I wonder if this will affect battery cooling? Not saying it will, just something to consider.

 

I don't think it will. The battery is enclosed fully and has its own filtered intake to get clean air to cool it. The only way I think it would affect it is if the vent where the warm air goes out gets covered up, or the top panel of the battery "box" is removed and the air can't flow properly over the battery.

 

Great beginning thoughts for enclosed camping. I nearly went with a setup like you're describing myself, but ended up another route that allowed for more of a kitchen feel out the back and a completely flat sleeping surface. Sacrificed a bit of headroom to make that happen but the ease of making meals outweighs that by far for me.

I don't think you're going to run into battery temperature issues this way, but the cleanliness of the air will suffer if you don't get that plywood pretty close to the seat's shape and position. I clean the HV filter every service and always blow a bunch of dust out because I've gone camping and just by being out in nature on dirt roads and such it's going to be more present. I wouldn't want all that accumulation to be deposited around the battery compartment. I had planned to use household door molding (long foam square with one sticky side) to make a better seal between that front seat frame and the wood, and even with a few places for velcro I think that would force more air through the filter as the battery circulation comes on.

Suggestions:
For extending the flat surface, put your rear seat headrests in backwards and all the way down. Normally the foam block slopes forward but in 180° orientation extends totally flat to the seat back. They (mine at least) don't lock that way, so they pull back out easily to return to normal position.
A full-size spare at 225/65r17 perfectly supports the rear floor, avoiding caving it in when sleeping on it, or, as it looks by your rows of wire, you might end up throwing bags of animal feed into the back which the flimsy floor also does not like. Some with the OEM spare have 2x4 blocks set on the tire for more load support too, I just prefer having a real spare.
Get a fan and rain guards for nighttime ventilation! If you're closed up in there overnight you'll be wiping moisture off every window and surface in the morning. Moving air through cracked windows keeps that from happening.
If I didn't have my kitchen drawer I'd look at one of those flat-folding trays/steps that hooks over the top of a vehicle wheel for a level place to cook. Costco folding table has been a great addition too.

I still haven't found a way around the metal seat bracket being obtrusive when laying back there, but it's such a minor thing I don't usually think about it.

I've gone out many, many times in my similar setup and have been so happy with it. I love having everything contained in the car so that "breaking camp" is usually just putting my chair into its bag and the propane inside. I love seeing other people's ideas and will be looking forward to an update to see where you take this!

 

I checked out your setup it looks really cool and it looks like you and your wife have had some awesome adventures.

Also thanks for the tip about flipping the headrest the other way I tried it yesterday and it worked well.

I know a lot of people install low profile drawers but my goal is to get as much head clearance as possible. I especially like how the the back platform area can be dropped 2 in lower for more clearance. I actually have a shower setup that I did in my Volvo which had about 32 in of clearance from the cargo floor to the ceiling. The RAV4 is the same or better.

I'm considering getting a swing away tire carrier so that I can use the tire area for a kitchen that potentially pops out but thinking about that still. I might just roll with a foldable table that I can pull out of the cargo carrier on the roof.

 

Thanks for the video. Did you do it? Does anyone if there’s any danger to the battery having the unprotected pressure of people sleeping on it? I’d much rather do this than build a platform to level out the uneven rise.

 

The other thing you can get for support over the spare tire is a storage tray. You can find them online. Got one rom my wife’s 2020 XSE since she is a master gardener and puts heavy bag of soil and fertilizer back there, has worked well.

 

Does the rav4 prime have the battery under the seat?

 

No, the HV battery on the Prime is under the car.

Edit: I believe the charging electronics is under the seat.

 

So I did this and it worked great. Took out the bench cover, I clipped the backseat sensors, put a piece of ply wood in its place for storage while traveling to the campsite. Took it out and lowered back seat backs down and it was nice and flat! Thanks. So much easier than removing the seat backs.