Toyota to Sell Electric Version of Its Popular Compact SUV
Toyota Motor Sales USA said Wednesday that it will begin retail sales of its battery-powered RAV4 electric vehicle in February as it moves to comply with California’s Zero-Emission Vehicle Mandate.
The five-passenger electric version of Toyota’s popular compact sport-utility vehicle is the same one introduced in 1997 but has been available only through lease to government agencies and fleet operators.
The electric RAV4 has a top speed of 78 mph and a range of 80 to 100 miles between charges. Its price tag of $42,000 is more than twice that of a comparably equipped, gasoline-powered RAV4, but a $9,000 state incentive and a $3,000 federal tax credit will lower the effective cost to the buyer to $30,000.
Executives of the U.S. arm of Toyota Motor Corp. of Japan say the technology is so expensive--the battery pack alone is worth at least $30,000--that the company will lose $50,000 or more on each of the 360 electric RAV4s it can make each year.
But the decision to start retail sales early demonstrates the company’s commitment to the ZEV Mandate, which takes effect in the 2003 model year, said Ernest Bastien, corporate vehicle marketing manager for Torrance-based Toyota Motor Sales.
“This is a real-world vehicle, not a golf cart,” Bastien said, referring to the low-speed neighborhood electric vehicles that other manufacturers plan to market in partial fulfillment of their ZEV Mandate requirements.
Toyota made its announcement at the 2001 Electric Transportation Industry Conference and Exposition, presented by the Electric Vehicle Assn. of the Americas.
Elsewhere at the trade show, DaimlerChrysler unveiled its latest fuel-cell vehicle, a Chrysler minivan that uses a mix of water and sodium boro-hydride--a compound derived from common borax--to produce electricity without tailpipe emissions.
The minivan has a range of 300 miles, the best for a fuel-cell vehicle, but Christian Mohrdieck, the auto maker’s fuel-cell systems manager, said it is years away from production.
Toyota executives agree with others in the auto industry that fuel cells that produce electricity on board a vehicle ultimately will be the standard for zero-emission cars and trucks. But fuel cells and the infrastructure for producing the hydrogen that feeds them are decades away from being a mass-market technology. Until then, executives said, Toyota will continue to produce battery-powered electric vehicles.
The decision to sell or lease the electric RAV4 to individual motorists comes as Toyota and other major auto makers are gearing up to comply with the ZEV Mandate. The rules require ultra-low-emission technology on 10% of cars offered for sale in the state starting with the 2003 model year. At least 2% must be zero-emission vehicles, such as battery-powered electrics.
