(September 14, 2010) DETROIT — Toyota will show an all-electric vehicle — a RAV4 crossover — developed in partnership with Tesla Motors at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, according to Toyota Executive Vice President Takeshi Uchiyamada, who spoke to reporters here this morning.

Tesla and Toyota announced the partnership in May to develop electric vehicles under the strategy of the U.S. startup company that is known for its $109,000 Roadster, which is powered by more than 6,800 laptop batteries.

Uchiyamada said the long-planned plug-in version of the best-selling Prius hybrid won't reach showrooms until the summer of 2012. The Prius plug-in hybrid introduction has been moved back several times after Toyota originially announced plans for the vehicle several years ago.

Uchiyamada said global sales of the plug-in will be a “few tens of thousands” for the first few years, or less than 10 percent of regular Prius sales,

While the Prius has dominated the segment, the world's largest automaker has been less certain about the market for fully electric vehicles such as the Nissan Leaf due out this year. Toyota had previously said it was working on a battery-powered small car to launch in 2012.

2012 will be a big year for Toyota's hybrid initiatives with six new vehicles planned worldwide, Uchiyamada said. And he reiterated that Toyota will sell a retail model of its hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle to U.S. drivers by 2015.

Source: Wire service reports