Toyota RAV4 EV eBay auction resolved, still a record
We've been following the saga of a 2001 Toyota RAV4 EV that came up for auction on eBay and sold for a record-setting (as far as we know) bid of $89,200. Unfortunately, for the seller, monkeydude12, the winning bidder backed out and, according to ABG commenter Yanquetino, a message appeared on the auction stating that the seller had received a message from the original winning bidder stating that, "I am sorry about the bid my husband placed on this item. He thought he retraced it but I guess he didn't. He has a brain tumor and can't see real well. Could you please offer this item to the next highest bidder? Thank you for understanding." Bummer, monkeydude.
However, all was not lost. There was still a rare RAV4 EV to be had and so negotiations soon ensued with the 2nd highest bidder. We are happy to report at this time that, although the original record price was rescinded, the final agreed upon price of $69,850 is still (again, as far as we know) a record.
Alas, records are made to be broken. As we reported to you earlier today, a seller by the name of "fluffytheleopard" has just entered another RAV4 EV into the eBay fray and the bidding combat has already pushed the price of that very cherry looking ride to the dizzying height of $50,100. We shall continue to monitor the situation and keep you informed.
[Source: monkeydude12 A.K.A. "Joe"]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
stevejust 2:10PM (5/28/2008)
Too bad General Motors crushed all those EV-1s, Honda all those EV-Pluses, and Ford all those EV Rangers. I mean, clearly there's no demand for them at all.
I saw an electric RAV-4 driving down Wilshire the other day that I don't think belonged to the City of Santa Monica fleet--maybe it was this one?
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pacman 2:19PM (5/28/2008)
69K buys a Prius and Gas for the next 30yrs @ 5per gallon and 12K miles a year!
EVs will be awsome when they make good economic sense to the average consumer and not just the enviromentally aware that are willing to pay a huge premium to not use gasoline.
Congrats to this person that will never reoup the investment and not make one bit of difference in the big picture of Global Climate change. Money could have done more by purchasing three Prius. Drive one and give two to people driving large gas guzzlers. The money could also do more good donated to a enviromental cause. This is stupid grandstanding or a collector.
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Domenick Yoney 2:22PM (5/28/2008)
@pacman: People spend tons of cash on all sorts of things. Perhaps the buyer considers being able to pass gas station after gas station after gas station...etc adnauseum...is priceless.
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EvenSteven 2:23PM (5/28/2008)
Lets see who is rich, cares about the enviroment and has a brain tumor....HMMMMM. I know who monkeydude is!
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steven 2:39PM (5/28/2008)
I'm not sure 1 or 2 people with a ton of cash translates real demand. Considering that there were only 1575 made, and of those, non-fleet customers were able to gobble up a massive profit-generating and R&D-recouping estiamted total of 328 vehicles, the lack of supply is a more likely reason the high prices.
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Rich 3:21PM (5/28/2008)
I hope to never buy another fossil fueled engine again. The news reports about Nissan and other startups getting EVs out there are very tempting.
Yes, there is no demand for EVs out there. Just me and a few others.
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steven 4:30PM (5/28/2008)
@6: See, you proved my point. You're Rich!
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Rick 6:56PM (5/28/2008)
Pacman said it first. How much gas can be bought for the excessive $60k?
Now, I want an EV just as anyone should (and want to charge it via a solar charging station), however, I won't throw money away to get it. That's just not very smart.
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Snowdog 5:45PM (5/28/2008)
Electric cars are an order of magnitude better than ICEs.
Unfortunately batteries are an order of magnitude worse.
All the research money should aimed at battery technology. We need a 10 year+ lifespan and 5000+ cycles.
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Kevin Nugent 6:47PM (5/28/2008)
I also agree that evs are awesome but these individuals take it to a new level with forking out so much money for such a dingy old car that toyota barely acknowledges it even created I woudl rather wait the two or 2 years until there is a substantial market of ev's
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TIMMAH! 6:51PM (5/28/2008)
What a totally lame excuse. He has his wife post that he got his hand slapped. Pathetic. Yeah reminds me of one buyer that wrote to me saying that his son used his account without his knowledge and so he wasn't going to be paying me.
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stevefazek 7:29PM (5/28/2008)
Who here wants to buy some RAV4 Rollers, and start converting them to EV, that company in Mass sells a AC system with a electric tranny minus the batteries for 10K and the battery packs for it would cost 15K in LifePo4
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Bill 8:10PM (5/28/2008)
$60,000 would buy a decent-sized photovoltaic system for a home, with a life expectancy several decades longer than this old, underpowered EV.
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Derek 7:31AM (5/29/2008)
@#8: a 10 year lifespan is pretty weak, you're talking about cutting the average lifespan of a car in half or less. Yes, batteries can be replaced but people will just junk the car instead. I wouldn't consider an EV a serious competitor until the battery lifespan is close to 30 years. Given proper maintenance a gas engine should easily go that long.
To #3: the buyers won't be driving past many gas stations with an 80-120 mile range. You'll pass far more gas stations with a gas powered car of any kind.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_RAV4_EV
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steven 9:33AM (5/29/2008)
I know NO ONE would actually BELVIE Toyota's position on the RAV4 EV, but here is it.....
"Toyota's electric vehicle sales have proved disappointing.."
"..technical issues tied to electric vehicles remain a major hurdle."
"It is cost-prohibitive to replace an EV battery. The cost to replace the battery is more than the value of the vehicle."
http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/rav4ev/
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