Has anybody test driven the Rav4 EV yet?

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palmer_md said:
klaus said:
Curious on people's thoughts on the Rav4 EV....

I know that the reviews around the internet are super positive. Here are some of them:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonfo...test-drive-and-review-electric-and-effective/
http://www.plugincars.com/first-drive-rav4-ev-prototype-embodies-tesla-spirit-107007.html


I'm headed out for a test drive in Sacramento in about an hour. I'll let you know how it goes.

Looking forward to hearing what you think! I plan to test drive one Monday morning here in Sunnyvale.
 
stevestrange said:
Looking forward to hearing what you think! I plan to test drive one Monday morning here in Sunnyvale.

Already posted here...

http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=17


sorry, probably put it in the wrong place, but thought a thread about the tour with all the test drives was in order.
 
I test drove one tonight. Great performance, easy to spin the wheels if you are not careful, especially around a corner. The "sport" mode definitely gives you more torque, but the regular mode is good enough for nearly all occasions I would think -- still more power than the Leaf. It does drive like and SUV -- this is not a sports car by any stretch. I have never owned an SUV, and I was a bit surprised by the bounciness on the local freeway (280 near Mountain View CA). It drives more like a refined truck than a car, IMHO, on the freeway. On city roads, it has a decent amount of feedback to the steering wheel for an SUV. Nice smooth driving. The seats are decent, but have the typical problem of the cushion being too short for people with long thighs. The interior is definitely superior to that of our Leaf, and the entertainment system seems a bit more advanced. Very roomy, front and back and cargo.

The "B" mode gives you stronger regen than "D", but it's not nearly as strong as in the Tesla Model S or the Honda Fit EV. I think that's too bad, since you could avoid touching the brake at all in most cases. Basically Toyota doesn't want people to think this is that much different than a gas car, even though they might actually sell more of them if they did. I noticed that in B mode, the regen takes about 400ms to kick in after letting off the accelerator -- a bit annoying.

I parked it and got out before turning it off, and I was surprised at how much noise was coming from under the hood! Must have been the fans cooling the motor and battery. Not used to that with the Leaf. It's a bit noisy when charging -- some odd clicking sound coming from under the car. I assume it was normal, but again, never noticed anything like that with the Leaf. Charged fine with our Blink charger at 30A.

We're definitely thinking about it. I'm also tempted by the Fit EV, even given the extremely different set of tradeoffs.

I'll add more as I think of things.
 
Test drove one yesterday. Dealer has several in stock in silver and white; none in blue. The new RAV4 EV is VERY IMPRESSIVE as far as acceleration in Sport Mode. Instrument panel is full of eye candy. Roominess front and back is a plus. Salesman said it has run flat tires . . . not sure that is true, but couldn't find an air compressor in the rear storage compartment. All side and rear windows behind the front seats are nicely tinted. Drives fairly smooth, and quietly, but not as good as a Chevy VOLT.

Toyota just renewed its promotional low interest financing and lease option. Does anyone know if "double dipping" is allowed regarding the IRS Federal $7500 tax credit, i.e. can you apply for the tax credit after buying TWO EVs from different maufacturers in the same year? I believe the CA rebate allows this, but not sure about the federal tax credit. It's close to the end of the year, so don't mind waiting, but if 0% financing hits the dealers, like is currently available on the standard RAV4, RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!

The main issue for me is the MSRP even with the tax credit and CA rebate. Has anybody found a dealer willing to negotiate the price?

I currently own a 2012 Chevy VOLT and have an SPX EVSE L2 Power Express charger. It supports 5.76KW charging output (240V, 24A, single phase AC). I'm not certain, but Hhopefully it will be compatible with the RAV4 EV and that saves me about $2k in "extras" for a Toyota recommended Levitan charger. Anybody know if the SPX PE is compatible?
 
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