Toyota and Tesla Test EV Prototypes, But the RAV4 Makes the Most Sense

Toyota and Tesla aren't just talking about collaborating -- they're moving ahead rapidly to turn the lofty plans they announced last spring into plug-in-friendly nuts, bolts and wheels on the ground. According to a Bloomberg BusinessWeek report, Tesla is close to delivering test versions of the RAV4 and Lexus RX crossovers. The RAV4 has EV experience, and it makes the most sense for a possible production version -- especially if the company wants to reach its reported goal of 150 miles of range and a $40,000 sticker price.

A joint Toyota-Tesla car could be produced at Tesla's recently acquired NUMMI plant in California, which will have plenty of space. Until now, Toyota has been pretty quiet about EV plans, showing only a prototype battery-powered city car. But now, possibly invigorated by the partnership with Tesla, it seems to be gearing up for full engagement.

Both companies declined to comment on specific models, but Tesla spokeswoman Khobi Brooklyn confirmed that the company had developed at least one test-ready electric vehicle based on a Toyota platform, with 2011 as the intended date for a public unveiling. Toyota said it is still in discussions with Tesla, but that it has a "wide open" vision of their working together.

I prefer the RAV4 because it's a modest platform. To keep cost and weight down, EVs shouldn't be loaded down with luxury extras. Most coming on the market are, if not exactly bare bones, at least tending toward the spartan. The interesting thing is that this is counter to Tesla's own philosophy. The company's only car at the moment is the $109,000 Roadster, which hides its high battery costs in ultra performance and exclusivity. Its coming Model S will also be a luxury car and loaded with features. This may be why the collaboration is hedging its bets with plug-in versions of both the cheap-and-cheerful RAV4 and the option-laden (and also heavy) RX. The latter could have a relatively high sticker price that people might be willing to pay.

I would still say the RAV4 makes the better base for a plug-in car, not the least because Toyota already proved it works. The first-gen RAV4 EV was deployed in 1997 and offered until 2003. Most ended up in utility fleets, but more than 300 were leased to the public in the last year of production. And unlike GM and its ill-fated EV1, the cars were never crushed. Actors Ed Begley and Tom Hanks still have theirs and rave about the RAVs.

Here's Hanks, in a letter to the New Yorker, correcting the blasphemy that he had a GM EV1:

It had four doors, a rear hatch, room for my family, including a dog in the back, power windows, A/C, a great sound system, and the fastest, most effective windshield defroster known to mankind. When the car companies collectively, and, to some, diabolically, decided to take these cars back, the electric vehicles disappeared. But not mine. I have the pink slip. I own that car, and it is still driven every day, albeit by one of my crack staff of employees. My electric car recently crossed fifty thousand miles on the odometer with its original battery but without so much as a splash of gasoline.

Every pound matters when you're trying to create EV range. Tesla has a record of getting great performance from its batteries, but 150 miles is a challenge in a non-aerodynamic SUV. The RAV4 (in its gas version) weighs 3,300 pounds, which is light only in comparison to other SUVs. The 2010 RX 350 is a whopper at 4,340 pounds. Tesla may have found a way to lighten these guys up for electric versions, but how far could they get with that?

Bloomberg said, and Toyota won't confirm, that the automaker plans to test an electric Corolla, though not with Tesla batteries (they're too heavy). But Toyota has other battery partners, and that one could be a keeper too.

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• Tesla and Toyota: A Likely Win-Win