In Effort To Sell RAV4 Electric SUVs, Toyota Puts 'Cash On Hood'

The all-electric Toyota RAV4 EV, even with its Tesla-designed powertrain, isn't exactly flying out of dealerships.

While it's a low-volume compliance car sold to meet California regulations, Toyota still has to move 2,600 of them over a three-year period that began in September 2012.

So Toyota is doing what all carmakers do when sales wane: putting "cash on the hood," in this case a total of $16,500 in lease incentives.

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The goal is to boost the number of electric RAV4s delivered to keep Toyota on track to meet that total of 2,600.

As of March 31, the company had sold 1,525 over 19 months, but its monthly sales have varied greatly, by almost a factor of 10.

A basic 2014 Toyota RAV4 EV has a base price of $49,800, plus a mandatory $860 delivery fee.

The 41.8-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack designed by Tesla Motors is rated at 103 miles of range, the highest range of any battery-electric vehicle that's not a Tesla Model S.

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We'll say up front that the leasing math is complicated.