Tesla Motors and Toyota today announced that the two companies signed an agreement to initiate the development of an electric version of the RAV4. The companies outlined an aggressive schedule for bringing the RAV4 EV to market by 2012. If the companies deliver on time, it would significantly accelerate Toyota’s plug-in vehicle plans—putting an all-electric small SUV, an all-electric small urban commuter car, and a plug-in version of the Toyota Prius on the market in 2012.

It’s way too early to talk about markets, quantities or price, but the big question is if the announcement is about a speculative prototype vehicle, or a real EV headed into production. We spoke with Jana Hartline, Toyota Environmental Communications Manager, and Mary Nickerson, Toyota’s Advance Technology Vehicles National Manager, to learn more.

Brad Berman, PluginCars.com: With the Plug-in Prius, it’s taken years to move from prototype to a launch in 2012. With a new Toyota RAV4 EV, you’re doing the first prototypes in the second half of 2010. Isn’t bringing it to market by 2012 an aggressive timeline?

Mary: Yes. It is an aggressive timeline. That’s one of the attractions of working with Tesla and their entrepreneurial spirit, looking at bringing the entrepreneurial spirit into Toyota’s culture which is so process driven. As we watch how this develops, that’s quick for us. It could be a place where we learn to take the best of their culture, and bring it into ours.

PluginCars.com: Leaving aside if you’ll hit the 2012 date, what are the chances that there will be an electric RAV4 at all?

Mary: Based on everything I’ve seen, we’re working aggressively toward that. There’s a very good chance. Toyota wouldn’t make this kind of investment, and build prototypes, if we weren’t really interested in bringing it to market.

PluginCars.com: Is the RAV4 a good platform for an electric vehicle? Your previous strategy has been EVs for really small cars with shorter range.

Jana: We’re still moving forward with a small EV commuter for 2012. But with the RAV4 EV, you have more real estate. You can pack a lot more battery for longer range. It would be an EV for a very different application.

Mary: I think the current RAV4 design is more aerodynamic than the previous generation RAV4. I’d have to look at the numbers.

Jana: It’s a little larger, but more aerodynamic.

PluginCars.com: What about the battery system, commodity batteries from Tesla rather than larger automotive batteries from your suppliers?

Jana: Commodity batteries in the past have had a lot of issues, but Tesla has a plan and process that have overcome a lot of the issues. We’re anxious to see how those batteries perform in the vehicles. There’s a lot we can learn from that approach.

PluginCars.com: Toyota is on schedule to introduce a small all-electric commuter car, based on its Toyota FT-EV concept, by 2012.

Mary: Nothing has changed with our plans for a city EV. We’ll still be planning to come to market with the city EV in 2012, coming directly out of Japan.

PluginCars.com: And in the U.S. in 2012?

Jana: Yes, in Japan as well.

PluginCars.com: And the Plug-in Prius in the U.S. in 2012?

Jana: Yep.

PluginCars.com: And Toyota RAV4 EV in U.S. in 2012?

Jana: That’s our intent.

PluginCars.com: Are you more sanguine about the readiness of lithium ion battery technology than you have been in the past?

Mary: We’re continuing to be optimistic about it. We’re just getting our first vehicles [the Prius Plug-in Hybrid] out there. And as we get real-world experience on lithium ion batteries in this demonstration program, that’s going to give us the first real feel beyond lab testing.

Jana: We’re continuing to improve our technology on lithium ion.

PluginCars.com: How does this relate to programs for conventional hybrids?

Mary: It’s an expansion to our broad approach to advanced technology. WE continue to pursue multiple technologies at the same time. It gives a chance to pursue a broader battery pack, and a broader model line-up to meet the different needs of potential customers.

EVs are not being thought of as a separate product. They’re all in the realm of advanced technology vehicles.

PluginCars.com: This timeline for a new RAV4 EV is so much faster on a product than Toyota has ever developed before—not just advanced technology but any vehicle.

Mary: You’re right about that. The Prius was developed from the ground up to be a hybrid vehicle, and here we’re developing an electric vehicle from a conventional vehicle, and bringing it to market quickly.

Reprinted with permission from PluginCars