Spoiler Alert -- do not read if teased!

There's only one manly reply that's apropos

OHH OHH OOOHHH !!
On the one hand, the large format will hold more batteries more easily ... but on the other hand the smaller RAV4 is lighter. From the pic's it looks like it's going to be the big version.
.

 

I got to ride in Darell's RAV4, and I must say, it was NICE!

I think it's a great idea for Toyota to bring them back. :thumb:

 

Meh, another overweight SUV

 

Yes, yes, YES!

Now we're talkin'.

Tease me on this one, please tease me.

Hell, beat me if you must.

I just want to know more.

And I'd give an odd limb or redundant internal organ to drive one of the
Beta versions.

Thank you, Bob Wilson. :clap2: :hug: :kiss: :wub:

 

I really like the "EV" plug logo.

 

Your theory is that all vehicles larger than a Smart car are useless?
Why shouldn't Manufacturers try to do better throughout their model line up?
If you made a living making cars, why would you only make duplicate cars to what your competitors sold?

So far as I know, Toyota has experience with electric RAV4s, including die-hard existing owners. Only the Ford Escape Hybrid comes anywhere close to being competition.

I have no interest in an electric SUV personally unless its range was over 150 miles, but I think Hybrids, PHEVs, and Electric cars should proliferate through out the various automotive niches. Then the public can choose which ones they like. (My 'commute' today was 183 miles, but 115 is more typical for me)

 

My interest in this will depend on whether it is available with AWD and what the range will be.

Personally I don't like vehicles that are "converted" to be a hybrid or EV, as compared to the Prius that was designed from the ground up to be efficient using the hybrid powertrain. I liked the iMiev until I found out it is a retrofit kit. Too bad... ideally the Rav4 EV should be redesigned around the EV stuff rather than the other way around.

 

OK, let's take a vote:

Would you rather see Toyota put Tesla battery/ev motors in the Rav4? . . . . or would you rather see the conversions go into the Toyota ft-86:



I'm just say'n . . . . .


.

 

Nice strawman. A 2009 RAV4 Limited is 3576lbs. A Scion xB is 3086lbs and has 10 more cu ft. of interior volume. My theory is that most SUV drivers are (to put it in nice-enough-for-priuschat-member terms) easily manipulated into driving overweight pigs of cars. Heavy cars make the roadways more dangerous for all of us (but I suppose it provides a lot of entertainment when gas prices spike).

So yes, meh.... yes-another-SUV for a SUV/crossover/whatever-flooded market.

 

Feel free to list all the BEV SUVs in this flooded market you see. I don't see ANY but perhaps I have blinders on.

 

Guys, you are missing the point here... this is an EV!!!

Darell has had one for a DECADE! It's not a behemoth - it's a small SUV, which works great for hauling larger families, gear, groceries... WITHOUT USING GAS!

This is how we get "soccer moms" to be on the "save the environment/planet" side, without taking away their sense of "safety/entitlement"... this is GREAT!

Just think - an EV, with GROUND CLEARANCE!! :thumb:

 

I'm going to weigh in on the meh side here.

I've got the plug-in thing going. Bought the Hymotion Prius conversion. It works as advertised. You get like 4 miles per KWH.

Easy enough to do the arithmetic -- here in VA, based on the generation mix, that reduces C02/mile by, at best, about 30%, relative to the (fairly high) standard of a straight-gas Prius.

But make a heavier, less-aerodynamic vehicle, run it on grid electricity, and ... it'll be no better than a stock Prius.

I acknowledge that the car-purchase decision is complex. Some people have to have big. For whatever reason. But don't kid yourself that big, electric, charged off the grid = cleaner-than-thou. It's just not so.

Holding vehicle size/aerodynamics constant, charged-off-the-grid is somewhat cleaner that all-gasoline here in VA, where the generation mix is fairly close to the national average. Go to an all-coal electric state, and you may be doing more damage by going all-electric. Go to the Pacific NW, with lots of hydroelectric generation, and electric has a much larger advantage.

Basically, small is beautiful. Or, as my best buddy used to tell me (when he drove a motorcycle), when you drive a car, most of what you're doing is hauling scrap metal. You choose to haul 2 tons instead of 1 ton, it'll cost you. Even, in the modern world, if you haul it with batteries and electric motors, instead of a gas engine.

 

The speedometer max out at 140 MPH. The needle left of it max out at 160. Could it be EV range?

 

Hoping to hang on until 2015 models to get the needed AWD, or selectable 4WD, better-ground-clearance-than-Prius, small, relatively-high-mileage second vehicle. Meant mostly for local, but capable of being a multi-day road-trip vehicle during unpredictable winters in the Mountain West.

This is a high bar that I doubt can be cleared. At that time EVs will not be up to the task yet, so hybrid seems to be the optimal solution. Watching and waiting.

 

with SUV, they have enough space to fit it all in even in already existing cars.
Rav4 itself is pretty efficient SUV, it has great part time AWD system that was designed to save fuel.

 

so, put another way, the pacific north west, using more hydroelectric makes cheeper/cleaner electricity to run the refineries? You see, that's the flaw in your logic. You have to FIRST run electricity just to MAKE the gas, that burns into smog.

.

 

Anyone have a target release date yet?

 

Tesla Elon Musk was quoted that this will be for fleet only and a couple thousand would be build in 2012. Maybe it'll come to market in 2013.