If gear is in N when when turned off does it stay in N?

[cashcow]

My Rav4 ev is in the shop, but I never did check this. Does the RAV4 EV stay in N when it is in that gear position and it is fully turned off? Does the parking pawl auto engage? How do you leave the RAV4 EV in N when off?

Also, if it can be left in off and in N gear when turning it back on I guess you don't have to shift to 'P'? Just lightly pres the brake pedal I suppose? Once on, does the on screen still show the RAV4 EV in N?

Just in case: If it is not possible to leave the RAV4 EV in N this way... I guess the only solution would be the remove the parking pawl ?

Oh, and the gear box/transmission is bathed in gear oil, but the oil doesn't drain away like in a regular transmission? Does this mean the gears are always submerged in oil? Or does the oil drain away into a pan of sorts?

Can you tow the RAV4 EV in N? I know in on you can though it will just regen while pulled. I think the manual says to tow it with the front wheels off the ground. Why? Is this because of the parking pawl? Would it cause damage to the motor?

 

[dstjohn99]

When you turn off the power the car "shifts" to P.

 

[fromport]

Does the RAV4 EV stay in N when it is in that gear position and it is fully turned off? Does the parking pawl auto engage?

There is not an adjustable gear box in a RAV4EV.
There is a fixed reduction gearbox between the electric motor and the front axle with a ratio of 9.73:1
That one is _always_ "engaged"
When you "switch" to D/N/R/B you only tell the computer what you intend to do
The computer will only engage the electronics to
Accelerate/decelerate, do nothing, reverse, Accelerate/decelerate harder than in D
Only physical thing that happens is when you put it in P, that is when the parking pawl engages.
I never put my rav4ev in park, just switching it off automatically engages the parking pawl.

How do you leave the RAV4 EV in N when off?

you can't

Can you tow the RAV4 EV in N? I know in on you can though it will just regen while pulled. I think the manual says to tow it with the front wheels off the ground. Why? Is this because of the parking pawl? Would it cause damage to the motor?

I think you will need to power the rav4ev on, put in N, then tow it eg on a tow truck, switch off the rav4.
I don't think it will be ever a good idea to tow a rav4ev eg behind an RV. It is not "bad" for the motor afaik.
When it turns without high voltage power applied, there is no (over)heating issue or lack of oil pressure.
You should use a dolly to lift the front wheels like it says in the manual

 

[n3ckf]

i believe you're always supposed to flatbed the Rav4EV. Ive only ever had mine towed once, and i specifically asked for a flatbed.
When the car was being pulled onto the flatbed, i actually was *in* the car with it in N and the car turned "on". (which fortunately it was able to do since the reason i was towing it was i'd run out of power). I dont know if it would've been ok if the car were *completely* dead to pull it up onto the flatbed. I got back into it before it was released by the tow truck (at a charging station).

This is one of those "you're not supposed to do that" things (be in the car when its on the tow truck) but the tow driver was cool with it as long as i got out of the car once it was secured.

 

[cashcow]

Thanks for the replies everyone and thanks for the clarification on the gear box . I've had the rav4 ev towed x2 and they always brought out a flat bed for it. Both times it still had powered to be moved. I did wonder how it would be towed on to the flat bed if it had no power. Could it shift and stay to N if off? Does it shift to N when fully depleted? I didn't know. If this doesn't happen I guess the only way to do it is with firmware update which won't happen or removing the parking pawl. I guess removing the parking pawl would be the easier job right? Do we really need the parking pawl? The emergency break seems to work just fine. Thoughts?

 

[miimura]

Thanks for the replies everyone and thanks for the clarification on the gear box . I've had the rav4 ev towed x2 and they always brought out a flat bed for it. Both times it still had powered to be moved. I did wonder how it would be towed on to the flat bed if it had no power. Could it shift and stay to N if off? Does it shift to N when fully depleted? I didn't know. If this doesn't happen I guess the only way to do it is with firmware update which won't happen or removing the parking pawl. I guess removing the parking pawl would be the easier job right? Do we really need the parking pawl? The emergency break seems to work just fine. Thoughts?

Getting the car into Neutral is only an issue if the 12V is dead too. Even so, if it needs towing, they should have a jump pack that would have enough power to get the car into Neutral long enough to get it up on the flatbed.
The mechanical parking brake is not that good. You have to pull it pretty hard. It would only be reasonable to go without the parking pawl if you have an electric parking brake like Tesla does or our e-Golf does.
Strictly speaking, towing with a dolly that keeps the front wheels off the ground would be sufficient if the car is in good working order. Of course, a flatbed is always preferable.

 

[cashcow]

Pushing the subject if you could have the RAV4 EV in N while it is off is it bad to tow it in N? Is it going to damage anything? The only issue here is the FWD I believe since the rear wheels don't have anything like a rear axle back there or something?

 

[fromport]

is it bad to tow it in N? Is it going to damage anything?

Afaik it wouldn't hurt to tow in N, but in order to do that, you would need to leave the power on. (just 12 volt).
Which would drain your 12 volt battery rather quickly, unless you can supply power to your 12 volt battery from the towing vehicle.
You mileage would increase without actually "driving" meaning your warranty will end sooner.
If you would put the front wheels on a dolly and pull the dolly: no power needed while driving & no extra miles on your odometer ;-)
And you are right: rear wheels have no axle or propulsion. They can turn anytime.
It might be that the handbrake is attached to the rear wheels, i would have to double check.

 

[TonyWilliams]

My brother just killed the 12 volt battery while towing the Rav4 with the lights on (he didn't have it in READY).

The hand brake is only for the rear wheels, and it does a poor job.

I don't recommend towing the Rav4 EV with all four wheels down, therefore you don't need to put the car in Neutral to tow (with a dolly, it will be in Park with the front wheels on the dolly and the hand brake OFF).

If you had a dead car, and were pulling it out or a garage or other location where you couldn't get a dolly under it, then I'd recommend physically removing the parking pawl from the gear box. We just had to do this with a Roadster.

If you're towing with all four wheels on a trailer, then again, the Rav4 EV needs to be in Park, however the hand brake needs to be set to maximum.