You can’t get away from the emotional impact the Toyota RAV4-EV has had on its users, to the point Toyota is finally using it as a way to get in on the action in Portland and their charging stations. This will create a lot of publicity for the company.
The gist, hot after the unveiling of the GM Volt and Dodge’s new EV, Toyota has engaged itself in a series of environmental announcements at its “Sustainable MobilitySeminar” in Portland, Oregon. It will give 4 RAV4 electric vehicles, EV into operation for the city and the state of Oregon. This will help continue the work already started to build the electric-charging infrastructure the state begun a while back.
Toyota Sustainable Mobility Seminar. If you are in Portland, the seminar will be about third party experts and company executives presentations who will discuss topics such as, peak liquid oil; the nexus of water land use and energy; intelligent transportation systems; the CAFE and regulatory environment; urban design and green building initiatives.
How will the RAV4-EV be used? Portland State University will use the 4 RAV4-EVs as shuttles for mass-transit to downtown and suburban spots. Portland General Electric (PGE) recently offered its first free public electric charging station with the announced of five additional ones later.
Why is Toyota involved? With its upcoming plug-in hybrid, PHEV Prius, planned for a limited-volume lease to fleets, such as utilities, post office, etc, that will begin late 2009 in Japan, Europe and North America, Toyota will not only receive free publicity but gauge user’s feedback and get more EV technological experience. This should be followed by the much anticipated launch of the PHEV Prius early 2010s. To show how serious Toyota is, it will have the largest single roof solar power system in North America sometime this year.
This story also shows how a company can use the emotional appeal of its flagship EV SUV that was too good to make financial sense for good publicity and service. Source, International Business Times.