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Toyota RAV4 EV hits California roads on September 24th with 103-mile range
Toyota had said its all-electric RAV4 would be ready to tour the California streets at some point "late summer," and with the warmest of seasons coming to an end, the Japanese company's declared September 24th as the date the SUV will go on sale. What's more, today's press release reveals the RAV4 EV boasts a brilliant 103-mile range and 78 MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent), which, as Autoblog points out, makes this the first non-Tesla-branded EV with an EPA rating of 100-plus miles. If all that is still not enough for you to shell out the $50,000 (not counting rebates and tax credits, of course), Toyota dealers are expected to offer a 36-month lease option for anyone in The Golden State who prefers a shorter-term commitment.
Prototype Tesla-powered RAV4 driven, demonstrates extreme brake regen
What happens when you put the powertrain from a Tesla Roadster into an SUV? You get the Toyota RAV4 EV, an early prototype of which PluginCars got a chance to drive. It referred to a "sophisticated proof of concept," basically a drivable show car, and the performance is reasonably stout: 0 - 60MPH in nine seconds -- not bad for a 3,900lb car. Range is estimated to be 100 miles in real-world conditions, but that's liable to change between now and when the car is expected to hit dealers, sometime toward the end of 2012. We're guessing the Roadster-style pushbutton gear selector will be gone by then, too.
Toyota debuts 100 mile Tesla-powered RAV4 EV, Musk says it 'helps us with the Model S'
Toyota and Tesla have been spotted holding hands behind the school gym on numerous occasions and now, finally, the result of their long hours working together in the craft room are being shown to the world. It's the RAV4 EV, announced earlier this year and finally unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Current pre-production models are delivering 100 miles per charge but apparently still need some climate-proofing to ensure that the 2012 version will hit that range regardless of conditions. That's a big deal for a big SUV, and of course it's a big deal for Tesla, which is providing the powertrain. It's also a good news for Elon Musk, surely injecting some much-needed funding to the company and, as he says, introducing other benefits as well: We're giving Toyota a window into the entrepreneurial, Silicon Valley culture and, vice versa, we're getting a sense for the Toyota production system... I think we're learning a lot form Toyota, bidirectionally, in this process and I think that helps us with the Model S. Having access to Lexus components in the supply chain is also helpful. In other words, expect the production Model S interior to be a little less fanciful and a little more familiar.
Toyota and Tesla plan to bring electric RAV4 to market in 2012
We'd already heard that Toyota and Tesla were working on some electric vehicle prototypes, and the two companies have now come out and officially confirmed that they are, in fact, working on an electric RAV4 crossover. What's more, Telsa says that it's already produced one prototype vehicle and plans to deliver a fleet of them to Toyota for evaluation "within this year," and that Toyota plans to bring the vehicle to market sometime in 2012. Details are still a bit light beyond that (including any word of a price), but it certainly sounds like this is just the beginning of more vehicles to result from the partnership -- check out the praise the companies heap on each other in the press release after the break.
