2003 Toyota RAV4 Owners Manual - Page 5

On-pavement and off-road driving tips This vehicle belongs to the utility vehicle class. In general, utility vehicles have a significantly higher rollover rate than other types of vehicles. This kind of vehicle will handle and maneuver differently from an ordinary passenger car because it is designed for off-road use also. In addition, this kind of vehicle has a higher ground clearance and center of gravity than that of an ordinary passenger car. The ordinary utility vehicle is more likely to rollover. Failure to operate this kind of vehicle correctly may result in loss of control, accidents or vehicle rollover causing death or serious injury. However, your RAV4 EV is an electric vehicle. It has heavy traction batteries under the floor. So the ground clearance is not so high. Avoid off-road driving because it may damage the traction batteries. Be sure to read "Off-road vehicle precautions" on page 126 in Section 3 and "Off-road driving precautions" on page 137 in Section 4. Traction batteries Traction batteries have a service life. Call your EV service station or a service station for information concerning recycling or disposal of traction batteries and your vehicle. v