Toyota Motors Corp. has announced that it plans to build an electric version of the Rav4. The proposed model will only be available in California and in very limited numbers. Toyota currently only plans on building 2600 of them over a 3-year period starting in the late summer of 2012.
The Electric Rav4 will use a motor and battery developed by Tesla Motors. Toyota has a small stake in Tesla having invested 50 million in the fledgling company.
2012 Rav 4 Electric. Image courtesy Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
The electric version of the Rav 4 will have a starting price just under $50,000 (not including government and CA rebates). For the record, a gas powered Rav4 starts at $22,650 and is rated at 22/28 est. mpg.
The expected range of the Rav4 electric is approximately 100 miles per charge and like many electric cars the Rav 4 should have decent acceleration. According to Toyota it will go 0 – 60 in 7 seconds.
In addition to the Rav4 electric SUV, Toyota offers a hybrid version of the Highlander SUV starting at $38,450. The Hybrid Highlander has EPA estimate of 28mpg in town and 28 on the highway.
I was interested in the hybrid RAV 4 when it was first announced. It was my understanding that the car would be available for purchase today, but appears to be bleeding with delays which makes question the vechicles reliability.
Kevin, there were rumors of a Hybrid version of the Rav4 back in 2010, but I can’t find anything recent that mentions it, all the articles seem to be focused on the Rav4 EV. I did find a recent article that stated a Lexus hybrid version of the Rav4 may be in the works, but no time frame was given. I’ll keep my eyes open for more information.