The plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) arena will soon get more crowded as Toyota is in the final stages of preparing to compete head on with the Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt in North America. Toyota-Tesla Motors partnership is set to release its RAV4 EV in early 2012, but this is just partially true…
Geri Yoza, Toyota’s National Business Planning Manager of Advanced Vehicle Marketing (according Pike Research) has gone on record saying that while the electric-only RAV4 will indeed make its comeback (a first-gen version was first sold some 15 years ago), the electrified CUV won’t be made available to the general public. Instead, Yoza says, Toyota will focus on “very strategic applications” (read: fleets and car-sharing programs) for the RAV4 EV.
In several cities in the United States CHAdeMO chargers are being installed thanks to stimulus funding provided by the Department of Energy. Private industry companies such as retail store operators and real estate companies are considering installing charging equipment.
This new car is an electric vehicle that could benefit from quick charging, but despite this fact, Yoza says the RAV4 EV will not come equipped with a CHAdeMO charging port, stating that Toyota will not offer a quick-charge setup on any of its electrified vehicles until the SAE finalizes a standard.
We can just hope that Yoza’s admission is slightly inaccurate and that Toyota will eventually sell the RAV4 EV to the public. Otherwise, the only electric CUV on the market in 2012 will be one that folks like us can’t even buy.
Source: green.autoblog
2 comments
I can not understand why they build this car, if they aren’t going to sell it.
Just for publicity?
Recent reports have incorrectly stated that the 2012 RAV4 EV will only be marketed to fleet and car sharing programs. We’d like to set the record straight. The 2012 RAV4 EV will definitely be sold to the general public. We anticipate robust public interest in the RAV4 EV and are keen to inform consumers that their future vehicle options include a battery electric Toyota.
Toyota is the only manufacturer bringing two battery electric vehicles to the market in 2012 – the RAV4 EV and the Scion iQ EV. While the RAV4 EV will available to the public, the Scion iQ EV will be marketed to fleet and car sharing programs only.
Cindy Knight, Toyota Public Affairs Manager