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John McIlroy
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Toyota will reveal a rival for the Volkswagen ID.4 and Kia e-Niro at next month’s Shanghai Motor Show - a new, mid-size pure-electric SUV, which will use a new purpose made electric car platform called e-TNGA.
Toyota confirmed the EV’s existence last year, which will be roughly the same size as the RAV4 family SUV. However, its wheelbase is almost certain to be longer than its conventionally powered stablemate, while its front and rear overhangs should be shorter, with much more interior space on offer.
Though it won’t be Toyota’s first pure-electric car it will mark an important turning point in the company’s electrification strategy which, until this point, has prioritised hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. The new e-TNGA platform it will use has been developed with Subaru, and Toyota says it allows for either front, rear or all-wheel drive battery electric drivetrain configurations, with varying battery capacities.
The platform has also been designed to be used to underpin a wide range of vehicles, since only a few areas of the architecture - notably the space between the front axle and the base of the windscreen - are fixed.
Toyota says it can accommodate a variety of track widths, wheelbases, lengths and heights, which should allow the brand to use the same underpinnings across all of its electric vehicles, simply by changing the body. Volkswagen has already employed this strategy with its MEB architecture.
Last year, Toyota released a simple design sketch, which provided a rough indication of the car’s profile. Our exclusive images show how the lines should translate into a distinctive- looking model with an image unlike anything else in the Toyota range - much as the Prius hybrids have their own identity.
image
Toyota BEV concept cars
Toyota BEV concept cars
Toyota BEV
image
Toyota BEV sketch
Toyota BEV sketch
The car also appears to have been previewed in a family of concept renderings issued by the brand back in summer 2019; it was pictured alongside a larger, more conventionally shaped SUV, a rakish hatchback, a small crossover and a couple of MPV people-carriers - cars still popular in Japan.
Subaru will follow-up the Toyota BZ’s launch with its own pure-electric vehicle, based on the same platform. Subaru teased its upcoming EV back in January with a concept unveiled to its stakeholders.
BZ stands for Beyond Zero
There’s no word yet on a name for the bespoke EV but Toyota has spent much of the past few months registering trademarks based on ‘BZ series’ everything from BZ1 to BZ5.
Auto Express understands that these are for its new family of standalone electric models and that the BZ references ‘Beyond Zero’, the title of Toyota’s public push towards zero-emissions motoring. Some of the trademarks registered by Toyota - including BZ4X and BZ5X - would sit easily on a four-wheel-drive vehicle.
image
Toyota BEV concept cars
Toyota BEV concept cars
Toyota BEV
image
Toyota BEV sketch
Toyota BEV sketch
Speaking to Auto Express last year, Toyota Europe’s executive vice-president Matt Harrison (who will become the brand’s new Europe CEO in April) said the new EV would be positioned slightly above the RAV4 on pricing, but said that customers would be able to cross-shop between the two models.
“The size is similar to RAV4,” he said, “so between RAV4, which is already available as a hybrid and plug-in hybrid, and this product as zero-emissions option, we’ve pretty much got this covered. Customers would choose between these two vehicles in our portfolio.
“We’ll have to see when we get closer to the start of production what the incentive situation is, because this can have an impact on where the model transacts. But we’re trying to make sure that with any of the EVs, we don’t count on incentives to secure the business equation.”
What do you think of Toyota's first electric car? Let us know in the comments…
Continue reading...
Toyota confirmed the EV’s existence last year, which will be roughly the same size as the RAV4 family SUV. However, its wheelbase is almost certain to be longer than its conventionally powered stablemate, while its front and rear overhangs should be shorter, with much more interior space on offer.
- SEE MORE Best electric cars to buy 2021
Though it won’t be Toyota’s first pure-electric car it will mark an important turning point in the company’s electrification strategy which, until this point, has prioritised hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. The new e-TNGA platform it will use has been developed with Subaru, and Toyota says it allows for either front, rear or all-wheel drive battery electric drivetrain configurations, with varying battery capacities.
The platform has also been designed to be used to underpin a wide range of vehicles, since only a few areas of the architecture - notably the space between the front axle and the base of the windscreen - are fixed.
Toyota says it can accommodate a variety of track widths, wheelbases, lengths and heights, which should allow the brand to use the same underpinnings across all of its electric vehicles, simply by changing the body. Volkswagen has already employed this strategy with its MEB architecture.
Last year, Toyota released a simple design sketch, which provided a rough indication of the car’s profile. Our exclusive images show how the lines should translate into a distinctive- looking model with an image unlike anything else in the Toyota range - much as the Prius hybrids have their own identity.
image
Toyota BEV concept cars
Toyota BEV concept cars
Toyota BEV
image
Toyota BEV sketch
Toyota BEV sketch
The car also appears to have been previewed in a family of concept renderings issued by the brand back in summer 2019; it was pictured alongside a larger, more conventionally shaped SUV, a rakish hatchback, a small crossover and a couple of MPV people-carriers - cars still popular in Japan.
Subaru will follow-up the Toyota BZ’s launch with its own pure-electric vehicle, based on the same platform. Subaru teased its upcoming EV back in January with a concept unveiled to its stakeholders.
BZ stands for Beyond Zero
There’s no word yet on a name for the bespoke EV but Toyota has spent much of the past few months registering trademarks based on ‘BZ series’ everything from BZ1 to BZ5.
Auto Express understands that these are for its new family of standalone electric models and that the BZ references ‘Beyond Zero’, the title of Toyota’s public push towards zero-emissions motoring. Some of the trademarks registered by Toyota - including BZ4X and BZ5X - would sit easily on a four-wheel-drive vehicle.
image
Toyota BEV concept cars
Toyota BEV concept cars
Toyota BEV
image
Toyota BEV sketch
Toyota BEV sketch
Speaking to Auto Express last year, Toyota Europe’s executive vice-president Matt Harrison (who will become the brand’s new Europe CEO in April) said the new EV would be positioned slightly above the RAV4 on pricing, but said that customers would be able to cross-shop between the two models.
“The size is similar to RAV4,” he said, “so between RAV4, which is already available as a hybrid and plug-in hybrid, and this product as zero-emissions option, we’ve pretty much got this covered. Customers would choose between these two vehicles in our portfolio.
“We’ll have to see when we get closer to the start of production what the incentive situation is, because this can have an impact on where the model transacts. But we’re trying to make sure that with any of the EVs, we don’t count on incentives to secure the business equation.”
What do you think of Toyota's first electric car? Let us know in the comments…
Continue reading...