Toyota and Tesla unveil their baby

(Toyota)

Toyota took the wraps off the EV it has jointly developed with electric supercar maker Tesla November 17, promising that the vehicle will be part of a broad electric lineup to be rolled out over the next few years.

The automaker's RAV4 SUV has been given an electric drivetrain and battery pack from partner Tesla, meaning it now offers an all-electric target range of 100 miles (160 km) in "actual road driving patterns."

The range is comparable to that of the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi i-MiEV, although well below that offered by the Tesla Roadster.

Toyota confirmed that it will produce 35 of the models for testing over the next two years, with the aim of having a completed product on the market by 2012.

In a statement released at the LA Auto Show, Toyota said that although the demonstration RAV4 EV weights 220 pounds (100 kg) more than its gas equivalent, it will accelerate from 0-60mph (97 km/h) nearly as quickly.

It has overhauled much of the car's design in order to accommodate the battery packs, which use lithium metal oxide technology - although the automaker warned that many decisions regarding the final product had not been finalised.

Its planned launch in 2012 will coincide with other electric vehicle launches, including a plug-in version of the firm's phenomenally-successful Prius hybrid and a "small EV commuter vehicle".

The LA Auto Show is open to the public November 19 - 28.

http://www.laautoshow.com