Official Toyota RAV4 EV thread

[TonyWilliams]

...Let's do one of the above as "Open Source"

I responded on the other forum but will do it here too. These are good thoughts but don't you think that a Frankenplug to CHAdeMO adapter would be more of a challenge since the charging protocols are different? For example for L2 charging, making a Tesla plug to J1772 adapter or cutting off the Tesla plug and putting on a J1772 is more doable since its the same protocol.

In fact, wouldn't it be easier to put a CHAdeMO port on a frankenplug car like the BMW i3, than actually making an adapter from SAE CCS to CHAdeMO? I imagine one way to implement CHAdeMO is to intercept the car's charging handshake signals and tell it that it's OK to charge and then send in direct current into the battery using a CHAdeMO port.

I'm confident that any adaptor that includes differing communication protocols will be a challenge.

The adaptor that I suggested was to charge the 60,000 cars in the USA with a Frankenplug, not the other way around. Since the several CCS stations (all 23 of them) in the USA usually have a CHAdeMO station sitting right next to it, the odds of finding CHAdeMO in use and Frankenplug growing cobwebs is high. Let's put them to use !!!

Yes, adding a CHAdeMO port would likely be easier on i3, and we have that in the works for late 2015, just like we are currently doing on RAV4 EV and Mercedes B-Class ED.

[eHelmholtz]

I'm confident that any adaptor that includes differing communication protocols will be a challenge.

The adaptor that I suggested was to charge the 60,000 cars in the USA with a Frankenplug, not the other way around. Since the several CCS stations (all 23 of them) in the USA usually have a CHAdeMO station sitting right next to it, the odds of finding CHAdeMO in use and Frankenplug growing cobwebs is high. Let's put them to use !!!

Yes, adding a CHAdeMO port would likely be easier on i3, and we have that in the works for late 2015, just like we are currently doing on RAV4 EV and Mercedes B-Class ED.

Yes, this is why I thought that going for an open source CHAdeMO inlet would be easier than building an adapter. Incidentally, when I said an adapter I meant a Frankenplug to CHAdeMO inlet adapter so that frankenplug cars can charge ast CHAdeMo stations.

[TonyWilliams]

I'm confident that any adaptor that includes differing communication protocols will be a challenge.

The adaptor that I suggested was to charge the 60,000 cars in the USA with a Frankenplug, not the other way around. Since the several CCS stations (all 23 of them) in the USA usually have a CHAdeMO station sitting right next to it, the odds of finding CHAdeMO in use and Frankenplug growing cobwebs is high. Let's put them to use !!!

Yes, adding a CHAdeMO port would likely be easier on i3, and we have that in the works for late 2015, just like we are currently doing on RAV4 EV and Mercedes B-Class ED.

Yes, this is why I thought that going for an open source CHAdeMO inlet would be easier than building an adapter. Incidentally, when I said an adapter I meant a Frankenplug to CHAdeMO inlet adapter so that frankenplug cars can charge ast CHAdeMo stations.

I'm not sure which is a more worthwhile adaptor; 60,000 cars in the US that can use 23 Franken-stations or several thousand Frankenplug cars that can access about 700 exisiting CHAdeMO stations.

[cwerdna]

(Finally found this old post)

I leased both the Toyota and Nissan on the same month, let's see how they compare over the next three years as I am stuck with them regardless. As owner of a Prius and a 370z, I can tell you what is more reliable and what companies have more competent people working for them. Since I am leasing them, I am not really worried about it.

So, how do they compare now? I haven't kept track of your repairs on the Rav4 EV, but it sounds like you had a heater fail and have been experiencing a noisy drivetrain, which isn't too surprising for Tesla drivetrains.

[cwerdna]

I finally found this old thread (your reply at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.p ... 75#p320975" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) that I was trying to dig up.

I leased both the Toyota and Nissan on the same month, let's see how they compare over the next three years as I am stuck with them regardless. As owner of a Prius and a 370z, I can tell you what is more reliable and what companies have more competent people working for them. Since I am leasing them, I am not really worried about it.

Well, we're not at the 3 year mark yet. Is the Leaf holding up better from a reliability POV than the Rav4 EV?

I haven't tracked your posts, but I see you mention on your Rav4 EV your heater and DC to DC converter were replaced (http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic ... 037#p12037" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) and it sounded like you got a new drive unit too, due to noise. If so, none of these are too surprising.

[TonyWilliams]

We have now shipped almost 100 units of JdeMO for the 2012-2014 RAV4 EV, which allows use of over 11,000 CHAdeMO DC fast chargers in the world at almost 50kW.

$2999, plus shipping, tax, etc

Installation costs are typically $299, but that can vary depending on who installs it. It takes an experienced team of two about 2.5 hours. I would guess it could be a weekend project for an experienced auto repair hobbyist.


http://shop.quickchargepower.com/JdeMo- ... MORav4.htm


Here's a nice article from one of our customers:

https://transportevolved.com/2015/10/05 ... h-chademo/


Here's a map of where current customers are around the world:

http://www.zeemaps.com/view?group=14952 ... 76488&z=14

Yellow - not scheduled for delivery

Red - Alpha testers

Orange - Installed, operational

White - shipped, not installed

[edatoakrun]

The report below (if confirmed) may have been inevitable, and the same fate may await many for other 2012-201? compliance BEVs in the future.

While I've always regarded the RAV4 as one of the most compromised of all the (CARB) compliance BEVs, I would rather see their service life extend beyond only ~3 years.

Sadly, most all compliance BEVs on the road today are likely only seen as future financial liabilities, from the standpoint of their manufacturers.

lease returns SCRAPPED ? could this be true ?

...According to the EV technician, they had 6 ! rav4ev's on their rooftop parking lot, waiting for a special transport.
I said "for auction, right ?"
He answered "no, to be scrapped"
He basically told me they will take all the Tesla parts of it, to be able to service the remaining rav4ev's, including the extended warranty units.
Tesla was basically refusing to supply parts in a timely manner and toyota changed to harvesting returns of ends-of-lease...

http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic ... 6f0f66fabe

[TonyWilliams]

The reason for crushing some of the 2012-2014 Rav4 EVs was given... to get a source of Tesla components, since Tesla is not very timely in getting parts out for warranty and repairs. This has been an ongoing problem since Day 1.

Whatever you wish to read into that is your own choice.

It’s obviously cheaper for Toyota to resell the cars at market value, and tell repair / warranty customers to wait. Toyota has (finally) decided to do something, because Tesla does not respond fast enough.

In addition, there are plenty of regulatory issues with not having the parts for warranty repairs. I have been telling folks to ALWAYS get the Toyota Platinum warranty (up to 10 years / 125,000 miles), so Toyota will be on the hook for a LONG time.

Of course, every car they crush is a potential future warranty claim that was just eliminated from the warranty pool.

[abasile]

The reason for crushing some of the 2012-2014 Rav4 EVs was given... to get a source of Tesla components, since Tesla is not very timely in getting parts out for warranty and repairs. This has been an ongoing problem since Day 1.

Whatever you wish to read into that is your own choice.

I can imagine that providing components for a very limited number of Rav4 EVs has not been the highest priority for Tesla, particularly as there seems to be no future in the relationship with Toyota. This is unfortunate, though, as the Tesla brand is suffering as a result.

Given the situation, I don't fault Toyota for stripping some of these EVs for parts. At least the EV batteries and drivetrains aren't going to waste. This is nothing like last decade when perfectly good EVs were crushed.

[cwerdna]

(Thread resurrection)

I stumbled across https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads ... ix.145078/ which had this guy's Google doc and photos at
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1A6n ... sp=sharing
https://photos.app.goo.gl/fUffopAvPV64R6kBA

He said:

Hi everybody, I recently purchased a Rav4 EV with 126,000 miles. This car had terrible drive unit bearing noise, so I took it upon myself to try to fix it.

The Rav4 uses almost exactly the same drive unit as the model S with the large motor, so it has almost exactly the same issues. This was cross posted in the myRav4EV forums, but I thought you might be interested too.

ALL of the noise was caused by bearing failure, however taking it apart exposed a seal failure as well.
Three bearings were in bad shape. The motor bearings had axial play, and the gearbox pinion bearing had fretting on the outer race, indicative of shaft voltage.

Here is a google doc describing it: Rav4 EV drive unit “Milling” noise repair

Please excuse the crudity of the document, I didn't have time to build it to scale, or to paint it.

Lots more pictures here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/fUffopAvPV64R6kBA

This is my first experience working on an EV, and let me tell you, they are so much easier to work on than gas cars.

Since there are no drive unit service manuals or internal parts available from Toyota, or presumably Tesla, I would encourage others to share as much as you can about replacement pieces and procedures