Annual update: 7 years in our Rav

[snoltor]

7 years. 88k miles.

May 2013: bought the car
Feb 2015: first drive unit replaced at 25k miles
Sept 2015: JdeMO installed
April 2016: Rear ended, rear door and bumper replaced, bill to the other guy's insurance was ~$5,000
April 2017: second drive unit placed at 57k miles
May 2020: 7 years, 88,000 miles, drive unit silent, all looking good. Currently on our third 12V battery.

We've been fortunate. Other than the drive unit swaps, our experience has been good. What you'd hope for buying a Toyota: not having to go to the dealership.

Hope everyone is well.

Steve

 

[smkettner]

Great story. How much range remains?

 

[snoltor]

How much range remains?

I haven't done the Tony test in ages..... I'll guess 125 plus or minus 20.

But seriously, I'll get that done in the next week or so, seems I still have some time at home on my hands....

 

[asavage]

I "had" to drive our Model 3 today, and I'm reminded how I really prefer my RAV4 EV. Much easier ingress/egress, more comfortable seats, no taking my eyes off the road to operate the windshield wipers, no painful door handles, no nags about putting my passcard on the reader when it slips off, etc.

I mean, the M3 does lots of things the RAV4 doesn't, but I can't see out of the damned thing, the rearview mirror and rear window leave huge blind spots. And my knees ache climbing out of it.

I want to sit in a Model Y soon, see if the higher seating is improved. But I doubt I'm in the market for one. Maybe a XC40 Recharge in a couple of years.

 

[snoltor]

I mean, the M3 does lots of things the RAV4 doesn't, but I can't see out of the damned thing, the rearview mirror and rear window leave huge blind spots. And my knees ache climbing out of it. I want to sit in a Model Y soon, see if the higher seating is improved. But I doubt I'm in the market for one. Maybe a XC40 Recharge in a couple of years.

I agree. The driving position in the Rav is much more comfortable for me, and getting in and out of the Rav is never a problem.

 

[geo]

I "had" to drive our Model 3 today, and I'm reminded how I really prefer my RAV4 EV. Much easier ingress/egress, more comfortable seats, no taking my eyes off the road to operate the windshield wipers, no painful door handles, no nags about putting my passcard on the reader when it slips off, etc.

I mean, the M3 does lots of things the RAV4 doesn't, but I can't see out of the damned thing, the rearview mirror and rear window leave huge blind spots. And my knees ache climbing out of it.

I want to sit in a Model Y soon, see if the higher seating is improved. But I doubt I'm in the market for one. Maybe a XC40 Recharge in a couple of years.

Yep. I bailed on my M3 reservation because the car just wasn't useful enough. After all these years, the RAV4 is still pretty unique in terms of utility. I really thought I would have replaced it by now.

I do have a deposit on the XC40, but still 50/50 on actually getting it. Looks like there will be a few more choices towards the end of the year - VW ID.4, Model Y, Mach E. I have warranty until 2022, so I still have some time to decide.

 

[n1tr0sp33d]

Thanks for posting on your blog, finding it and seeing how well it served you helped me sell myself and my wife on buying one. First as a test case on driving an EV and if its what we needed. Two years in she's telling me skip buying a MY, to call Tony and get a jdemo. It really helped selling what your family was able to do with the RAV.

 

[kmcclellan45]

so how much range do you still have?

 

[asavage]

Bought mine in Aug2017 @ 49k mi. I'm just about at 89k now.

Pretty much everything in the car with Tesla's name on it has been replaced -- except the Gateway Module.

C-harger
DC-DC Converter (caused by heater: just a fuse)
Drive Unit
HV Battery

It's on its third 12v battery -- not Toyota's fault.

The Toyota bits have held up OK. The Tesla bits . . . not so much. Still, I'm glad to have it.

Last winter, I was metaphorically sweating my bimonthly trip to my mother's house, because I couldn't really run the heater and still have round-trip range, and the windows fog badly in the rainy season unless the HVAC is in Normal. I got caught a couple of times having to charge on the way home @ 6.6kw L2. With a wet dog in the car, this isn't much fun.

Since my brother bought a Mini Electric this summer, and it's got around 110 mi. range, we installed an E-VSE at Mom's place, and now I can run full HVAC, so I'm back to no range anxiety again. But with multiple after-work errands, I do sometimes run right up against LO before I hit my driveway. Sure wish there was a proven path to more (comfortable) range sometimes in the RAV4 EV.

 

[user 340]

Sure wish there was a proven path to more (comfortable) range sometimes in the RAV4 EV.

Do you have a JdeMo?
It made a big difference for me.

 

[asavage]

No, and I don't want one. Until this year, I never needed one (with the exception of that one trip from Sacramento->Seattle). And it would be of no use visiting my mother, as there isn't a DCFC anywhere near her.

Having the L2 at her house has made that now-weekly round-trip more comfortable in a way that DCFC would not.

 

[miimura]

Sure wish there was a proven path to more (comfortable) range sometimes in the RAV4 EV.

Do you have a JdeMo?
It made a big difference for me.

No kidding. The DCFC makes it far more useful as a regional car instead of just a city car. 200-300 miles are no sweat with JdeMO.