Toyota RAV4 EV – all-electric SUV makes its debut in LA

Toyota RAV4 EV – all-electric SUV makes its debut in LA

Toyota has unveiled its new RAV4 EV, with the all-electric SUV making its debut at the 26th Electric Vehicle Symposium in Los Angeles. Built in collaboration with Tesla Motors, the vehicle has come about from announcement to completion in just 22 months.

The front-wheel drive vehicle features a Tesla designed and produced battery and electric powertrain, good for 154 hp at 2,800 rpm. Other numbers include a driving range of approximately 160 km and a charging time of approximately six hours on a 240V/40A charger.

Toyota RAV4 EV – all-electric SUV makes its debut in LA

The SUV has two distinctly different drive modes, Sport and Normal. In Sport mode, the vehicle reaches 0-100 km/h in just 7.0 seconds, with maximum speed being 160 km/h. Normal mode achieves 0-100 km/h in 8.6 seconds, and maximum speed of 137 km/h.

Exterior variations to distinguish the EV from the regular RAV4 include new exterior emblems on the front, rear and the front door panel, utilising the signature Toyota “environmental blue.”

Toyota RAV4 EV – all-electric SUV makes its debut in LA

There’s also LED low beam /halogen high beam projector headlights, with vertical LED daytime running lights that dim to parking lights. The rear combination lights are LEDs, accented by a unique light smoke outer lens.

Other changes include reworked exterior elements to help improve aerodynamics. Compared with the gas-powered version, the front bumper, upper and lower grill, side mirrors, rear spoiler, and under body design have all been redesigned to maximise air flow around the vehicle.

Toyota RAV4 EV – all-electric SUV makes its debut in LA

Meanwhile, interior elements include a unique “Neutron” fabric, woven with a subtle sheen and blue accent on the seat inserts and door trim, as well as an eight-inch capacitive touchscreen featuring navigation, telematics and EV drive information/settings designed specifically for the RAV4 EV.

And so you’re always aware of what mode you’re running, the dash display color illuminates red when the vehicle is operating in sport mode, and blue in normal driving mode.

Toyota RAV4 EV – all-electric SUV makes its debut in LA

In terms of space, total cargo capacity is equivalent to the conventional RAV4 – the company says that no interior space is lost inside the vehicle despite the EV components. The battery pack – which has an eight-year or 160,000 km warranty – is mounted low and to the centre of the vehicle, contributing to a more sedan-like ride.

The RAV4 EV is set to begin selling in the US in late summer this year, initially in four major California metropolitan markets including Sacramento, San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles/Orange County and San Diego. Toyota is planning to shift approximately 2,600 units over the next three years.

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Anthony Lim

Anthony Lim believes that nothing is better than a good smoke and a car with character, with good handling aspects being top of the prize heap. Having spent more than a decade and a half with an English tabloid daily never being able to grasp the meaning of brevity or being succinct, he wags his tail furiously at the idea of waffling - in greater detail - about cars and all their intrinsic peculiarities here.

 

Comments

  • albag on May 09, 2012 at 2:51 pm

    wow the engine bay stores some colorful liquid… yummy!

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  • silwen on May 09, 2012 at 4:14 pm

    The 8 year warranty is attractive.

    Just a question, it’s a 240V/40A, doesn’t that mean that a special powerpoint must be installed? I always thought the standard output in the US was 120V.

    Even where it’s 240V, the current is no where near 40A.

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  • MoFaz on May 09, 2012 at 4:52 pm

    Toyota RAV4 2.5 = $22,650, in Malaysia 2.0L is about RM186k
    Toyota RAV4 EV = $49,800. Prius in Malaysia is twice the US price even without import tax, so maybe this EV will be RM300k. i hope we get the same price as in US and Japan for EVs.. but, too bad…

    EV: 240V x 40A x 6h = 57.6kWh, x 21.8cents = RM12.60 for 160km = 8cents/km
    Petrol = 22-28mpg (US) = 10.7L/100km = RM20.33 / 100km = 20 cents/km
    if petrol without subsidy (RM3/litre) = 32 cents/km
    normal milage is 20k km per year, let’s assume 1500km per month. EV need to recharge more than 9 times. 9x160km = 1440km
    EV = 9 x 57.6kWh = 518.4kWh.. based on TNB progressive tariff, the bill is about RM165 just for charging the car alone. = 11.5cents/km. still alot cheaper than running on petrol.
    how much would you save in 10 years (car lifetime)? = 8.5cents x 20k x 10 = RM17k. if our petrol is without subsidy, then savings will be RM41k over the petrol version. savings from roadtax; i don’t know how JPJ will count it, but if EV get 0 roadtax, then we save another RM3800 over the 2.0L RAV4. so, total savings would be RM20k or about RM45k if we don’t have petrol subsidy. it’s enough to buy another battery but not enough to ‘justify’ the price difference.. unless we get EV at the same price as in US or Japan, i don’t see people adopting EVs as their ride anytime soon…

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    • good effort
      but you missing here and there; few assumptions and figure that are coming out of nowhere.
      why 8.5 cents?
      whay need to include 9 times of recharging a month since you already figured out cent/km?
      tnb progressive rate is too good to be true if taken into calculation but flat rate should be ok for the sake of simple conventional estimation.
      jpj roadtax maybe about rm10, heard that the leaf got that.
      are you coming from engineering background or you just figured those out just like that?
      btw these are common sense actually.

      nevertheless, i have seen the big picture
      good conclusion

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      • MoFaz on May 11, 2012 at 12:48 am

        ahh.. i thought i just don’t want to write too long, so i skipped some calculations which are too detailed.
        8cents/km is coming from the usage of 57.6kWh to fully charge the battery. however, if we charge the car 9 times to get the average mileage of 1500km, we will be using 518.4kWh, and the rate would be 11.5cents/km. why did i use 8.5 cents as savings? because petrol – EV = 20 – 11.5 cents / km = 8.5cents/km

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  • Storm on May 09, 2012 at 6:21 pm

    EV is still not practical at all until they can come out with a battery that last at least 3 times longer. 160km travelling distance is just estimation and usually lower on actual day to day driving. Next you need to charge up to 6 hours. I m sure occationally owners will definitely forget to charge when the car is home. So next morning you can’t drive the car. In case of emergency and your battery is running low then the car is totally useless.

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  • not a car enthusiast on May 09, 2012 at 6:25 pm

    Toyota, bring your plug-in prius here please! I already installed a 240V plug-point infront of my house to charge my EV / plug-in hybird cars!

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  • shawal on May 09, 2012 at 6:35 pm

    hmmm….. a 2 tonne suv with a range of 160km …., plenty of use for that
    hydrogen n biodiesel is the way, bt we need to run out of fuel first before energy giants start to take notice

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  • 4G63T DSM on May 10, 2012 at 11:20 am

    I suppose battery improvements will need to be done before EVs will be more feasible.

    Range at the moment is a little weak but expect range to almost double with a switch to LiOn batteries. Newer generation EVs like the Tesla Model S is already stated to get over 450km/charge.

    I do see an application for EVs. Perhaps not so much in urban areas like KV where jams and distances driven are quite high, but given someone out of state which averages about 30Km a day, EVs can be practical. They are quiet and have lots of torque from the get go. And if done up properly, they dont need maintenance as would a normal ICE vehicle.

    I feel big 4×4 EVs are pointless, small EV commuter/city /second cars are much more applicable lets say for someone making the school run with the kids and to work or to make the short drive to an public transport hub like MRT or the like.

    If assuming that in the near future we would see EVs with 300-400km or range, a person living in a smaller urban area driving 30Km will be able to make do with a weekly charge easily. For example, back in my hometown, I would struggle to make more than 10K KM per year which in Klang Valley, my yearly mileage is 40K Km. An EV would suit me just fine in my hometown.

    Besides charging would become second nature. We don’t think twice about charging our iphones up every night do we?

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  • shawal the airhead.. on May 10, 2012 at 11:43 am

    engine look like a super big inkjet printer with external extra ink

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