Toyota will increase its European lineup with a small full-electric city SUV with a extremely environment friendly powertrain, CEO Akio Toyoda mentioned, one of many 30 new EVs the automaker plans so as to add by 2030.
Toyoda didn’t give a launch date for the brand new automobile, however Toyota Europe mentioned the EV rollout can be “speedy.”
“The following step for us is the small SUV,” a spokesman mentioned.
The automotive, which Toyota referred to as the “bZ Small Crossover,” will type a part of Toyota’s bZ vary, which stands for “Past Zero,” and follows subsequent yr’s launch of the bZ4x midsize electrical SUV.
It was proven in idea type alongside 11 others in a web based occasion Tuesday morning the place the automaker offered its future EV mannequin technique.
Toyota plans to extend annual international gross sales of full-electric automobiles to three.5 million by 2030, Toyoda mentioned. Beforehand the automaker has relied on hybrid fashions to satisfy emissions targets, particularly in Europe.
Within the presentation, Toyoda described the brand new automotive as “a small battery EV with a cushty inside designed with Europe and Japan in thoughts,” and promised it will have the very best effectivity in its class, at 125 watt hours per kilometer, or 12.5 kWh per 100 km, with out giving comparisons to EVs already on sale.
“The extra batteries you add to increase cruising vary, the larger, heavier, and costlier a automobile turns into,” he mentioned. “As a result of this SUV is a small automobile, there’s something we should be thorough and really explicit about. And that’s energy effectivity.”
Small full-electric SUVs now available on the market from mainstream manufacturers are restricted to the Peugeot e-208 and Opel Mokka-e from Stellantis, the Hyundai Kona and the MG ZS. Renault is anticipated to launch a retro-inspired small SUV primarily based on the 4L mannequin from the Nineteen Sixties.
The design of the idea builds on the look of the newly launched Aygo X minicar, which fuses the hatchback form with the additional peak and styling cues of an SUV.
Toyota is getting ready a brand new Europe-specific automobile platform referred to as E3 that can accommodate full-hybrid, plug-in hybrid and full-electric powertrains, relying on market situations and buyer desire.
The E3 platform will enable the automaker to regulate the powertrain mixture of its core merchandise in line with buyer demand and availability of charging infrastructure, Toyota Motor Europe CEO Matt Harrison mentioned.
Toyota didn’t say if the small SUV can be constructed on this platform or the worldwide e-TNGA platform that underpins the bZ4X and subsequent electrical automobiles, together with the Lexus RZ.
The small electrical SUV is anticipated to have a higher gross sales influence in Europe than the bZ4X, which at 4,690 mm lengthy is bigger than the best-selling small and compact SUVs within the area.
Toyota didn’t say which of the group’s different 14 electrical automobile ideas – together with fashions from premium model Lexus — proven on the occasion Tuesday would attain Europe in manufacturing type.
These most suited to the area included a compact coupe SUV proven as a part of the bZ vary in addition to one other coupe-styled SUV idea dubbed “Small SU EV.”
An electrical sedan additionally proven as a part of the bZ vary is one other chance, though much less doubtless given the prevalence of SUVs and crossovers in Europe.
Toyota mentioned that “most” of the ideas would make it to manufacturing.
Different ideas proven included an electrical pickup to probably promote alongside the Hilux, a compact electrical off-roader that updates Toyota’s authentic BJ mannequin and labelled Compact Cruiser EV, and a two-seat sports activities automotive referred to as Sports activities EV that might turn out to be a rival to a deliberate electrical Lotus mannequin due in 2025.