Re: (ET) New Electrics

[Dave & Debbie Barden <daveb seanet com>]

The RAV4 EV is an excellent vehicle; mine already has 40,000 miles
in just 18 months---with NO maintenance other than tire puncture fixes.
  
and might that not be the reason the car manufacturers want EVs to go away?
there's little or no follow-on sales of parts and service.

dave 
seattle


> The wait list for the Toyota RAV4 EV was several months for those of us
> lucky enough to buy one. Toyota started the program basically in May
> and basically closed it in November. They had around 300 vehicles and
> originally planned to market them over a 2 year period, but as the supply
> only lasted 6 months. Afterward, the story was re-spun to fit a certain
> message, but it remains a fact that demand far exceeded Toyota's
> expectations.
> 
> A few other points... during the 6 months of consumer RAV4 availability,
> Toyota refused to offer it to any fleets, causing frustration to their 
> earlier
> large customers (including Southern California Edison, which by it self
> consumed around 500 RAV4 EVs during the early/test/"fleet trial" years).
> 
> Most of the retail sales happened through just 2 dealers that each had
> exactly 1 EV sales person who happened to be motivated. Interesting.
> In both of those dealers, the Prius and RAVEV sales rates were at a
> comparable volume (Prius was maybe 10% and 40% higher). Note that
> the RAV4 EV cost more than TWICE as much as the Prius, not to
> mention the required garage installation of an inductive home charger at
> a cost of typically $1,000.
> 
> Were the RAV4EV offered nationwide, instead of at a handful of dealers,
> and were the marketing open to all paying customers, it easily would
> have sold in the thousands during the first year. An annual demand in
> the tens of thousands could have been reached without much difficulty.
> 
> I'm disappointed to see that many members of this list have taken the
> anti-EV public relations drivel.
> 
> The RAV4 EV is an excellent vehicle; mine already has 40,000 miles
> in just 18 months---with NO maintenance other than tire puncture fixes.
> 
> Not everyone appreciates the features of electric power, but many
> people do, and there is a market. Yes, low volume production is costly
> expensive, and yes components in a good EV might be expensive.
> 
> But that's only part of the story. Toyota and some of the other car
> companies dropped their EV programs not for technical limitations,
> economics, or lack of market, but because for some reason they
> want the electric products to go away.
> 
> 
> /wk
> 
> At 01:01 AM 2/21/04 -0500, David Roden (Akron OH USA) wrote:
> >On 20 Feb 2004 at 20:10, Dave Fancher wrote:
> >
> > > When they build EV's that looked and
> > > performed like modern cars they started to succeed i.e. -- the six
> > > month plus wait list for a Toyota. Honda is taking the same approach.
> >
> >But - forgive me for popping this balloon in your bundle - these are 
> >not 
> >EVs.
> >They are gasoline-powered cars that happen to use electricity for some 
> >part of
> >the drive system - for energy recovery during braking and/or as an 
> >electric
> >supercharger.
> >
> >As their ads point out, you never (have to) plug them in.  All the 
> >energy
> >comes from gasoline.  They are not EVs.  They are not even really 
> >hybrids,
> >though they call themselves that.
> >
> >The reason they've succeeded is just as you say: they "perform like 
> >modern
> >cars."  At the user level, they work almost exactly like the gas cars 
> >that
> >consumers are familiar with, including (and particularly) the fuel they 
> >use.
> >Even better, they use less of that fuel.  For Jane Doe, what's not to 
> >like?
> >
> >
> >David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA
> >1991 Solectria Force 144vac
> >1991 Ford Escort Green/EV 128vdc
> >1970 GE Elec-trak E15 36vdc
> >1974 Avco New Idea 36vdc
> >= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> >Cutting the space budget really restores my faith in humanity.  It
> >eliminates dreams, goals, and ideals and lets us get straight to the
> >business of hate, debauchery, and self-annihilation.
> >
> >                                -- Johnny Hart
> >= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> >
> >
> >
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