Los Angeles Auto Show-Toyota to bring a RAV4 electric vehicle to the market

Not a long time ago we’ve been presenting the partnership between Tesla and Toyota to bring a RAV4 electric vehicle to the market. Tesla-Toyota RAV4 promises more than Nissan’s Leaf – a true, clean 100 miles of pure electric driving no matter what the weather’s like or the temperature outside. s Toyota showcased a prototype of its highly anticipated new RAV4 EV at the Los Angeles Auto Show this week, on the other side of the ocean, executives made a series of intriguing new announcements about the company's electric-drive vehicles.
The company currently sells eight hybrids in the United States-split between the Toyota and Lexus nameplates-and in September repeated its commitment to releasing six new models by 2012.

- Pricing for the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid will be in the 3 million yen ($36,000) range when that car is released in Japan in 2012. - Toyota still plans to release a fuel cell hybrid in Japan sometime around 2015.

Fourteen years after it launched its very first RAV4 crossover at the Los Angeles Auto Show, Toyota returned to Los Angeles to launch an all-electric version of its latest RAV4.

Japan’s largest automaker has worked with Silicon Valley electric-car maker Tesla since the May announcement that Toyota would buy a stake in Tesla and the companies would develop electric cars together.

The partnership will build 35 “Phase Zero” test versions of the latest RAV4 EV next year, with production launch expected in 2012.

Few technical details were released, and Toyota USA president and CEO Jim Lentz stressed that many details remained to be resolved. Styling changes to the all-white RAV4 EV unveiled at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show include a new grille front bumper, fog lamps and headlights up front. No cargo area was lost in the conversion; with the rear seats folded down, the RAV4 EV offers 73 cubic feet of storage, just as the current gasoline model does.

Performance Toyota is excited about the collaboration of Toyota and Tesla to create the all-new electric Toyota RAV4-EV, expected to hit Nebraska showrooms in 2012.

The all-electric Toyota RAV4-EV will combine the Toyota RAV4 model with a Tesla electric powertrain to give drivers maximum performance and versatility. A prototype of the Toyota RAV4-EV has already been created by Tesla and is currently being tested by Toyota. A first all-electric Toyota RAV4 was developed in 1997 and sold until 2003. The new Toyota RAV4-EV is expected to perform at higher speeds and have an even greater range.

Toyota and Tesla have not set a starting cost for the Toyota RAV4-EV, but it is expected to be lower than other all-electric vehicles from Tesla. Tesla hopes to drive down the cost of electric vehicles so they are within reach of mainstream buyers.