Toyota RAV4 - Interesting article

[Chris Harvey]

Just saw an article for the new Toyota RAV4 powered by Tesla motors.

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7...news&tag=title

What I found REALLY interesting about this was the last paragraph.

The RAV4 EV goes on sale in four California metropolitan areas later this summer, at a price of $49,800, before Federal and state tax incentives. Toyota expects to produce 2,600 of the cars over the next three years.

What caught my attention was the number of cars that will be manufactured over three years, sale only in CA and the price tag. I immediately thought of all those EV ney-sayers who slam GM for only managing to sell 10k a year at a lower price tag. Toyota are only going to make 1/4 of the cars! I wonder how many articles we'll see about how useless this is... especially from Fox... or will we?

[N Riley]

Hey! It's Toyota! Don't expect the media to be fair...

[RndPrecision]

The RAV4 EV is likely a pretty nice vehicle and worth the price, but WTF is Toyota doing with a three year sales target of less than 3000 vehicles?

Toyota executive : "Don't try too hard to sell thoses things, guys."

[Jedi2155]

The RAV4 EV is likely a pretty nice vehicle and worth the price

Worth the Price??? How did you come across that idea? The Tesla Model S will have a much larger battery and overall better technology for nearly the same price. For another 10k more you can get a much better Model X with all the innovations of a EV built from ground up as an EV, and not as a regular car.

[JeremyK]

This article sums up what's going on nicely. The RAV4 isn't the only vehicle guilty of this.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/...-we-name-names

Since last year, you've likely heard a lot about electric cars. You'll hear much more in the years to come.

But whether you're a fan or a foe, understand this: A few of the battery-electric cars you've heard about are "real"--meaning their makers want to sell as many as they can.

But quite a few of them aren't. They're not meant to lure in consumers, or sell in any kind of volume.

They're only built to meet California regulations for zero-emission vehicles--which is why they're called "compliance cars."

It's important for buyers, electric-car fans, and the greater public to know which is which, because the automakers won't tell you.

[DonC]

Worth the Price??? How did you come across that idea? The Tesla Model S will have a much larger battery and overall better technology for nearly the same price. For another 10k more you can get a much better Model X with all the innovations of a EV built from ground up as an EV, and not as a regular car.

Very hard to compare two non-extant vehicles. The RAV4 we at least know. The Tesla Model S is unknown and untested. But just from the specs it looks like the RAV4 will have the same sized battery. Might even be the same battery pack.

Forget the Tesla range claims BTW, they look like the crazy Nissan claims that the Leaf would have a range of 100 miles -- misrepresentations wrapped around a kernel of truth. I also wouldn't be quoting prices on the base model until Tesla actually delivers them. My guess is the price will not hold.

One difference is that Tesla does want to sell as many Model S units as possible. For Toyota it's just about CARB compliance.

[MTN Ranger]

Worth the Price??? How did you come across that idea? The Tesla Model S will have a much larger battery and overall better technology for nearly the same price. For another 10k more you can get a much better Model X with all the innovations of a EV built from ground up as an EV, and not as a regular car.

The Tesla Model X will be $67,400 + options(60kWh is the smallest option for the X). So it's quite a bit more expensive than the Rav EV.

I just can't see getting an SUV EV since I would use it for long distance trips. The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is looking like the SUV I'm going to get in the next year or two.