All-electric Toyota RAV4 compact SUV to be shown in Nov

Toyota Motor Corp. plans to sell about 20,000 plug-in Prius hybrids in the U.S. and will show a battery-powered sport-utility vehicle at the Los Angeles auto show in November to meet demand for autos powered by electricity.

A rechargeable Prius should be available by June 2012, and the all-electric RAV4 compact SUV will be marketed in the U.S. the same year, Toyota Executive Vice President Takeshi Uchiyamada told reporters yesterday in Detroit. The RAV4 is being developed with Palo Alto, California-based affiliate Tesla Motors Inc., which will supply the batteries and motor, he said.

Carmakers including Toyota, the world’s largest, are under pressure from governments, environmental groups and consumers to sell models that consume little or no petroleum and emit fewer gases linked to global warming. The project with Tesla is separate from a previously announced, two-passenger electric car the Toyota City, Japan-based company plans to sell by 2012.

“The RAV4 will be the only electric compact SUV in the market,” said Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends for Santa Monica, California-based Truecar.com. “The biggest issue will be pricing. If they can keep the vehicle priced $4,000 from its gasoline counterpart, even after tax credits, the vehicle will sell.”

Introducing electric vehicles developed by both Tesla and Toyota by 2012 will ensure that Toyota has models to meet new U.S. requirements and offer customers a variety of options, Uchiyamada said.

Toyota can be “slow” to innovate, and the partnership with Tesla allows the Japanese company to work “in a much quicker way,” he said.

Plug-In Prius

Toyota, the world’s largest seller of hybrid-electric cars, led by the Prius, also plans to add six hybrid models by the end of 2012, Uchiyamada said.

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