ALL POSTS - motor whine or "HUM" (Milling Sound)

[cleanauto]

Earlier this week the traction motor assembly was replaced on our RAV4EV. Our car has had an excessive whining noise at freeway speeds that we never heard in the RAV4EV we rented for a weekend before buying (Or any other 2012 RAV4EV we have driven in). We didn't hear it on the test drive before buying, but we definitely heard it on the way home back on Dec. 15th. It took quite a bit of effort and time moving up the service support chain to get it fixed. Luckily we are there now, and we can really enjoy being back among active RAV4EV owners. This is our third RAV4EV (we had two 2002 RAV4EV's for over 8 years), so you can say we're kind of fans of the car.

An interesting fact we found out is that Toyota (and Tesla I assume) have a recorded audio file for each car from it's early test drive at the factory. For some reason our car slipped through the quality process when it shouldn't have. All part of being on the leading edge.

Tim
Granite Bay, CA (near Sacramento)
2012 RAV4EV #1240, 2011 Nissan Leaf #691, 2011 Chevy Volt #692 (yes we love EV's in our family going back to 1997 with a Honda EV Plus and a GM EV1)

 

[TonyWilliams]

Earlier this week the traction motor assembly was replaced on our RAV4EV. Our car has had an excessive whining noise at freeway speeds

Wow! My car has the same whining gearbox noise, and it might be getting worse. I'll get a new motor for it when I leave for Europe next month.

 

[jspearman]

Fascinating about the audio file! I remember Tony commenting about the whine on his RAV, but ours is quiet enough that I've never noticed the sound, especially compared to the Leaf which I thought was a little annoying at higher speeds. I'm happy to hear Toyota took care of this for you. Makes me curious about the thousands of new S motors out there, since this could be a nasty expensive problem for Tesla.

 

[Jscifres]

Welcome to the forum, Tim.

Tim and I purchased our cars the same day at the same dealership and it's been nice to know an EV guru and local owner to bounce questions off each other. When he told me about the noise, I was really concerned that he'd struggle to get the issue acknowledged, let alone fixed. But after riding in Tim's car, I can confirm that the noise/hum was quite obvious as speeds reached 50mph.

I'm glad your persistence paid off and you finally have this issue behind you!

 

[occ]

Hi I'm new to this forum. Been on MNL for a long time tho, since I own a LEAF.

I'm really looking into the Rav4 EV now because of the $7500 incentive on top of the 0% financing. I just rented one (from South Coast Toyota Costa Mesa, CA) for the day and loved the power/torque/acceleration, and range!

What was a bit disappointing is the motor whine. Seems so much louder than the LEAF, both during applying power and regen. I thought maybe it was that the Rav4 cabin insulation is not as good as the Tesla S (test drove one but can't afford it).

So this thread gives me hope. So if what I'm hearing is "not" normal, then a normal one is quieter, but will this be a problem as the car age, or just a isolated defect?

Is there anyway to know if a rav4ev has a bad motor other than to drive a good one?

 

[Bassman]

Hi Tim,
I just got my Rav4EV yesterday. Funny how great minds think alike. You'll be happy to know the Gen 1 Insight is doing fine. Sorry to hear about your motor whine. Hopefully the new motor goes for a long time before it needs replacing. Talk to you soon.

 

[RecActVeh]

RAV4 EV Rental Test.........Pleased with range would be a understatement!

I do have to say that the leaf provides a nicer ride. I notice much more road noise in the RAV and the whine bewteen 45-70 is awful. It's like a bee swarming around my ear. Hopefully it's just this particular rental from South Coast Toyota with 1300 miles on it. I would definetly drive the one I intended on purchasing beforehand as 100 miles in this thing was obnoxious!

The ride sucks and the whine won't go away on another car. The Tesla Model S guys mention that noise, and that's with their motor all the way in the rear, not at your feet like the Rav4. They are exactly the same motor and gear box. My motor's Tesla serial number is 331.

This clearly tells me that whine was not normal. I rented the same RAV from South Coast Toyota as occ did and the whine stopped me from going forward with a purchase. My Leaf is silky smooth and silent in comparison. I could live with the ride dynamics but the gearbox noise was awful. Upon returning to my Leaf after four days in the RAV rental, I realized just how silent by comparison the Leaf is. There are many things I like about the RAV and if this issue is selective I give em' another look. I think I've got some time as the dealer inventory just keeps climbing. As one fleet guy told me "these things are aren't exactly flying off the lots"

 

[Jscifres]

From the sounds of it, several cars are experiencing this issue. The existance of the audio file does prove that Tesla has some form of QC set up to catch it, and possibly to track changes over time.

To those who are on the fence about the Rav, I can tell you that a back to back drive in the OP's Rav and my Rav, on the same route, was very revealing. Mine is nearly silent in comparison.

I would recommend test driving the car where you can go 50+ on relatively smooth road before you purchase. If engine/tranny noise is significantly louder than road noise, there may be a problem.

FWIW, I believe the OP was told that he could drive the car without fear of damaging it while he waited for parts.

 

[occ]

From the sounds of it, several cars are experiencing this issue. The existance of the audio file does prove that Tesla has some form of QC set up to catch it, and possibly to track changes over time.

To those who are on the fence about the Rav, I can tell you that a back to back drive in the OP's Rav and my Rav, on the same route, was very revealing. Mine is nearly silent in comparison.

I would recommend test driving the car where you can go 50+ on relatively smooth road before you purchase. If engine/tranny noise is significantly louder than road noise, there may be a problem.

FWIW, I believe the OP was told that he could drive the car without fear of damaging it while he waited for parts.

Thanks Jscifres. I'm on the fence because of this noise. Like RecActVeh stated, at 45-70, the buzz is noticeable on top of the road noise. Unlike the high pitch whine on the LEAF, which is very subdued and not heard at all at freeway road noise speed. I did a short test drive in another Rav4 (only 15 mile on the odometer) and it seems like the whine was there at freeway speed. Although that short test drive was before my longer extended rental at South Coast Toyota, so I'm can't properly recall, but both my wife and I did noticed that it was not as quiet and refined like the LEAF. I had attributed the noise to normal "truck" noise at the time.

Tim, so after the replacement, is it a definite improvement?

 

[SeattleRav4]

I just drove mine listening intently for this whine. I can hear a definite whine while accelerating but in steady state, mine has no perceptible whine. Perhaps it is at a frequency that I cannot hear.
I would recommend anyone considering a purchase to go test drive several and see if you can hear any traction motor whine. Maybe there is a range or maybe some do and some don't.

 

[Stan]

When my wife and I bought our car we didn't notice any whine in the demo vehicle, but in our car there is a noticeable whine when you first get on the freeway if the car is cold. The whine goes away after driving on the freeway for 10 miles and it becomes as quiet as the demo RAV4 EV. We will ask about it at our 5000 mile service.

 

[laguna_b]

I have driven the RAV4 in demos and I suspect a rental weekend is in order. Due to Toyota intransigence on giving a decent lease ($649 +$4500) we got a Ford Focus EV ($195 +$2500) on a lease. But I still like the RAV4 for the extra range and utility as it could replace our Prius. The comments about the noise is very interesting and something we need to look out for. We drove the Leaf and it was ok, great back seat room. They wanted $245 +$4500 which was a non-starter given they advertised much less. The Focus is very quiet, no noise issue though the car feels the extra weight. All the creature features one expects in a luxury car, less universal remote and dimming mirror are there.

I am waiting out Toyota on the RAV4 to finally get real on leases. As long as they refuse to give a solid warranty on the battery capacity, it is way to risky to buy and I may not be able to use the $7500 tax credit this year. These noise issues may push me to wait until next year and get an S.

 

[TonyWilliams]

I am waiting out Toyota on the RAV4 to finally get real on leases. As long as they refuse to give a solid warranty on the battery capacity, it is way to risky to buy and I may not be able to use the $7500 tax credit this year. These noise issues may push me to wait until next year and get an S.

The leases aren't going to get substantially cheaper (and I'm not referring to what a dealer might do, but what Toyota does). It's a pricy car, and money is already almost free. The residual isn't going to come up, and the only thing I can substantially see on the lease is to put the $7500 fed tax credit in the lease like everybody else.

By the way, the Tesla also does NOT have a battery capacity warranty. The noisy gear box on the Rav4 is exactly the same one on the Tesla. If it makes noise, it needs to be fixed.

 

[laguna_b]

My impression is that Toyota swallows the tax credit and keeps it. I hope you are wrong about the lease prices coming down as they are 3X what I paid for the Ford Focus EV whose MSRP is about 25% less than the RAV4. So if it was taken linearly, the RAV4 would be $260/mo and $3200 at signing. So Toyota may get to keep those great cars a few more quarters....

 

[cleanauto]

Sorry for the slow reply, it was a busy weekend. We were out enjoying driving our RAV. The difference after the motor change out is significant. It really makes a difference. My advice is seriously consider getting a RAV4EV. It is a great car. Just make sure to take a through test drive in any vehicle you are considering buying, and make sure that you test it at highway speeds on a smooth road. The rental we had for a weekend was very quiet, and that's why we were so surprised when get our own car.

Now we just need to get our registration classification straightened out. The dealership was so kind so that both John and I to have our cars listed as gas RAV4's. Grrr

Glenn, glad to hear that you got a RAV4EV. It's funny, but we talked about you when we got ours, "This would be a perfect car for Glenn's commute".

In summary, we love our RAV4EV. I think they might have had some issues in production early on, so be cautious when test driving a particular car. If you find a nice quiet one, buy it and enjoy it.

Tim

 

[Ampster]

...............

Now we just need to get our registration classification straightened out. The dealership was so kind so that both John and I to have our cars listed as gas RAV4's. Grrr
................

I had the same experience with the dealer classifying the car as a motive power gas, which has delayed my HOV sticker.

 

[occ]

Ok, for those who are on the sidelines because if the motor or tranny noise: We went and test drove two rav4evs. Both my wife and I immediately noticed the difference between the one we rented for 2 days and these two. Much much quieter...still not as serene as the leaf in our opinion but sooooo much better. We also thought that our first test drive (before the rental) was also noisy (a white one from Power Toyota in Irvine).

If you're in SoCal and want to hear the difference, just rent the white one at South Coast Toyota (Costa Mesa I think) and then test drive one of the new ones. It's definitely not right.

Needless to say, we pulled the trigger. We are now gas free! Oh what a feeling!

 

[Jscifres]

Ok, for those who are on the sidelines because if the motor or tranny noise: We went and test drove two rav4evs. Both my wife and I immediately noticed the difference between the one we rented for 2 days and these two. Much much quieter...still not as serene as the leaf in our opinion but sooooo much better. We also thought that our first test drive (before the rental) was also noisy (a white one from Power Toyota in Irvine).

If you're in SoCal and want to hear the difference, just rent the white one at South Coast Toyota (Costa Mesa I think) and then test drive one of the new ones. It's definitely not right.

Needless to say, we pulled the trigger. We are now gas free! Oh what a feeling!

Congratulations on your new Rav4!

Way to be patient and take your time to test a few of them as well.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Carlsbad Toyota sent a mechanic on a test drive and concurred that my motor / gear box is noisy (and getting louder) and will need replacement.

Looking forward to quiet EV driving in the coming weeks.

 

[occ]

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