

The RAV4, which also spends most of its time at low speeds in electric-only mode, doesn’t. It may as well be a petrol-powered car.Īt low speeds, where it typically motors about electrically – and silently – with its engine off, the X-Trail emits a sort of futuristic droning sound from an external speaker to warn pedestrians it’s about to run them over. But at 100km/h on flat ground, the E-Power’s petrol engine is humming away (noticeably) to keep the small battery constantly topped up. In other tests, we’ve managed to go around 4km on battery power alone. The X-Trail can accelerate harder and motor on electric power at a higher top speed, and can go a little bit further in its “EV mode” thanks to its slightly larger 2.1kWh battery (versus 1.5kWh of the RAV4). The RAV4 2WD hybrid can do “up to 1km” on electric power alone, although you can’t accelerate very fast and your top speed is limited by the power of the electric motors.

There’s less of a sense that you have to ‘take your shoes off’ as engendered by the slightly fancy X-Trail, while the digital displays are smaller, seem lower in resolution and about 20 years old for their graphic designs (to be fair, the infotainment graphics are about to be updated to something much smarter for the MY23 RAV4).īoth offer dedicated “EV modes”, but only if the small onboard batteries are topped up – which can only be done via driving.

The interior of our X-Trail E-Power Ti felt almost Infiniti- or Lexus-like with its faux woodgrain veneer, leather and piano black plastics – not to mention generously sized digital displays with smart, high-resolution graphics.īy comparison, our RAV4 XSE felt more rugged and basic, like you could hose it out. 🔼 Back to top Comfort and space Both cars are lovely places to sit, but if the RAV4 is a pair of Redback boots, the X-Trail is more like RM Williams. Wireless phone charging pads are standard in both, as is wireless Apple CarPlay – but only wired Android Auto. The RAV4 will do the same for up to nine seconds. The X-Trail gets Nissan’s latest ProPilot+ cruise control, which will steer itself down the motorway hands-free for up to nine seconds. Both cars use semi-autonomous cruise control with active lane-keeping.
