Currently reading: Detroit motor show 2012: Rav4/IQ EV for 2012
All-electric versions of the Toyota iQ and the Toyota Rav4 will go into production this year

All-electric versions of the Toyota iQ and the Toyota Rav4 will go into production this year, Toyota has confirmed at the Detroit motor show.

Rather than being regular production vehicles, the pair will enter small-scale production and will be used to "gauge consumer preferences, usage patterns and daily requirements", according to Toyota US chief Jim Lentz.

The iQ will be badged Scion iQ EV and will have an all-electric range of no more than 50miles. It will be marketed at inner city car clubs, where it will only be required to cover small distances.

The Rav4 EV, which is on display at Detroit today, features a Tesla-developed power train and is good for more than 100 miles, Lentz said. It will also be the only manufacturer-backed SUV in the market.

The tests are likely to last around three years, at which point Toyota hopes the technology would have evolved enough to enter mass market production.

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Mark Tisshaw

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Title: Editor

Mark is a journalist with more than a decade of top-level experience in the automotive industry. He first joined Autocar in 2009, having previously worked in local newspapers. He has held several roles at Autocar, including news editor, deputy editor, digital editor and his current position of editor, one he has held since 2017.

From this position he oversees all of Autocar’s content across the print magazine, autocar.co.uk website, social media, video, and podcast channels, as well as our recent launch, Autocar Business. Mark regularly interviews the very top global executives in the automotive industry, telling their stories and holding them to account, meeting them at shows and events around the world.

Mark is a Car of the Year juror, a prestigious annual award that Autocar is one of the main sponsors of. He has made media appearances on the likes of the BBC, and contributed to titles including What Car?Move Electric and Pistonheads, and has written a column for The Sun.

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Uncle Mellow 10 January 2012

Re: Detroit: Rav4/IQ EV for 2012

All electric is hardly viable, these should be hybrids.I was reading in the paper that wind farms increase CO2 emissions, so anyone who wants to be green should buy an electric car and charge it from their own solar panels ( I know of one individual who allegedly does this )