The New RAV4 EV

[grommet]

The Toyota RAV-4 EV I've seen driving around Palo Alto a few times is J1772 only and, yes, has the same or similar 10 kW charger.

[jerry33]

I am assuming that range will be more than 100 miles

This all-electric SUV has an expected driving range rating of approximately 100 miles

Whether that's 100 miles like the Leaf's or 100 miles EPA is anyone's guess right now.

[TEG]

Whether that's 100 miles like the Leaf's or 100 miles EPA is anyone's guess right now.

My educated guess is that it will have substantially more real world range than a LEAF.

[jerry33]

TEG, You're probably right, but I'm very disappointed in Toyota's offering. I'm not surprised though given Toyota's anti-ev stance.

[SByer]

Hmm, I don't know whether it's Toyota being anti-EV (though certainly there is at least some EV antibodies left within the company) or just that they've become anti-doing-advanced-engineering (as evidenced by the PiP).

[Yggdrasill]

I've been toying with the idea of importing a RAV4 EV at times, so I have some questions:

- Is the car designed with warm/cold weather in mind? What heater does it have? Is the battery always keept at a good temperature?
- If it has liquid temperature control, which components does the liquid circulate through? Motor? Battery? Inverter?
- Does it have amber turn signals? If not, are the lights the same as on the regular RAV4?
- Aside from the drivetrain and improved aerodynamics, what are the primary differences when compared to a regular RAV4?
- What percentage of components does it share with the regular RAV4? If something breaks, say, 7500 km away (hypothetically speaking - wink, wink - nudge, nudge) from the nearest RAV4 EV service center, is it possible to replace with regular RAV4 parts? Will Toyota have a problem with shipping parts out of state/country?
- What's the service schedule like?

[Yggdrasill]

Oh yeah, and does it have a trailer hitch?

[Lloyd]

Oh yeah, and does it have a trailer hitch?

I don't see one in any of their photos so far!

[doug]

2012 Toyota RAV4 EV: First Drive Of Tesla-Powered Crossover

But it's the power that really impresses when you drive the RAV4 EV, which more or less uses the powertrain and battery capacity of the lowest-spec Tesla Model S with a 40-kWh battery pack.

Toyota quotes less than 7 seconds from 0 to 60 mph in Sport mode and, more importantly--where it really counts in real-world usage--just 2.5 seconds to go from 30 to 50 mph. That's notably faster than the best V-6 version.

Top speed is limited to 85 mph in Normal mode, and 100 mph in Sport mode.

[qwk]

^^^ Very good news for Model S buyers. The range-o-meter seems to be within a mile of actual miles traveled unlike the wildly fluctuating leaf meter. There is also the part where they say that getting 100+ miles of range is easy no matter how you drive it.