So, why is Toyota offering an incentive for the public to buy their 'compliance car' e-SUV? Perhaps they did not do as good a job as they touted/thought.
While it is a nice vehicle (it is just as nice as their ice version), they made mistakes that tell the consumer, "I am not serious about selling EVs". First, their web pages still says concept: http://www.toyota.com/concept-vehicles/rav4ev.html http://www.toyota.com/upcoming-vehicles/rav4ev/ If they had cared, those would have been fixed before the vehicle's launch. They also would not have released to the media right after that launch that Toyota was cutting off any further EV development. Nothing kills consumer confidence like a public statement of 'I am getting out of the EV business'. And the retrofitting of the vehicle itself has 'don't buy me' issues: - No level-3 charging port for the SUV's double sized 41.8kWh (100 mile range) pack. - A non-standard 50A EVSE to be installed at the buyer's home. - There were EVSE compatibility issues (why didn't Toyota check this before its release?) http://www.plugincars.com/report-toyota-rav4-ev-not-compatible-some-level-2-charging-stations-125166.html - There is no Eco/long-range driving mode. The RAV4 EV only has normal and sport driving modes. All EVs need an Eco/long-range driving mode to give the consumer the confidence they are going to get the best range possible. I hope someone brings these points to the attention of CARB. Toyota's compliance car effort could have been a winner (a nice family EV) with just a little more effort. Its $50k price tag does not compete with Tesla-S if Toyota only makes a half-baked/ass effort. {brucedp.150m.com} -- http://www.fastmail.fm - Accessible with your email software or over the web _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
