How many kwh per hour?

[foxwiz]

To get the federal tax credit of $7,500, I need to know how many kilowatt per hour capacity the battery is in the RAV4. Anyone know that number?

 

[Dsinned]

The answer depends . . . the most often expressed answer is 41.8kWh of "usable" capacity, and this is the answer you probably should go with. However, the actual maximum capacity, by Tesla's design, is closer to 50kWh, but about 20% of that is "unusable"; hence 41.8kWh is the rating that has been published. However, in terms of Toyota's recommended recharge capacity, after a so-called NORMAL charge, (entirely voluntary), 35kWh is the usable capacity. Some people here think it is actually only 33.44kWh, or 80% of 41.8kWH, after a normal charge.

However, the owner is free to perform the optional "extended" charge, which will result in the full, 41.8kWh of usable battery capacity. This is for the occasional situations where extra (extended) range is desired to drive over 100 miles before the next recharge.

The as recommended lower amount usable capacity is Toyota's way of extending the life of the Li-ion cells (~4500) in the pack by artificially limiting their maximum "SoC" (State of Charge) to a lower level whenever you recharge the battery. In the real world, if the battery is only depleted (and then equally recharged back by same amount) it will have a much longer usable life span.

 

[cwerdna]

^^^
The above has the answer but it shouldn't matter to the OP.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/taxevb.shtml lists $7500 Federal tax credit. Other BEVs w/FAR less capacity (usable and total) also receive the same amount of tax credit. For example, the Leaf only has ~20.x kwh usable out of a ~24 kwh (IIRC) battery.

 

[fooljoe]

To get the federal tax credit of $7,500, I need to know how many kilowatt per hour capacity the battery is in the RAV4. Anyone know that number?

Why are you doing your taxes in October? :? Just use 41.8 or round to 42 if the IRS form doesn't like decimals. And it's "kilowatt hours" without the "per". Kilowatts are a unit of power, i.e. a rate (a Watt is 1 Joule per second.) For example, driving at 60 MPH will use about 20 kilowatts, and doing that for 2 hours would then use 40 (20 * 2) kilowatt hours.

 

[Kohler Controller]

It has a 50kWh pack.

 

[fooljoe]

It has a 50kWh pack.

The only "official" capacity on Toyota.com's specifications for the Rav4-EV lists 41.8kwh, so even though we know that's actually the usable capacity and not the nominal capacity, I would go with that number.

 

[Kohler Controller]

It has a 50kWh pack.

The only "official" capacity on Toyota.com's specifications for the Rav4-EV lists 41.8kwh, so even though we know that's actually the usable capacity and not the nominal capacity, I would go with that number.

That is fine. It really doesn't matter as you get full credit for anything over 16kWh.

"For vehicles acquired after December 31, 2009, the credit is equal to $2,500 plus, for a vehicle which draws propulsion energy from a battery with at least 5 kilowatt hours of capacity, $417, plus an additional $417 for each kilowatt hour of battery capacity in excess of 5 kilowatt hours. The total amount of the credit allowed for a vehicle is limited to $7,500."
from http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Plug-In-Electric-Vehicle-Credit-(IRC-30-and-IRC-30D)

 

[fooljoe]

That is fine. It really doesn't matter as you get full credit for anything over 16kWh.

Exactly - since you're way over the 16kwh limit to get the full credit no matter what you put, I wouldn't risk putting anything over what Toyota officially says because of the remote possibility of someone at the IRS making a stink about it.