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Tesla, Toyota plot electric RAV4 for 2012

By | July 16, 2010, 4:44 AM PDT

Tesla and Toyota said Friday that the two companies inked a deal to start development of the RAV4, a small SUV, for launch in 2012.

In May, Tesla and Toyota announced the plans to cooperate on electric vehicles. Now Tesla and Toyota are making those plans official.

Specifically, Toyota and Tesla will prototype the RAV4 with a Tesla electric powertrain. A fleet of prototypes will be delivered to Toyota for testing this year, said Tesla.

Toyota and Tesla have become increasingly chummy. Toyota is an investor in Tesla and the two companies are collaborating on electric vehicle parts, production and engineering. Telsa also bought a Toyota factory in Palo Alto to ramp production of its Model S electric sedan.

It has been a busy month for Tesla as the company launched an IPO, redesigned its Web site and hired George Blankenship, an Apple and Gap veteran, to build out the company’s retail strategy.

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Larry Dignan

About Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan is editor-in-chief of SmartPlanet.

Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan

Editor-in-Chief

Larry Dignan is editor-in-chief of SmartPlanet and ZDNet. He is also editorial director of TechRepublic. Previously, he was an editor at eWeek, Baseline and CNET News. He has written for WallStreetWeek.com, Inter@ctive Week, New York Times and Financial Planning. He holds degrees from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the University of Delaware. He is based in New York but resides in Pennsylvania.

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Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan
Larry Dignan does not hold any investments in the companies he covers.
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RE: Tesla, Toyota plot electric RAV4 for 2012
Would this be a TESLOYTA.. I see this a beginning of the end of Tesla...
Posted by waderx
16th Jul 2010
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RE: Tesla, Toyota plot electric RAV4 for 2012
We use our big vehicle for road trips. An all electric RAV4 would not
work for us.
Posted by johnkes
16th Jul 2010
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RE: Tesla, Toyota plot electric RAV4 for 2012
Tesla understnad one thing that other electric car manufacturers have seemed to miss.

Don't make it look like a peice of plastic junk. They have actually been intelligent enough to make thier electric cars look like... *gasp* real CARS. And yes, looks are important to most people making a vehicle purchase.

Thumbs up to Tesla and Toyota for working together on this project.
Posted by keitha73
16th Jul 2010
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RE: Tesla, Toyota plot electric RAV4 for 2012
I drive my big car on long tips so 800 miles or more per day is the norm for my wife and me. We generally take a break about four hour into the trip for lunch and refuel. An electric vehicle would have to be as comfortable as out 300C, have at least a 400 mile range and be fully recharged in less than a half an hour.
Posted by doc4wos2
17th Jul 2010
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RE: Tesla, Toyota plot electric RAV4 for 2012
Hopefully the car's release in 2012 will be timed to correspond with Obama's loss in the Presidential election that year. Would provide two things worth celebrating!
Posted by RCBeltz
22nd Jul 2010
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RE: Tesla, Toyota plot electric RAV4 for 2012
An SUV is not an SUV unless it can operate safely on a slippery, surface. If this vehicle is equipped with just one drive motor and no traction control scheme, it will be very disappointing. The vehicle needs a computer controlled traction system that can selectively power all four wheels, individually, which would require a motor for each wheel. An experimental electric vehicle has been successfully built, in Japan, that uses this scheme. This experimental vehicle has, as I remember, six wheels that are individually computer controlled. If the new vehicle has a traction control system, we will have two things to celebrate in 2012: the release of this great new vehicle, and the resounding defeat of whichever radical right wing bigot the GOP chooses to run against President Obama
Posted by EMCam
5th Sep 2010
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