The RAV4 Prime failed the moose test, although Toyota promised it’s already working on changes in the electronic stability system.
Moose Test or the evasive maneuver test was quite popular in the 90s’ since it shows how stable a certain vehicle is. Today, the guys at Teknikens Värld, a Swedish publication, are the ones that continue the tradition of moose-testing new vehicles.
The evasive maneuver test is one of the toughest for any vehicle. The testers drive a completely loaded vehicle in an s-shaped fake obstacle course to see how the car behaves. The idea is to simulate a child or animal jumping in front of the vehicle, requiring immediate driver response. It sounds simple, but you’d be surprised at how many modern vehicles fail the moose test, including today’s RAV4 Prime.
The first moose test was introduced in the 70s, and over 50 years, many cars failed to get passing marks. Toyota’s new RAV4 Prime plug-in is only the latest addition to the list – other models failed spectacularly as well.
The publication has released a video of the RAV4 Prime moose test. We can see the car skidding during the initial testing, crossing the painted lines, and colliding with the cones. The team repeated the test several times at lower speeds, but the car was still uncontrollable. Finally, at a speed of 63 km/h (39 mph), it was able to complete the course. However, this speed was way lower than the minimum speed Teknikens Värld requires to pass the course.
Following the test, the publication said that the RAV4 Prime electronic stability system didn’t seem to engage. The agency also changed drivers, but it did not affect the results.
Following the test, Toyota promised that it would work to fix the problem.
“As a countermeasure, we will now take steps to ensure that RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid can pass Teknikens Värld’s Elk test.”
However, this is not the first time the Toyota RAV4 fails the moose test. The same happened in 2019 when the publication tested a non-plug-in variant. Following this, Toyota modified the SUV’s stability control and passed with flying colors the subsequent test. We don’t expect anything less from the Prime version.
Let’s see how long it takes for Toyota to fix the issue this time. We’ll keep you posted
