With no public fanfare, Toyota Motor Corp. has agreed to let customers continue driving about 1,000 discontinued electric RAV4 sport utility vehicles that were a precursor to the popular Prius gasoline-electric hybrid.

Toyota's decision is a rare victory for a small but devoted band of drivers of electric cars and trucks, who say automakers never gave the vehicles a chance to succeed in the mass market. Environmentalists and national defense experts say alternative-fuel and electric vehicles reduce pollution as well as the country's reliance on imported oil.