Check out this video that shows an all-electric Toyota RAV4 EV reaching 100,000 miles:
According to the PlugInAmerica.org newsletter that informed me about this video:
“Doug and Lisa’s trusty 2003 RAV reached the notable milestone in March. Back in 2003, their RAV was the last EV sold from Toyota of Hollywood’s lot and possibly the very last retail RAV4 EV delivered. The car has been driven at least 14,000 miles annually since that sunny September day, often hitting the road bright and early for the 80-mile round-trip commute from the couple’s home in Seal Beach to Energy Efficiency Solar / Acro in Pomona. This electric workhorse of an SUV, charged with electricity generated by their own solar array, also earns its keep hauling ladders, miscellaneous equipment and solar panels.
Doug proudly proclaims that the RAV’s record-mileage on a single charge was an impressive 138 miles. ‘I really like driving on energy I make myself,’ he says.
Adds Lisa, who also fancies driving on sunshine: ‘I was initially surprised by how completely the car fit into our lives. It is environmental, it’s economical, and it’s family friendly. Our RAV4 EV is like the energizer bunny. It just keeps going and going and going . . . ‘”
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By far most energy is consumed by acceleration, and all modern EVs (Volt, Leaf) do recapture that energy by regenerative braking. Hybrids do this also. VAWT would consume more energy, not save it.
It would be interested to see a development in Electric Vehicles, carrying a regenaration system that can use a large part of energy spent, such as a modified VAWT system to re use a large part aerodynamic energy wasted.
The expactations of an ev is to be like an gasoil driven car. They have 127kW and perform 0-60 mph in 10 seconds. So the EV has to do also. The RAV didn’t need to do so, because thats an golfcar. What we need to prefer an EV is the differents. Hp or distance, or both.
Doesn’t look like a golfcar to me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_RAV4_EV
I also noticed that the RAV has a top speed of 78mph and a 0-60mph rating of 18 seconds. I believe the LEAF’s 0-60 is under 10 seconds, which tells me that the RAV is forced to conserve energy. The LEAF and the Volt are both using more energy during acceleration, which I believe is to show consumers that the new EVs are not slow like previous EVs. This extra performance could also explain why the distance has not improved over earlier generation EVs.
What kind of maintenance has been required to get to 100K? New battery packs?
If this 2003 Toyota RAV-4 can charge with 110v power and get up to 138 miles per charge, how come a 2011 Nissan LEAF only charges with 220v power and only gets up to 100 miles per charge?
I believe the RAV has a 27kW NiMH battery and the LEAF has 24kW Lithium battery, so for one it has a bigger battery. I do know that the Lithium batteries are temperature sensitive, so that might be an issue, but then again the Lithiums are much lighter. My 2 cents.
I didn’t see any indication that the RAV4 charges on 110v (actually 120V) power. Any EV could charge on 120V power but it would take a really long time, since you can get only 1.8 kW from a full 120V 15 Amp circuit.
We need to do some research here. Sure sounds like we’re not making progress, doesn’t it?
Voltage (110 or 220) is not a unit of power, so one cannot determine the power (Watt) or energy (Watt.hour) delivered to the vehicle’s batteries during charging just by knowing the voltage of the source. As Greg pointed out the total energy storage capacity 27Kwatt.hr (RAV-4) and 24Kwatt.hr (LEAF) can be used to determine the efficiency of both vehicles.
To Kon: good post, but why should not we follow the rules: kilos (k), hours (h), Watts (W)