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2020 TOYOTA RAV4

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Right about the time I’d passed 30 miles of all-electric driving with the RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrid, I knew this experience was going to be different. There was plenty of charge left.  With an expected EPA-rated 42-mile range from a big 18.1-kwh battery pack, the RAV4 Prime promises to transport commuters to work and back again without tailpipe emissions or the need to find another charge along the way. And then it becomes a 38-mpg hybrid after running through the charge, That and the Prime's suggested availability across the U.S., not just in California or a few select states, means it picks up right where the Chevy Volt left off .  Even better, it is the hottest crossover in these crossover-crazy times. The RAV4 is not only the top-selling SUV in the U.S. market for three years; the RAV4 Hybrid was also the top-selling hybrid in America last year—handily outselling the Toyota Prius.  The Prime finally checks nearly all the tech and special-needs boxes....
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Is This, Finally, The Affordable Electric Car?

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The electric car revolution won’t succeed until new battery-only vehicles are affordable to average income buyers and a sneak preview ahead of the cancelled Geneva Auto Show showed the industry was still nowhere near achieving this promised land.    It’s not that there aren’t plenty of small cars that look like they should be affordable. But the electric BMW Mini and even the Honda e are completely out of reach of the average buyer. The European industry must be able to reach out to the mass market with mass market prices for electric cars. Currently, a quality small city car in Europe with a gasoline engine costs about 12,000 euros ($13,200) after tax. Electrified city cars sell for at least twice that. An electric Mini, which must look miniscule to American eyes, will cost almost 3 times as much.   There are some new small electric cars which should have been unveiled at ill-fated Geneva 2020, including the Fiat 500 EV and Renault subsidiary Dacia’s EV. Don’...
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