21 Jul 2005 HEADLINE

Toyota Agrees to Stop Crushing Electric SUVs

TORRANCE, CA -- Toyota Motor Corporation announced late yesterday that it will stop the demolition of its battery-powered RAV4 EV.

Don't Crush organizer Paul Scott sent out the following email to supporters of a grassroots campaign organized to protest Toyota's practice of crushing RAV4 EV's that are returned from corporate lease programs.

"During the course of a 2-hour meeting with Toyota today, the dontcrush.com negotiating team worked out the following points, which will be finalized in writing over the next few weeks:

No more usable cars will be crushed- the definition of "usable" is still to be worked out.

• Current lessees shall have the option to continually renew their leases as long as the vehicle is usable, as defined by Toyota and the consumer.
• Toyota will re-examine their policy of not selling fleet RAVs and attempt to give current lessees the option to purchase their vehicles outright.
• Toyota will create a process by which RAV4 EVs deemed not salable or usable will be dismantled for parts to be used by the remaining vehicles.
• Vehicles neither re-leased nor purchased will continue to be used; they will be sold to the public, used in the Toyota corporate fleet or made available for use by non-profit organizations."

Scott asked supporters to continue to participate in dealer protest gatherings, the next slated for Saturday, July 16th at Power Toyota Cerritos, until "these steps are finalized and put in writing".

Toyota's official response to inquiries regarding its policy has stated, "Toyota does not support retail sales of fleet vehicles when they reach the end of their lease. The fleet vehicles are typically used in commercial applications, are subject to harsh duty cycles and accumulate high miles. As we expected, at the end of the lease period, most are ready to retire from service. As parts supplies diminish, most of these vehicles are not feasible (parts no longer available) nor cost-effective (parts are too expensive) to operate or support. Therefore, we decided to recycle most of RAV4-EVs that we could recover at the end of five years.

"Vehicles that are returned to Toyota and are still technically supportable are being placed in community service programs where they assist with sustainability efforts. These include national parks, universities, and station car programs. Most recently, off-lease RAV4s have been placed with the Catalina Island Conservancy, Pt. Reyes National Seashore, and the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreational Area".

Scott estimates that there are several hundred vehicles still in operation that are likely to be impacted by this agreement.