In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Rav4 Plug-In Hybrid are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Model X doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Rav4 Plug-In Hybrid has a standard Secondary Collision Brake, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Model X doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Rav4 Plug-In Hybrid XSE offers an optional Parking Support Brake that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Model X doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Rav4 Plug-In Hybrid XSE offers an optional Bird’s Eye View Camera to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Model X 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.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Rav4 Plug-In Hybrid’s standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert uses sensors in the rear to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side and optional Parking Support Brake on the XSE automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. The Model X doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.
The Rav4 Plug-In Hybrid has standard Safety Connect™, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to get turn-by-turn driving directions, remotely unlock your doors if you lock your keys in, help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Model X doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.
Both the Rav4 Plug-In Hybrid and the Model X 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, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems and rearview cameras.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH, results indicate that the Toyota Rav4 Plug-In Hybrid is safer than the Tesla Model X:
|
Rav4 Plug-In Hybrid |
Model X |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
69 |
101 |
Chest Movement |
.5 inches |
.7 inches |
Abdominal Force |
76 lbs. |
157 lbs. |
Hip Force |
196 lbs. |
217 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.