RAV4 EV revisited

[C.RICKEY HIROSE]

The Rav4 EV brings my memory lane back to the future.
I could not buy/lease one of the wonderfull RAV4EV back then.
I recall,the doctrine was no Toyota employees allowed,
all goes to general public only and reserved!
I did make a lot of current owners happy although, They all say,
will buy/lease another one if Toyota will bring them back.

GM should have kept the EV1 in the market.
Toyota should have kept evolving the wounderful EV technology.

Toyota RAV4 EV

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Toyota RAV4EV


The Toyota RAV4 EV is an all-electric version of the popular RAV4 SUV. It is powered exclusively by NiMH batteries.
Contents

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• <LI class=toclevel-1>1 Performance <LI class=toclevel-1>2 Charging <LI class=toclevel-1>3 Mileage Costs <LI class=toclevel-1>4 Wearable Items <LI class=toclevel-1>5 History
  • <LI class=toclevel-2>5.1 Prototyping <LI class=toclevel-2>5.2 Corporate Purchasing <LI class=toclevel-2>5.3 Public Availability
  • 5.4 Discontinuance
  <LI class=toclevel-1>6 Continuing Support <LI class=toclevel-1>7 Future Development <LI class=toclevel-1>8 Sales <LI class=toclevel-1>9 See also
• 10 External links

Performance

The RAV4EV has a governed top speed of 78 miles per hour (126 km/h), a tested 0-60 time of around 18 seconds (depending on state-of-charge on the batteries) and a range of 80 to 120 miles (130 to 190 km). Mileage depends on the same factors as a traditional gasoline-powered vehicle, mainly rolling resistance and average speed (aerodynamic drag).
The RAV4EV has 24 12-volt 95Ah NiMH batteries capable of storing 27.4kWh of energy.

Charging

The RAV4EV's batteries can be recharged from being fully depleted to fully charged in about 5 hours. Charging is supplied via magnetic induction by a wall-mounted 6000-Watt charging unit on a 220 volt, 30 amp, North American "clothes dryer"-type plug. The process of connecting the RAV4 EV to the home charger is as follows:

• The driver parks the RAV4 EV with the vehicle's grille within 8 feet of the charger (usually the back wall of a garage).
• The ignition is turned to 'off'.
• A button is pressed on the dashboard that opens a door built into the RAV4 EV's grille.
• The driver removes the cabled inductive charging paddle from the wall charger and inserts it into a receptacle behind the grille door.
• The charger checks the connection automatically, and charges the RAV4 EV

This process is nearly identical to the process used to refuel a gasoline-powered car at a gas station pump, the only difference being the pump nozzle is a paddle shape, you can charge the vehicle at your home or other location, and the receptacle is in the RAV4 EV's front grille, instead of a gas tank towards the rear.
The time used to connect the RAV4 EV to the charger is approximately 2-3 seconds, when standing at the front of the vehicle.

Mileage Costs

As of May, 2006, charging an RAV4EV from full-dead to full-charge, at a rate of US$0.09 per kilowatt-hour, costs around $2.70. As of December, 2007, based on a gasoline price-per-gallon cost of US$3.25 and up. and the non-EV 2003 RAV4 2-wheel-drive gasoline fuel efficiency of 27 mpg, the RAV4EV costs approximately 25% as much to fully charge, and makes mileage in the RAV4EV the cost equivalent to a 111.1-mile-per-gallon small SUV (2.12 L/100 km).
In addition, the RAV4EV has a charge timer built into the dashboard that enables the vehicle to start charging at a specific time. As the RAV4EV easily becomes the main cost of electricity in an average-sized home, this enables the owner to use a Time-Of-Day Meter to reduce electricity costs. This configuration is a standard practice with RAV4EV owners. The price of electricity at night depends on the carrier, but is usually in the range of 60% of the normal rate. In the use of charging the RAV4EV, this equates to a cheaper cost-per-mile, roughly equivalent to a vehicle capable of 166.6 mpg (miles-per-gallon) (1.41 L/100 km), based on a price of US$3.00 per gallon.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency listed mileage ratings for the RAV4EV in its yearly Fuel Economy Guide from 2000 through 2003. The 2003 model recorded city mileage equivalent to 125 mpg, and 100 mpg on the highway. Estimated combined mileage was 112 mpg.
For comparison, a reasonably modern European supermini may manage motorway travel at 5 L/100 km (47 mpg US) or 6.5 L/100 km in city traffic (36 mpg US), while an average North American mid-size car travels 9 L/100 km (27 mpg US) highway, 11 L/100 km (21 mpg US) city.

Wearable Items

The RAV4EV's battery system is a wearable item. Third party battery vendors charged approximately US$26,000 as of June 2007 on eBay for replacement packs. Toyota tested the RAV4EV in Japan for 300,000 miles over two years before introducing the vehicle in the United States. It should be noted that the economies of scale are affecting the replacement cost of the RAV4EV.
The remaining systems in the RAV4EV are comparable to the gas-powered RAV4, such as power brakes, power steering, air conditioning, tire wear and suspension components.

source: Toyota RAV4 EV - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[thecoook]

Last night I was watching a YouTube video about an EV-1 that had been donated to a University and was now being shown at an EV exhibition, what I found so weird is that GM destructively DISABLED these donted vehicles before its delivery to schools and then made them promise that it was NEVER to be used as an EV again! How WARPED is that?

I guess the EV-1 is begiining to grow on me now, although back then it didn't make any sense with gas at a buck-a-gallon and a 60-80 mile range. I love the contours of the vehicle, very sleek, and the employees involved with the project were very enthusiastic about it.

Oh well, I'm just glad I got our 2008 Prius.

[blazer_5154]

Originally Posted by thecoook

Last night I was watching a YouTube video about an EV-1 that had been donated to a University and was now being shown at an EV exhibition, what I found so weird is that GM destructively DISABLED these donted vehicles before its delivery to schools and then made them promise that it was NEVER to be used as an EV again! How WARPED is that?

I guess the EV-1 is begiining to grow on me now, although back then it didn't make any sense with gas at a buck-a-gallon and a 60-80 mile range. I love the contours of the vehicle, very sleek, and the employees involved with the project were very enthusiastic about it.

Oh well, I'm just glad I got our 2008 Prius.

There was one on display for a while at the Smithsonian that had not been "Destructively disabled", it only had the batteries removed because the Smithsonian would not accept it in an "altered" state. Sadly, it was removed from display about 2 years ago and was replaced by "Stanley", the the autonomous VW Tourag (sp?) that won the DARPA challenge years ago. I'm sure that it is still moth-balled in the vast storage warehouses of the Smithsonian just like the ark of the covenant.

[finman]

"I'm sure that it is still moth-balled in the vast storage warehouses of the Smithsonian just like the ark of the covenant. "

Is that what the new Indiana Jones 4 is about, finding the last intact EV-1 in captivity?

[hill]

If I had a buck for every low mile rav4-ev I've bid on thru ebay since 2003, I'd have a nice part of the payment done ... even tho battery replacement / reconditioning will be an issue.

[miscrms]

Here's another piece for the archive, the official DOE test sheet:
avt.inl.gov/pdf/fsev/eva/toyrav98.pdf (sorry can't link right now)

Rob

[darelldd]

Whoa. What happend to my reply? Tried twice now!

Are the links the problem? Crazy.

Anyway... here is the relevant info from my site.

Let's try: evnut dot com/rav.htm

And: evnut dot com/ev1.htm

[efusco]

Originally Posted by darelldd

Whoa. What happend to my reply? Tried twice now!

Are the links the problem? Crazy.

Anyway... here is the relevant info from my site.

Let's try: evnut dot com/rav.htm

And: evnut dot com/ev1.htm

Yea, there's a bug not allowing hyperlinks right now.

[darelldd]

Originally Posted by efusco

Yea, there's a bug not allowing hyperlinks right now.

Ah! I guess that explains that entire wiki page paste above! Ever since the PC issues became serious, I just stayed away... didn't know what was going on!

[thecoook]

Since getting our 08 Prius, I've become fascinated with the Hybrid setup and Electrics, so I bought "The car that could" and "Who killed the Electric Car" from Amazon. Wow, what a story! The book and the DVD compliment one another. I still cannot fathom WHY the EV1 HAD to be destroyed! What ever happened to the GM-Toyota NUMMI collaboration? It seems to be a long-range, deep-enough pockets quandry that has plagued GM since the 80's. Apparently the new Volt will be smooth and flowing, not angular Camaro-ish like the concept. It would be so neat to see a second gen EV1 (EV2?) with a Hybrid setup.