Toyota announces Portland-Placement Program for Off-Lease RAV4 Electric Vehicles

Toyota RAV4 Battery Pack

PORTLAND, OR. : September 24, 2008- Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., announced today at its Sustainable Mobility Seminar media reception that it will place four off-lease RAV4-EV battery-electric vehicles (BEV) in a new program in Portland, Oregon designed to assist in the development of clustered electric-charging infrastructure for the arrival of future zero- and low-emission vehicles.


The vehicles will be used as station cars for shuttling people from mass-transit terminals to downtown and suburban locations. The program is being developed by Portland State University (PSU), in association with the University of California, Irvine's (UCI) ZEV-NET (Zero Emission Vehicle-Network Enabled Transport) program. In late July, Portland General Electric (PGE) went on-line with its first free-standing public electric-recharging station, marking the event by recharging a Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid. On September 22, PGE announced the installation of five additional plug-in charging stations -- enough to charge 12 vehicles -- in the Portland and Salem area, with more on the way.

"We are excited about the opportunity to participate in the ZEV-NET program and to team with Toyota and U.C. Irvine," said George Beard with PSU's Mark O. Hatfield School of Government. "It is obvious that the next
several years will bring us a range and growing number of low-emission and no-emission vehicle options, particularly electric and hybrid vehicles. Our region's position in renewable energy and its leadership reputation in urban sustainability make this partnership a natural for all involved," said Beard.

The Portland initiative will be patterned after the highly successful UCI ZEV-NET shared-use, station-car program in Southern California. "ZEV-NET, in association with Toyota, started in 1999 with the deployment of prototype Toyota e-com city electric vehicles, and is today the nation's longest-running station car program," said Dr. Scott Samuelsen, Director of UCI's National Fuel Cell Research Center and Advanced Power and Energy Program. "ZEV-NET provides a unique research platform to explore both a major sustainable mobility alternative with a smart high-tech management system, and the role of distributed generation as the fueling backbone."

Last month Toyota Motor Corporation President Katsuaki Watanabe announced that Toyota plans to launch an all-new BEV commuter car in the early 2010s. Watanabe also announced that Toyota will begin a limited-volume placement program for a new lithium-battery powered PHV that will be leased to fleet customers in late 2009 in Japan, Europe and North America.

"Both vehicles will require the development of electric charging stations to meet customer expectations for practicality," said Bill Reinert, national manager, Advanced Technology Group. "By clustering infrastructure in urban environments, BEV and PHV owners will not be tethered to their home-charging systems, thus extending their electric range capabilities."

"I'm pleased that Toyota has selected Oregon to launch this new initiative in partnership with Portland State University," said Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski. "It is partnerships like this one that help advance my vision and efforts to make Oregon a national leader in bringing this next generation of
vehicles to market. I look forward to building on this collaboration as we work to expand access to alternative fuelled vehicles across the state."

The vehicles being placed in the program are 2002 and 2003 model-year off-lease vehicles that have been fully refurbished. From 1998 to 2003, 1,485 RAV4-EVs were leased or sold to fleet customers and private individuals in California as part of the state's Zero-Emission Mandate program. The vehicles are powered by nickel-metal hydride batteries rated at 288 volts with a range of about 80 miles between charges.

[Source : TOYOTA - North America]