Rav4EV sighting

[Luke26]

I saw another Rav4EV (2nd gen) for the first time today. It was a Classic Silver Rav4EV seen at the Mtn. View Costco. The driver was very friendly and waved when he saw me in my Rav4. It's nice to see other EV drivers out there. I am just wondering if others have seen Rav4EV's on the road. I did see a vintage Rav4EV at the Mtn. View Costco a month ago. Hopefully the cash incentives will put more on the road.

 

[Dsinned]

Sadly, there are not that many of these cars on the road. I have NEVER seen any others in my travels in and around Santa Clara County, or South SF Bay Area. I was told ~10 were sold by my dealer (Piercey Toyota) so far after I bought mine in November. For sure, if somebody is in the market for a truly GREAT DEAL on a very well engineered ZEV, the RAV4 EV, would be an excellent choice. I am consistently getting well over 100 miles in range. After my last "standard" charge, the next morning my range gauge read "106" miles. Not nearly my best, but I don't get to drive it very often and my wife has no concept of what hypermiling does for more mileage. :mrgreen:

 

[Dsinned]

Luke26, what kind of solar system do you have?

 

[Luke26]

Luke26, what kind of solar system do you have?

Hi Dsinned,

I have a 7.5 kW(DC)/6.3kW(AC) system. There are 40 Sharp panels rated at 187W, and two 3500W PV Powered inverters. It has really helped us over the past 5 years, especially during the "hot" San Jose summers.

 

[VegeLady]

sighted another Blizzard pearl in Portola Valley Sunday

 

[miimura]

I thought it was noteworthy that I saw two today. One Blizzard at the edge of Palo Alto near Foothill & Arastradero and a Shoreline Blue on Shorline Blvd. in Mountain View.

 

[Dsinned]

Luke26, you mean a solar system with that much power has not greatly reduced if not completely eliminated your electric bill?

I just got my meter yesterday and at the end of the day, I had already "given back" 8kWh to PG&E, and I only have a 3.5kW(dc) system, but it is surprisingly efficient even well before the optimum time of the year for maximum power production! :mrgreen:

 

[cwerdna]

Have never seen one in the wild other than waidy's. (Auto shows and test drive events don't count.)

 

[AvLegends]

Have never seen one in Ventura county area at all.

 

[TeCKis300]

I've come across two in the San Diego area.

One coming down the opposite way in my community of Stonebridge in Scripps Ranch. It was silver metallic.

And I've parked next to another one that was blue in the designated EV parked spot where I work. Though I don't see that one there regularly. Nor is mine there regularly as it's really my wife's daily driver.

 

[Aries]

And I've parked next to another one that was blue in the designated EV parked spot where I work. Though I don't see that one there regularly. Nor is mine there regularly as it's really my wife's daily driver.

I've not seen another in San Diego yet.

Where do you work? Mine is blue - maybe it was me!

 

[starlight]

A week and a half ago, I saw a blue RAV4 EV at a charging station I wanted to use at the PG&E in San Ramon-

I had a tough evening, was trying to charge up for a couple of hours, so I could make it to a evening meeting and back home. Ends up since i wasn't able to use that station, I had to find a different station in Dublin to charge up, and returned home without attending the meeting, because I would not have had enough range to get back home after the meeting - Alas, next time I will have to plan ahead better to be able to attend that every other month meeting which is typically on a Friday night.

 

[Luke26]

Luke26, you mean a solar system with that much power has not greatly reduced if not completely eliminated your electric bill?

I just got my meter yesterday and at the end of the day, I had already "given back" 8kWh to PG&E, and I only have a 3.5kW(dc) system, but it is surprisingly efficient even well before the optimum time of the year for maximum power production! :mrgreen:

Hi Dsinned,

Our system is a little older, so it may not be as efficient as the newer ones. One bright days, it puts out about 5-5 1/2 kW at the inverters, and has virtually eliminated our electric bill. I think our heater use in the winter contributes the most to our annual electric bill. :lol: I like this time of the year since we haven't turned our heater on for weeks.

 

[Hoosier]

A week and a half ago, I saw a blue RAV4 EV at a charging station I wanted to use at the PG&E in San Ramon-

I had a tough evening, was trying to charge up for a couple of hours, so I could make it to a evening meeting and back home. Ends up since i wasn't able to use that station, I had to find a different station in Dublin to charge up, and returned home without attending the meeting, because I would not have had enough range to get back home after the meeting - Alas, next time I will have to plan ahead better to be able to attend that every other month meeting which is typically on a Friday night.

Hey Starlight, do you use PlugShare or Recargo apps on your smart phone? Besides telling you where to find charging staions, they also let you know if the stations are available or in use. Blink and ChargePoint have similar apps. Driving electric is all about planning...and having a backup plan if the 1st plan falls through. Even the best planners are going to miss appointment once in a while. Last week I missed a dentist appiontment because a Blink Quick Charger was out of service. That one cost me $50!

 

[starlight]

A week and a half ago, I saw a blue RAV4 EV at a charging station I wanted to use at the PG&E in San Ramon-

I had a tough evening, was trying to charge up for a couple of hours, so I could make it to a evening meeting and back home. Ends up since i wasn't able to use that station, I had to find a different station in Dublin to charge up, and returned home without attending the meeting, because I would not have had enough range to get back home after the meeting - Alas, next time I will have to plan ahead better to be able to attend that every other month meeting which is typically on a Friday night.

Hey Starlight, do you use PlugShare or Recargo apps on your smart phone? Besides telling you where to find charging staions, they also let you know if the stations are available or in use. Blink and ChargePoint have similar apps. Driving electric is all about planning...and having a backup plan if the 1st plan falls through. Even the best planners are going to miss appointment once in a while. Last week I missed a dentist appiontment because a Blink Quick Charger was out of service. That one cost me $50!

Wow, that was expensive . . .
Yes, I do use those apps, once in a while i forget to check and just go straight to the charging station. the one in san ramon was not blink and not charge point, so it did not have anything available to let you know if the charger is being used or not- there are a couple of chargers out there that are not blink and not charge point, that it is hard to know if they are really being used or not . . . so generally i try to go to areas where there are multiple chargers available. . . now a days, I try to have a full charge before I start my day

 

[TeCKis300]

And I've parked next to another one that was blue in the designated EV parked spot where I work. Though I don't see that one there regularly. Nor is mine there regularly as it's really my wife's daily driver.

I've not seen another in San Diego yet.

Where do you work? Mine is blue - maybe it was me!

Hey Aries, I work at a British owned defense company starting with B. Was that you? I think I've only ever seen the car once in the parking structure.

 

[Dsinned]

Our system is a little older, so it may not be as efficient as the newer ones. One bright days, it puts out about 5-5 1/2 kW at the inverters, and has virtually eliminated our electric bill. I think our heater use in the winter contributes the most to our annual electric bill. :lol: I like this time of the year since we haven't turned our heater on for weeks.

Yes indeed, a whole house central heating, ventilation and A/C system really uses a lot of electrons, but the largest single user of electricity by far is a L2 EVSE charging station. If everybody had an EV, the PG&E grid would probably be brought to its knees. A full charge typically uses close to 25kWh and that is only from half depleted. An extended charge from fully depleted would use twice as much.

Btw, I just got my $50 rebate from PG&E for joining the "SmartAC" energy conservation program. PG&E installs a radio controlled "device" on your A/C compressor/condenser after you agree to abide by program requirements, then you get the rebate. The device and installation are free. :mrgreen:

Here's the link to SmartAC is anyone wants more info:

http://www.pge.com/en/myhome/saveenergymoney/energysavingprograms/smartac/index.page

 

[edmc]

Ends up since i wasn't able to use that station, I had to find a different station in Dublin to charge up,...

Hey Starlight,...Blink and ChargePoint have similar apps.

While I've never used it, the ChargePoint app even has reservation support. Not sure how effective the enforcement is... but I believe your pre-planning can include reserving required ChargePoint EVSEs at the appointed time slots.

 

[doug401]

It is odd to me that I have one being delivered, yet I have never seen one in the wild, or on a dealer lot. It does reinforce the power of these forums and all of your comments, and YouTube reviews.

In a week or two I can say "Oh... so that's what a Rav4 Ev looks like in real life" as it's backed off the car carrier in front on my house.

 

[Luke26]

I saw a Blizzard White Rav4EV today in Los Altos on Fremont Ave. What caught my eye were the bright LED DRL's. They were quite visible from a distance.