2012 Toyota RAV4 EV
Finally, we come to the exciting electric conversion of Toyota's compact crossover RAV4, which we liked in our
test drive of a prototype a year ago.
With a
powertrain designed by Tesla, the 2012 RAV4 EV will be the first all-electric crossover since the 2002 demise of the
original RAV4 EV--hundreds of which are still running around California today. It will assembled at the RAV4 production plant in Canada.
We'll get
full details on Monday, but based on everything we've heard--most of it off the record--we're firmly convinced that the RAV4 EV is solely a compliance car for 2012 through 2014.
One tipoff? The electric RAV4 will
only be available in California, at least initially. We're betting that any subsequent rollout is limited to Oregon, Washington, and the group of East Coast states that have adopted California's stricter emissions standards.
So we'll be watching next week to see if Toyota says anything about how many RAV4 EVs it hopes to sell--we're betting they won't--and whether the company will offer it to civilian buyers or simply as a fleet vehicle.
We also wonder if it'll be sold outright, or only offered on lease. If it's the latter, it means Toyota will be able to take back and destroy every one of its new-generation electric cars--another demonstration that the company doesn't believe in the segment.
Toyota too has a zero-emission vehicle solution. In 2015, it plans to put a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle on sale. It was
originally going to cost $50,000, but that price has
risen a whole lot of late.
Still, Toyota showed its
FCV-R Concept hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle at this year's Detroit Auto Show, and insiders tell us that's the car that will go into production in 2015.
Battery-electric cars? Toyota just doesn't believe in them.