Toyota will sell the new RAV4 in over 180 countries and regions worldwide. When it comes to power, however, some areas are more privileged than others. Not because the company is deliberately limiting access to the whole shebang, but due to varying regulations. The uncorked versions will be available in North America, where the lineup will be topped by an all-wheel-drive plug-in hybrid delivering 320 horsepower.
Europeans, on the other hand, will have to settle for 300 hp. We asked Toyota why customers in the Old Continent get the shorter end of the stick by missing out on those 20 electrified horses. According to Robert Tickner, Head of Corporate & Product Communications in Europe, the Euro-spec RAV4 had to be detuned to comply with stricter legislation. The PHEV setup was adjusted “due to homologation and emission requirement specifics and reflects the differences between the USA and the EU/EFTA/UK requirements.”
Photo by: Toyota
And it’s not just the plug-in hybrid that had to be toned down in the European Union, UK, and European Free Trade Association countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. The power gap is even wider for the all-wheel-drive full hybrid: 236 hp in the US versus just 188 hp in Europe. Meanwhile, in front-wheel-drive guise, the RAV4 hybrid makes 226 hp in America, significantly more than the 181 hp offered in its European counterpart.
On the flip side, the Euro-spec RAV4 offers a front-wheel-drive version of the plug-in hybrid that isn’t available in the US, delivering 264 hp. Like in North America, there’s no gas-only version in Europe or any other market. A diesel engine is also off the table, although that’s unsurprising, as the previous generation didn’t offer one either. A purely electric RAV4 is unlikely, considering the 2026 bZ fills that role.
With a 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) time of 5.8 seconds, the AWD-equipped RAV4 Plug-In Hybrid for Europe will be the quickest of the bunch. That performance could be slightly better in the more powerful North American version. The PHEV will also have the longest total range, with Toyota claiming 839 miles (1,350 kilometers) under Japan’s forgiving JC08 test cycle. Domestic buyers will achieve that figure with a full tank of gas and a fully charged 22.7-kWh lithium-ion battery. Toyota hasn’t specified whether the front- or all-wheel-drive version will have the longest range, but logic tells us it’s the lighter FWD model.
The revamped Toyota RAV4 will begin rolling out globally before the end of the year. It has big shoes to fill, with cumulative sales of previous generations reaching 15 million units over 31 years.