Toyota to Debut RAV4 EV Next Week

Toyota Motor Corp. says it will publicly debut its second-generation electric RAV4 small crossover next week during the International Electric Vehicle Symposium in Los Angeles. The vehicle is expected to go on sale later this year.

The EV's powertrain was developed by Toyota and Tesla Motors Inc., in which Toyota owns a 2.9% stake. Toyota showed a prototype of the crossover at the 2010 Los Angeles auto show. Last August the partners announced a $100 million contract under which Tesla will supply Toyota with lithium-ion batteries, electric motors, electronic controllers and transmissions for the model.

Neither company has revealed details about the RAV4 EV's powertrain, performance, price or sales goals. But Toyota told Bloomberg News last year that its EV would use a motor similar to the inductive motor Tesla developed for its own Roadster electric sports car.

Toyota has been developing its own version of the motor, which does not require the use of costly rare earth materials. The company said last year the new motor will be lighter, smaller and less expensive than the ones currently used in its hybrids, including the Toyota Prius.

The RAV4 EV will be produced at Toyota's assembly plant in Woodstock, Ont. Earlier reports speculated that the crossover would be assembled in Tesla's own plant, a former Toyota facility in Fremont, Calif., which was once home to Toyota's now-ended United Motor Manufacturing Inc. venture with General Motors Co.

Toyota sold about 1,500 of its first-generation RAV4 electric in California between 1996 and 2003. That model, which had a range of about 100 miles per charge, was powered by a cheaper but less powerful nickel-metal-hydride battery.