I managed to catch Toyota’s Environmental Communications Manager, Jana Hartline, while her Rav4 EV was out being tested, and we had a lovely chat about Toyota’s plans for the future. As the full range vehicle manufacturer with the highest fleet MPG, they know a thing or two about building efficient vehicles.
Here’s the full interview, straight from the show floor.
There were a few things not in the video interview that I thought also bore mentioning. For example, Toyota knows how to pick their partners, as their partnership with Tesla has resulted in the exceptional Rav4 EV. I also asked Jana why the V6 motor being discontinued for the new Rav4.
We had an interesting discussion about this off camera, as my photographer had driven us to the show in her brand new 4 cylinder Mazda SUV. It appears across the industry there’s a move toward putting smaller motors into the small SUV’s like the Rav4. Kat explained she’d bought hers because she needed the storage space of an SUV, liked the height, but wanted better MPG. Apparently, she’s not alone, and had many 4-cylinder SUV’s to choose from. So Toyota’s discontinuation of the V6 RAV4 was right in line with the rest of the industry.
Check out my whole interview for more discussion on Toyota’s sustainable future.
Source: Gas2.0
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment