2021 RAV4 Prime Takes The 'Will It Bacon?' Test

It's not only a great PHEV; evidently, it tastes good too.

01:20

Tom Moloughney

By: Tom Moloughney

Dec 9, 2020 at 1:20pm ET

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The 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime seems to be getting mostly praise from reviewers, including a One Lap video review by our own Kyle Conner. With its 42-mile all-electric range and reasonable post-incentive price tag, Toyota will likely have a line of buyers waiting for them, considering only 5,000 units are initially slated for the US market.

There is one test that we haven't seen any reviewer perform on the RAV4 Prime yet though, and that's the Will It Bacon test. Luckily for us, Alex Dykes of Alex On Autos has filled that void. Dykes makes these humorous short videos that test if the auxiliary power outlet available in some SUVs is powerful enough to power a microwave and cook up some bacon.

The RAV4 Prime comes with a powerful 1,500-watt inverter which was more than enough to power the microwave. In fact, 1,500-watts is good enough to be very useful in the case of a power outage, for camping, or to run a power tool in a remote area.

Mmmmm, Bacon.

I have a Toyota Tacoma pickup and it has a 400-watt inverter with an outlet in the bed. It comes in handy for low-loads like charging my cell phone, but the 1,500-watts available in the RAV4 Prime would be really useful.

Dykes also points out that the Toyota Sienna also has a high output inverter with an outlet in the cargo area, but to use it, the vehicle needs to be running. That's not very convenient, especially if you're using the outlet for a long period of time.

What do you think?

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There's no need to turn the RAV4 Prime's internal combustion engine on to use the outlet because it's getting the power from the fully-charged main traction battery.

We expect electric vehicles will really take advantage of having the ability to provide onsite instant power for adventure, work, and emergency assistance. While the bacon test is as much about having fun as it is demonstrating the vehicle's ability, it reminds us of the possibilities that electric vehicles offer.

Source: Alex On Autos