The Worst Thing About the RAV4Prime - Review After 9500 Miles

After nearly 9,500 miles with my RAV4 Prime, I’ve come to a clear conclusion about the one thing that drives me absolutely nuts about this car. It’s not the way it drives. It’s not the acceleration. It’s not even Toyota’s refusal to make it look sportier.

No… it’s the charging system.

If you're a RAV4 Prime owner with solar panels or a time-of-use electric plan, what I’m about to explain will either validate your frustration—or help you avoid a major headache.

The RAV4 Prime’s Charging Scheduler: A Big Letdown

Toyota gave the RAV4 Prime a plug and a battery, but for some reason decided to pair that with the most inflexible and unreliable charging schedulers I’ve ever used.

You can set specific times for the car to start charging, which is fine in theory. For example, I have it set to begin charging around 11:30 a.m. when my solar production is at its peak. But there are two big problems:

• No end time: You can’t tell it when to stop charging. So if your peak electric rate starts at 4 p.m. and the car is still charging—too bad.
• One-time schedules fail: Setting a non-repeating charge time often just… doesn’t work. I’ve tested it across three chargers and two locations. The result? No charge. Nada. Just disappointment.

Why This Matters

If you’re trying to optimize your EV charging to avoid high electric rates or make the most of your solar system, the lack of flexible scheduling is a major issue. Other EVs allow you to set a full charging window (e.g., “charge between midnight and 3 p.m.”). Toyota’s system only lets you choose a start time—period.

Worse, the one-time charging schedule appears broken. Multiple tests show that it either doesn’t initiate or aborts charging unexpectedly, leaving you with a car that isn’t ready when you need it.

Is This a Dealbreaker?

Honestly? No. The RAV4 Prime is still a fantastic vehicle. It’s efficient, quick enough, great for families, and decently capable off-road. But if you’re serious about energy efficiency, or just don’t want to babysit your car’s charging habits, this quirk is worth knowing.

Hopefully, Toyota can fix this with a future software update. But until then, prospective RAV4 Prime owners: be warned. This is seriously annoying.

Want to See It in Action?

Watch the full video at the top of this post to see exactly how the charge scheduling system works—and doesn’t. If you’ve run into the same issue or found a workaround, I’d love to hear about it in the YouTube comments.

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