little scared I will have an electrical failure while driving. I did see the spreadsheet on the Check EV warning thread and it seems to be pretty common. Did the firmware update seem to fix the Check EV warning issue? Do any of you regret buying this car? Thanks in advance.


Did you buy an extended warranty?
 
pamc said:
I am a new owner of a used 2013 model and am so happy this board exists. I recently had an experience of my car not starting with several warnings appearing (ABS and airbag warning) after being parked in the cold while I was at work. The dealer says there was a bad cell in the 12V battery and replaced it, but after reading all the posts about the electrical failures in the middle of the road, I'm a little unsure if I should keep the car. I love it otherwise but now am a little scared I will have an electrical failure while driving. I did see the spreadsheet on the Check EV warning thread and it seems to be pretty common. Did the firmware update seem to fix the Check EV warning issue? Do any of you regret buying this car? Thanks in advance.
I owned a new 2014 rav4EV for 3+ months now. it's our car of choice whenever we can get away with driving just one car. I've seen check EV warning once in the first week of owning the vehicle and luckily hasn't' seen it again for the past three months. It's a great car to own. many people that I ran across owns several rav4ev. I believe there are more trouble free owners out there who never come on forum to tell us about it.
 
I have roughly 57,000 miles on mine (in 1 year and 11 months) and have had very little trouble. The only issue I had was the bolts on the CV joints loosened up and had to be re-tightened.
 
Mine has been perfect for about 11,000 miles and 11 months. Might even take it in for the first free check service soon.
 
Bassman said:
I have roughly 57,000 miles on mine (in 1 year and 11 months) and have had very little trouble. The only issue I had was the bolts on the CV joints loosened up and had to be re-tightened.
Hmmm. Mine is starting to get a clunk when I first put it in gear. I guess it could be the CV bolts instead of something inside the drive unit. I'd better take it in sooner than later...
 
Bassman said:
I have roughly 57,000 miles on mine (in 1 year and 11 months) and have had very little trouble. The only issue I had was the bolts on the CV joints loosened up and had to be re-tightened.

Wowzers, impressive milage.
How much range have you lost from new after a charge compared to now?
Are you using sport mode a lot and using all it's torque ?
Would sure give the CV joints a beating ☺
 
Hard to tell with winter upon us, but probably 7 to 10%. I currently am getting about 93 to 98 miles to a normal charge and 103 to 110 to a 100% charge. Mid 20 to low 30 temps take a big toll on range as the traction battery has to be heated to maintain 75 degrees F. I also charge to 100% every day at work and 83% at home.
 
We bought our RAV4 24 Dec 2012 and now have about 28K miles on it. I too can't say "zero" problems as the heater died at the end of last winter. We also used to see the "Check EV System" warning, though the car always worked fine. When Toyota of Roseville fixed the heater, they also updated the software so no more warnings of any kind that I can think of. Replaced tires at 20K with Michelins, and have had to add about 1/2 cup of fluid to the battery coolant reservoir twice in 2+ years. We love it, despite the warts.
 
Still zero problems with my RAV4 EV, coming up on 2 years, March 2nd, 18k miles. I drive the LEAF as much as I can, should lose the 4th bar by summer, get a new battery can sell it, I am not going to wait and see if the Lizard battery is enough better to meet my original expectations. I expected 15-20% loss at 10 years and 60-90k miles. The RAV4 EV is on track to do that. Mileage and depth of discharge are the biggest degradation factors in the RAV4 EV, while ambient temperature is the biggest in the LEAF.
 
Incredulocious said:
mark_rivers19 said:
You rarely find a post like, drove my car today and everything is fine.
Drove my RAV4 EV today and everything is fine! :p

No, really! 8200-ish trouble-free miles since October 2013. Yes, I would do it again! It's a great EV, worth the risk of potential Toyota/Tesla service issues, but then that's easy to say since I'm in California. If I were outside of California, I suspect I wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to grab one up anyway!

That said, I fully expect to sell it once a small (not Tesla Model S/X), all electric hatchback with 250+ miles range (and hopefully all wheel drive) becomes available from somebody.


I, too drove my car today and everything is fine! :) My car is great for driving from Oakland to my friends and family in Santa Cruz, San Jose, San Francisco and Vacaville. I love the clean air convenience of this vehicle.

No problems. Knock on lithium...After 15 months I have added 13, 778miles.

I have had two nails in two tires. I am wary of Home Depot parking lots now.

Would I trade in my leased Rav4 EV for a Chevy Bolt? Is the Bolt reliable? Will it really travel 200 miles on a charge? Will the Bolt cost $30K in 2017? We will see... Patrice
 
Back
Top