Toyota & Tesla redevelop the RAV4 as an all-electric SUV

Call it the curse of the soccer mom; Americans like SUVs that can carry a lot of stuff. They’re great for long family trips or just to pick up a ton of home improvement supplies. That love of space hasn’t translated over into the electric car market until now. Toyota and Tesla are working on an all-electric model of the popular RAV4 SUV that may hit the market in 2012.

Toyota had previously sold about 1,500 electric RAV4s to businesses, municipalities, and the public between 1997 and 2003. That version of the SUV utilized a 27.4-kilowatt-hour nickel-metal hydride battery that is still providing a range of 120 miles for some owners. The car sold for $42,000 which is nearly twice as much as the gas powered RAV4.

The new RAV4 will lean heavily on Tesla’s electric powertrain and Toyota’s styling. Paul Scott, a member of Plug In America and a RAV4 EV owner, hopes that the interior of the new model will get a serious upgrade. He said, "Toyota used a bare-bones platform with precious little in modern conveniences such as cruise control or GPS. The instrumentation is also primitive by today's standards and could be much more informative… giving us information on the state of the charge and voltages."

Tesla is on track to deliver a number of prototypes to Toyota by the end of the year for testing. One RAV4 EV has already been delivered to the Japanese carmaker and is undergoing testing. Some have indicated that the two companies are shooting for a 150 mile range for the vehicle. 

The announcement of the new RAV4 EV comes as a bit of a surprise since Toyota and Tesla have only outlined their partnership in general terms. For instance, the only detail that was leaked from their July 8th memorandum of understanding was that they would work together on two EV prototypes. With the announcement of the RAV4 EV, many are speculating that the duo will create an electric version of the higher end Lexus RX SUV next.