Rav 4 EV Forum

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Now into a second calendar year, the Toyota Rav4 EV has been on the market for over 7 months. Sales did slow through the winter months, but now they are picking up again.

The speed at which the Rav4 EV is selling becomes more obvious when reading some of the different posts from forum members on the troubles they had insuring their Rav4 EV.

Some owners reported having troubles mainly because the Rav4 EV wasn’t in the insurance companies systems – when the insurance agent went to search for the rate cards, the computer returned an error saying it didn’t know that vehicle. Many insurance companies are now  set up to insure brand new electric vehicles.

Some others said that insurance wasn’t an issue, but titling the vehicle was – the state’s Department of Licensing wouldn’t give temporary tags, so owners had to wait up to 3 weeks for Toyota finance to send the paperwork.

Back in September 2012, the first month the Rav4 EV was for sale, there were 61 vehicles sold. That number declined through January 2013, and is now on the rise. For March 2013, Toyota posted sales of 133 Toyota Rav4 EV sales!

Although that number is over double the number from the previous month, sales are still relatively slow. Toyota said it would limit production of the Rav4 EV to 2600 units over 3 years – even spread over the 3 years that is 866 vehicles per year. In the first 7 months of sales, there have been 404 Rav4 EVs sold – so 800 could be reached with 5 good months of sales.

Since the Toyota Rav4 EV is currently only for sale in California, some customers from out of state have purchased one and taken it back to their home state. The biggest issue with this is that the Rav4 EV is certified for licensing in California, so out of state buyers need to do an out of state emissions control inspection – not that the electric Rav4 should have any issues passing it!

Toyota is taking the Rav4 EV on a tour of the Golden State. The tour is being called the Charge-to-Charge Tour, complete with a web series hosted by TreeHugger founder Graham Hill.

The Toyota Rav4 EV tour started in Richmond, across the bay from San Francisco, and will work its way south from there. The Rav4 EV will be exhibited at events along the way like the 40th Annual EAA Electric Vehicle Rally in Cupertino.

Toyota outlined its loan and lease options for the Rav4 electric vehicle. The EV has already started sales at some California dealerships, and will offer a 36-month lease optiong for $599 a month with a $3,499 downpayment. Toyota will offer 1.9 percent APR for those looking to buy the Rav4 EV. The Toyota Rav4 EV is priced at $49,800 and Toyota will build 2600 of them through 2014.

Almost 2 years ago Toyota announced it would be re-introducing the Toyota Rav4 EV, and now as we are getting closer and closer to launch, Toyota is releasing more details.

The MSRP for the full equipped Toyota Rav4 electric vehicle is $49,800. Toyota is claiming the vehicle will be available before the end of 2012.

Toyota claims the Rav4 EV has a range of 100 miles, and that you will be able to charge it from empty in about 6 hours on a 240 volt 40 amp charger. The new Rav4 EV has led and halogen headlights and special  emblems on the outside that Toyota says are environmental blue.

With the battery and powertrain in the new Rav4 EV being designed by Tesla, the new Rav4 EV appears to be simply a compliance EV – built to satisfy new vehicle manufacturer regulations in California.

Rumors are the Rav4 EV will be lease only, but the official press release says the car will go on sale in late summer 2012 through select dealers in 4 California markets.

At %49,800, Toyota hopes to sell 2600 Rav4 electric vehicles in the next 3 years.