Anonymous wrote:My good friends own a Prime and they love it. Like, LOVE it.

We tried to buy one. They were selling for 20K over MSRP in my area, which is *very* broadly defined -- I had to expand our search area to within 500 miles to find one that was even actually for sale.

Went with a normal hybrid instead, and TBH that was *also* hard to find. So... good luck!

Thanks for this. I haven't driven the hybrid because we really want a plug in, but I just didn't like the drive of the Prime. It didn't feel smooth to me, and I didn't like the interior features either. Driving the ID4 just felt so much better (with the exception of it sitting a tiny bit lower).

My good friends own a Prime and they love it. Like, LOVE it.

We tried to buy one. They were selling for 20K over MSRP in my area, which is *very* broadly defined -- I had to expand our search area to within 500 miles to find one that was even actually for sale.

Went with a normal hybrid instead, and TBH that was *also* hard to find. So... good luck!

stay away from VW. Don't be a fool

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn't touch a VW-product, especially when the alternative is a Toyota.

I agree. I especially wouldn't trust VW's first true EV in its first model year.

Thanks so much for the feedback everyone, much appreciated!

I went to test drive the RAV 4 Prime today. The ride was much rougher compared to the ID4 (even in EV mode) and the interior just looked and felt a bit cheap.

If I could get used to the lower ride of the ID4 I think I'm sold. There really aren't that many EV or PHEV options for plug-in AWD SUVs in my price range. I do understand Toyota's reliability is better. Maybe with less stuff to break and maintain in an EV it'll be less of an issue.

Wouldn't touch a VW-product, especially when the alternative is a Toyota.

Anonymous wrote:Just want to note that range for an EV increases in stop and go traffic (and is worse at highway speeds), which is the opposite of an ICE car and took me a little to get used to.

An EV can sit in traffic forever without losing range and its range at 5 mph is probably four or five times better than its advertised range.

This is true -- the week we were at the beach, we were getting 4.4 miles/kW in the ID.4, which is about 30 percent better than its rated range estimate would call for. (Unfortunately, we also lost about 30 percent of the rated range on the drive there and back, thanks to highway speeds, air conditioning, and a bike rack on the rear hatch, which meant we had to charge twice in our nine days there to make it to Delaware and back and do all the driving around the area we did there.) But getting stuck in traffic, unless you're REALLY close to an empty battery, shouldn't be a problem at all.

I would get the ID4

Just want to note that range for an EV increases in stop and go traffic (and is worse at highway speeds), which is the opposite of an ICE car and took me a little to get used to.

An EV can sit in traffic forever without losing range and its range at 5 mph is probably four or five times better than its advertised range.

We have an ID4 and love it, and since it's newer and nicer than our gas car, we take the VW on road trips, too. I like that it sits lower than most SUVs, though, and if you prefer a higher ride, I don't think there's much you can do about that (though you can raise the seat pretty significantly).

The range really won't be an issue often, especially if you can install charging at home -- at an 80 percent charge, you can expect to get 220 miles or so, which means that in regular driving around the D.C. area or whatever, you're unlikely to get anywhere near needing to worry about charging more than once a day. For road trips, it does take some planning in advance, which you can get used to pretty quickly. We came home the other night from a week at the Delaware beaches, where the EV charging infrastructure is... not good, with a 9 percent charge left. Was a little nerve-wracking, but we also could have stopped to charge for five minutes near Annapolis at an Electrify America DC fast-charging station and avoided the whole problem. Which is what we'll do next time.

One thing about a PHEV like the RAV 4 Prime is that the only benefit of electrification you get from a plug-in hybrid is the efficiency and savings on (most of) your gas purchases. It still needs oil changes, has all the moving parts of an internal combustion engine, will require more maintenance and has more stuff to break. We had originally been thinking a PHEV was the way to go for us, too, but as I read more and spoke more to EV owners, the idea of ditching all that stuff became more appealing.

Anonymous wrote:I would get the RAV 4 Prime. Better reliability, gas engine range.

This.

I don’t have another car, so this would be it?

I would get the RAV 4 Prime. Better reliability, gas engine range.

If you have another car for longer trips, the ID4 looks really nice.

Anyone have experiences with either of these?

I like the drive of the VW better and it charges faster. On the other side it sits lower than the SUVs I'm used to and having a plug-in hybrid instead of an all EV gives me the option of having a gas engine kick-in for long trips or if I unexpectedly get stuck in traffic.

Thoughts on either?