To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Rav4 Prime. But it costs extra on the Escape FHEV.
The Rav4 Prime XSE offers an optional Bird’s Eye View Camera to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Escape FHEV only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.
Both the Rav4 Prime and the Escape FHEV have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras and rear cross-path warning.
The Toyota Rav4 Prime weighs 567 to 809 pounds more than the Ford Escape FHEV. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.
For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard front crash prevention system, and its headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Rav4 Prime its highest rating: “Top Pick Plus” for 2019, a rating granted to only 116 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Escape FHEV is only a standard “Top Pick” for 2019.