km/h, Celsius

[kingkos]

Sorry if this seems like a basic question, but can the speedometer and odometer units be changed to km and the temperature to Celsius on all model years (2012-2014)?

I'm thinking about importing one to Canada and it's a requirement.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[DevinL]

Yes. I'm importing mine to Canada next summer when I move back to Vancouver and I've tested this. There is a metric setting that changes everything to km and Celsius with one button. Also, all the warning stickers (i.e. for airbags) are in English and French and the car has DRLs. It seems to have been made to comply with Canadian regulations, perhaps a consequence of it being made there. What province are you planning to import to?

 

[fromport]

I've tested this. There is a metric setting that changes everything to km and Celsius with one button.

How ?

 

[DevinL]

I've tested this. There is a metric setting that changes everything to km and Celsius with one button.

How ?

Don't recall seeing it in the handbook, so here's a quick video I made: http://youtu.be/ZBRjyWhFTWY

 

[Larry_in_Seattle]

Does the NAV system work in Canada?

I travel to BC from Seattle from time to time and in the past (pre-RAV4) have always taken my stand-alone Garmin with me so that I could have the maps and navigation. Sure would be nice to be able to use the built-in NAV system.

 

[DevinL]

Does the NAV system work in Canada?

I travel to BC from Seattle from time to time and in the past (pre-RAV4) have always taken my stand-alone Garmin with me so that I could have the maps and navigation. Sure would be nice to be able to use the built-in NAV system.

If it's anything like my 2007 Prius' nav system, it will work in Canada but not well. On the Prius it would have a hard time geo-decoding addresses unless they were on major streets in Vancouver, Victoria, or Kelowna. Also, when we took the RAV4 to Utah, it had trouble geo-decoding addresses in the smaller towns, leading me to believe that Toyota's nav outside of mid to major U.S. cities still leaves something to be desired.

 

[kingkos]

Yes. I'm importing mine to Canada next summer when I move back to Vancouver and I've tested this. There is a metric setting that changes everything to km and Celsius with one button. Also, all the warning stickers (i.e. for airbags) are in English and French and the car has DRLs. It seems to have been made to comply with Canadian regulations, perhaps a consequence of it being made there. What province are you planning to import to?

Thanks Devin. I'm thinking about importing one back to Ontario (where it was actually built). I'm still a little worried about the servicing side of things, but I think I'll manage.

I imported a LEAF about 2 months ago and can't stop thinking about replacing my other ICE car with an EV. The Rav4 seems to be the only practical EV with decent range (180km) in my budget(ish).

I actually think the rav4 ev would have done quite well in Canada even with the smallest bit of support from Toyota. Their short sightedness on EV's in general is pretty disappointing, but what can you do.

Thanks for the video, it's been tough to find info on importing one into Ontario (not sure of it's actually been done), although the process seems pretty straight forward.

Steve

 

[DevinL]

Happy to help!

I agree on the suitability of the RAV4 for Canada. For us it will be the ideal car there as it's capable in snow, easy to maneuver in the city, spacious/versatile enough to be our only car, and of course it'll allow us to use cheap hydro versus expensive gas. With the JdeMO retrofit, we'll be able to make trips down to California easily and there is already good CHAdeMO infrastructure in BC. The LEAF is a great car, but I think the RAV4 is a much better fit in Canada, especially with the severity of the winters.

As for service/repairs, if Toyota Canada won't deal with it then I figure I'll drive it into Washington if I have to. Hopefully I won't ever need to trailer it down to the states, but even if that happens it won't be too much of a problem to rent a u-haul car trailer for the fairly short jaunt over the border.

I have heard through the grapevine that there is at least one other gen2 (2012-2014) RAV4 EV that has been successfully imported into Canada, but I don't know the owner personally and I'm not sure which province it went to.

According to the RIV documentation I've looked at, the car shouldn't face any major issues on import at least.

Entune won't work in Canada as it isn't even offered on Canadian model vehicles like the Prius PHEV (apparently it gets disabled at port). Theoretically it could work if you're close enough to the U.S. border to get a signal, but I wouldn't count on it. Entune isn't the most reliable thing anyways though, so it's not a major loss.

Keep me posted if you decide to import and if there's anything else I can do to help.

 

[TonyWilliams]

The founder of Sun Country Highways has a RAV4 in Canada.

There may be one other in all of Canada.

 

[ThePoorManTesla]

I while ago i have read somewhere that 3 second gen2 rav4 where in canada and 2 of those where use by Toyota to shuttle between there plant in Ontario. I read on this forum since 2012 at first I was sure to import a Rav4 Ev in canada. But now that I Know that Toyota is giving such a hard time to their client that are out of california, and the fact that i am in eastern canada as discourage me.

 

[Larry_in_Seattle]

Unfortunately, Toyota dealers in Washington also refuse to touch our cars for warranty service. I'm hoping they'll loosen the reigns a little bit once the final car is out the door, but not counting on it. We 'might' be able to arrange for a Calif tech to fly up to Seattle or BC to work on our cars, but they would have to bring their diagnostic computer/cables and guess as to spare parts to bring.

Toyota has lost the respect of this former fan.