Toyota RAV4 EV by Tesla not for sale

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By Brett Davis | July 19th, 2011

Toyota’s new Tesla-developed Toyota RAV4 EV is in its final stages of testing. Up to 160 testers have been trialling the RAV4 EV under close inspection by Toyota. Reports now say the car will not go on sale, that it will be only available for lease.

According to reports, the new RAV4 EV will not hit the market next year as initially planned. In an interview with Autocar, Geri Yozza, planning manager for advanced vehicle marketing at Toyota, said that the new RAV4 EV will only be available to car sharing groups and fleets on a lease plan.

Yozza says that results of the testing have been good but says testers did report more frequent instances of recharging than initially thought. However, the cost of the recharging was around $150 for six weeks which was lower than anticipated.

The Toyota RAV4 EV was first unveiled at last year’s Los Angles Auto Show. It features a full Tesla electric powertrain setup, including a lithium metal oxide battery producing 30kWh. The battery pack is able to provide a range of around 160km, and is also capable of propelling the compact SUV from 0-100km/h in around 7.5 seconds.

Toyota has previously said the EV version weighs around 100kg more than the petrol V6 model, but because of this, steering and suspension components have had to be revised somewhat.

JEKYL & HYDE

sounds just like “who killed the e.v.” all over again…

$25 a week to run a rav around seems ok but…
toyo

I want EV cars sooo badly but unless it’s a super lightweight vehicle, battery tech is just holding the whole game back, unless we can get a 400km range, ev’s are just a pipedream for Aus. This vehicle held so much promise given the Tesla Model S’s range of over 400km but reading between the lines Toyota know that this car isn’t right for market yet and that is why it’s not for general public sale…. AWWWWW !

Phil

You mean by reading between the lines, Toyota directors are in bed with the oil corporation giants.

The last RAV4 EV sold out its initial allocation, but before Toyota could make more, Chevron purchased the patent to the battery design it used and wouldn’t allow anyone to produce it anymore.
Most of them were leased and of course, Toyota destroyed the cars at the end instead of selling them on.

Nasal Explorer

Why don’t they invest more money in the appearance of the RAV? They owe it to the driving public.

Dragan

Model upgrade/redesign is in the works….
GET IT RIGHT!

Why! Dont you think its not as good looking as your camira!

Shak

Maybe Toyota are starting to realise that Range Extender technology is the way to go to solve the whole problem of range anxiety and range limits in the current crop of EV’s. Thats why the arent selling these cars to the public, because they realise they have fallen behind the times and need to come up with something new!

Alan

The “Plug-in Prius” will be coming to Oz in 2012.
Lazybones

The leaf is outselling the volt almost 2:1,Toyota will not sell this car until they have some serious competion.
Phil

Shak, all the conventional style EVs that weren’t massively expensive have only ever been offered in tiny numbers that sold out straight away or were only allowed to be leased. How could there be range problems/anxiety when people can’t even buy them in the first place?

Alan, the “plug in Prius” has been in Oz for years. Toyota has them sitting around in their HQs and on show at some dealers. Your just not allowed to buy them.

Lazybones, what you said makes no sense at all. Selling cars is not a ball game. You don’t wait around for “serious competition” before putting a product on the market.

http://www.toyota.com/esq Cindy Knight

Toyota RAV4 EV most certainly *will* be sold to the general public starting next year. It is the iQ EV, also coming next year, that will at first be deployed to demonstration programs, fleets and car sharing applications. Pike Research who first published their interview with Geri Yoza has issued a correction and updated their site. In the interest of informing consumers of their future vehicle options we would be most grateful if this site could follow suit. Cindy Knight, Toyota Public Affairs Manager

Phil

Great to hear Cindy, allthough I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but all of you car manufactuers sound like broken records when it comes to annoucing EVs or plug in hybrids. They all say “oh yes its coming next year”, then the year rolls by with no sign of it.

I’m sure your aware that back in the day of the previous generation Prius, Toyota said it would be avaliable as a plug in…..well that never happened except for static demos at your HQ and media conferences. Now we’re up to the next generation prius which Toyota said would be avaliable as a plug in by 2010…..well we’re still waiting….

http://www.toyota.com/esq Cindy Knight

We launched the Plug-in Prius demonstration program in 2010 and come to market early next year.

myname

“testers did report more frequent instances of recharging than initially thought”
Translation: the advertised range was greater than the real life driving range.
That’s a bummer. You thought that you could drive back and forth to work and it turned out that you couldn’t make it back home…
Ooops… you’re late… step on it to make it in time but… it turns out that you couldn’t make it all the way.
The most important feature was overstated – range matters!!!
LP

And so the e-car saga keeps going. There is always a story of how a particular EV “sold out” and that big oil “killed the car before it could be mass produced.” CONSPIRACY, MAN…now pass the splif. If these d*mn things were so economically viable, and so great for the mass market, why do they need YOUR precious Obama-money (aka stash) to subsidize ever sale? Why wouldn’t the car companies forgo all the kick backs provide by this guv-ment and let the cars just sell themselves? That because this bureaucratic mess we’ve created has forced the companies to build stuff that won’t sell so they have the “right” to build the stuff that does sell. That doesn’t sound like “freedom” to me. Whadda nightmare! For godsake, the free market has voted again and again, yet you people keep demanding someone behind the curtain has to be at fault. E-cars don’t make sense yet! Until we can figure out the nano-fusion hydrogen engine, fueled by a micron of plutonium and tap water, we’re gonna hafta focus on our core competency, the 4-stroke, internal combustion engine. Extended range, plug-in hybrids are a decent step forward, but let’s not kid ourselves. Your also guv-ment pays to put every one of those on the road as well. That is, until we all run out of other people’s money to sustain this madness. Otherwise, get off the couch and go get 2 engineering degrees and a doctorate in nuclear physics. Then, just design us a battery that can sustains the load of a 4000 pound vehicle for at least 300 miles without recharge or significant loss of peak power, in temperatures ranging from minus 40 to plus 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Until then, please stop talking about it, and get back to your cannibis and dorito dinner. And yes, I’d like fries with that!