2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime Electrical Problems

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

Observed arcing noises and strong electrical fire smell upon plugging in L2 EVSE charging cable. MIL lit, Hybrid Vehicle Charging System codes active; vehicle refused to charge afterwards. Self-diagnosed and repaired defective 6.6 kW onboard charger. See pics of clear arcing damage withing charging unit - possible fire risk.

May 29 2022 I parked my new RAV4 PRIME EV on an incline and left the vehicle running to keep the a/c cold & radio playing. The car was securely parked atop an incline facing up the incline while still running. While the vehicle sat idle I walked my dog waiting to clean up after him. He was taking a long time so I decided to turn off the vehicle. I walked over to the running vehicle in park, opened the driver door and pressed the off button to turn the vehicle off. This caused the vehicle to roll backwards down the incline while in the park position making a loud click noise. It made the click noise when initially it powered off and attempted to relax into the park position but did not catch, it clicked and began a roll backwards down the hill. I was caught in the driver's door jam and was dragged down the hill along with vehicle. …

The RAV4 Prime's fuel system holds 14.5 gallons, however only between 10 - 11 gallons of that is usable per the digital "miles to zero" gauge on the instrument panel. When the gauge reaches "zero" and notifies the driver to fill up, the tank only fills 10 -11 gallons and keeps 3 - 4.5 gallons in reserve. This is a big issue because the "miles to zero" gauge reads the full tank when you fill it up (approximately 550 miles), but begins to swing drastically on miles left as you drive the car to accommodate for the 10 - 11 gallons that it actually uses. It is not an accurate gauge at all. There are two (2) potential fixes from Toyota for this issue: 1. Fix it so that the digital gauge reads the "miles to zero" correctly and isn't all over the place to compensate for the 4.5 gallon reserve, as the system currently uses 10 - 11 gallons as the read for "zero" instead of the 14.5 gallons . 2. …

Toyota issued a recall in July 2023 stating the the DC-DC conversion system may have been damaged in manufacture, potentially causing a short, and possibly leading to a fire if charged at less than 41 degrees. Toyota indicated that a fix would be available in the 4th quarter of 2023. We are nearing the end of the 4th quarter and fix is still not available. Living in upstate New York, nighttime temperatures frequently are less than 41 degrees. As a result I am reluctant to charge overnight. This defeats the purpose of a plug-in hybrid, resulting in higher fuel costs and excess vehicle pollution, not to mention additional anxiety due to potential fire! This is an unreasonable period of time to wait for such a potentially serious defect.

Toyota issued a recall in July 2023 for risk of fire, charging the vehicle below 41 degrees ambient temperature. It has been 5 months to remedy the situation. Over 40,000 vehicles are affected. In Western New York we are experiencing colder temperatures, making it impossible to charge without a risk of fire. I am now having to purchase gas at an higher cost, instead of home charging. My multiple calls to Toyota corporate have not given me a timeline for a solution. If I want to trade my vehicle, I will get a greatly reduced value due to the open active recall.

The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Rav4 Prime. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V478000 (Electrical System) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Rav4 Prime. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V478000 (Electrical System) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

RE: RECALL # 23TA07 for 2021 Toyota Rav Prime. An interim recall notice was issued a year ago stating "We are currently preparing a remedy. We will notify you again when remedy is available." Initially Toyota claimed it would be remedied by 4th quarter 2023. Now Toyota Corporate has no information when this recall will be addressed. I paid an additional cost of $5000 over the cost of a regular hybrid to get a plug- in hybrid and now cannot use the plug- in feature when temperature is below 40 degrees in the winter. The car is useless as designed.

The vehicle generated an error message "Plug In Charging System Malfunction" warning on the dash. The remedy is a Toyota T-SB-0021-21 which requires a software upgrade to fix the air fan sensor reading to the charging unit. This is only considered part of the 60 month/60,000 mile power train warranty despite it being part of the battery charging system which has a 150,000 mile warranty. It is also presumably caused by a software error Toyota has made. They should fix this at no cost to the customer, instead I was charged $215 plus tax.

The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Rav4 Prime. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V478000 (Electrical System) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

Related recalls

NHTSA investigations

Electrical complaints in other RAV4 Prime years