One less RAV4 EV on the road, I think...

My RAV4 got hit this weekend. The other guy ran a red light. No major injuries, thankfully, everyone walked away.

I suspect it is totaled, but I'll find out in a few days from the insurance company. Front wheel got pushed in, door is toast, the frame is probably damaged. The car still powers up, though, so the electronics and battery are alive. Looks like fire damage in the pic, but it's just weird lighting.

Maybe not. I had a Prius banged up much worse than that and the insurance company insisted on repairing it. It was an offset head-on collision @ 25mph, and then the car ran dead on into a light pole to boot. I was hopping mad at the time that they insisted on repairing it, but I still own the car and it has 165k miles on it, so you never know.

For a while, my son thought he was never going to get to drive again...

That pic makes me cry. Glad to hear all the people are fine.
We only get a few of these cars... hate to lose any of them.

I am extremely glad no one was injured - a small blessing -

But I keep thinking that if it were possible to buy a car like that, and use the batteries and drive train to rig up an electric SR5 pickup - now THAT would be nice -

davewill said:

Maybe not. I had a Prius banged up much worse than that and the insurance company insisted on repairing it. It was an offset head-on collision @ 25mph, and then the car ran dead on into a light pole to boot. I was hopping mad at the time that they insisted on repairing it, but I still own the car and it has 165k miles on it, so you never know.

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If it is just the body, then there may be hope. RAV4 doors and fenders are plentiful. If the drivetrain is damaged at all, then there may be issues with sourcing parts. We'll see what happens.

I'm wondering how insurance companies will evaluate the cars. With all the heavy subsidies from Toyota and the goverment, they might be getting market values for used cars that are higher than what we end up paying for new ones. At least the bluebook value is.

Keep us posted, I hope it all works out well for you!

Looks like it will probably get fixed. The appraiser suspects the repairs will be less than replacement value. He was very confident that the body work would be straightforward, but wasn't sure about the EV drivetrain. The car is at a dealer for an estimate, probably today.

Make sure to insist they don't bake your battery along with the paint.

fooljoe said:

Make sure to insist they don't bake your battery along with the paint.

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Excellent point.

Insisting the battery be removed beforehand doesn't mean they would actually remove it.

How would one make sure that they comply?

geo said:

fooljoe said:

Make sure to insist they don't bake your battery along with the paint.

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Excellent point.

Insisting the battery be removed beforehand doesn't mean they would actually remove it.

How would one make sure that they comply?

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Take it to the dealer, have the battery removed, tow it back to the paint shop, have them call you when it's done.

TonyWilliams said:

geo said:

fooljoe said:

Make sure to insist they don't bake your battery along with the paint.

Click to expand...

Take it to the dealer, have the battery removed, tow it back to the paint shop, have them call you when it's done.

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It is being repaired by a Toyota dealer who has a body shop and certification to repair EVs.

I still worry, though...

You can get a temperature data logger for less than $100.

Here is one.
http://www.microdaq.com/logtag/trix-8.php?gclid=CPKLrrPb_L0CFZNqfgodLgwAtQ

Looks like that battery is being taken out by Keyes Toyota and stored there while the body work is being done.

Someone ran a stop sign and hit my wife's RAV4. Im out of state (Colorado) so I have no battery removal option. I did talk to my buddy who owns a body shop and he said they dont have to bake the car, they could just paint at the end of the day and leave it overnight. He also said they could bake the car at a lower temperature if I wanted. Normally they would just bake at 160 degrees for 20 minutes, I cant imagine that would cook the batteries, but better to err on the side of caution.

Now any issues that happen down the road, will always make me wonder if the accident caused them... Im sure the car will never be the same. Im pretty pissed about the whole situation right now, but what really matters is that my wife is OK.

Spiffster said:

Someone ran a stop sign and hit my wife's RAV4. Im out of state (Colorado) so I have no battery removal option. I did talk to my buddy who owns a body shop and he said they dont have to bake the car, they could just paint at the end of the day and leave it overnight. He also said they could bake the car at a lower temperature if I wanted. Normally they would just bake at 160 degrees for 20 minutes, I cant imagine that would cook the batteries, but better to err on the side of caution.

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If it's only 20 minutes, that won't heat the cells that much. But, I would just leave the car "ON" during the bake. The battery cooling will work the entire time!!!

Consider discharging the battery to half before the car is baked. The battery is more tolerant of temperature when it isn't fully charged.

Took them a month to finally figure it out, but I just got word that the car is totaled. Maybe you can find a spare battery in a salvage yard soon.

Now the question turns to the replacement. Right now the obvious choice is another RAV4 EV, which is still the best EV on the market short of Tesla. Maybe a used one, since they're starting to pop up.

That said, I just caught myself pricing Teslas on their website... financially, it's a stretch, but...

Might be interesting to find out what the wholesale value will be for this Rav4EV. Do you know what kicked the cost over the current value of the car? Was the frame damaged? The picture looks like a fairly easy fix. Perhaps it is because there are not a lot of folks who have experience working with electric vehicles. I have seen cars come together from three or more wrecks. While the finished product was desired (Sports Car) it still was a lot of work. The thing that makes the Rav4EV desirable is its SUV body. The Tesla S is nice but not a carry all. The new car is yet to be sold. I agree the Rav4EV is unique for many reasons.

The damage extended in behind the dashboard. It needed a new dash, but when they discovered a bent dash panel, it put it over the top.

Buy the wrecked car from the insurance company and keep the battery and the electronics as cheap spares for the new one you buy.