The latest rumors that concern the Toyota RAV4 EV announced that the Japanese automaker intended to offer it to car sharing programs and fleet customers instead of selling it to the general market. However, these rumors have not been confirmed by the company's executives, who stated that the production version of the RAV4 that ran on batteries would be offered to all its potential customers, also considering that it would turn out to be a great success due to the fact that there was a high demand for that type of vehicle.
They added that Toyota was the only manufacturer bringing two battery electric vehicles to the market in 2012, the RAV4 EV and the Scion iQ EV. While the iQ EV will be marketed to fleet and car sharing programs only, the RAV4 EV will be available to the public.
For those who do not know, the collaboration between Tesla and Toyota resulted in the Toyota RAV4, which was first displayed to the public at the Los Angeles Motor Show in November 2010 and then made its way to the 2011 NAIAS in Detroit. The final production version is expected to incorporate some design changes meant to make it look more like a regular car, especially at the front. Its interior will boast dashboard meters, push-button shifter, multimedia dash displays as well as custom seat trim.
Tesla supplied the electric drive train which provides power to the model and comes in the form of 30 kW lithium metal oxide, thus giving it a range of around 100 miles or 160 km.