Electric cars? That will never work, Toyota thought until recently. The Japanese car group believed more in (plug-in) hybrids and hydrogen technology, but also secretly saw that it was missing the boat. Hence the fanatic lobbying against all kinds of environmental regulations. And now also fifteen electric cars in one go…
Toyota director Akio Toyoda presented them today: fifteen electric study models from Toyota and Lexus. He also talked about his company’s plans to launch as many as thirty fully electric cars between now and 2030. The first is the Toyota bZ4X, a RAV4-like SUV with a plug, which will hit the market next year. It is almost identical to the Subaru Solterra.
After Toyota bZ4x more models under the bZ label
Five of the electric concept cars are grouped under the bZ label: the above-mentioned bZ4X, a compact SUV, a full-size SUV, a mid-range sedan and a Toyota Aygo X-like city car. We also see a few vans, a pick-up truck, a four-door coupe from Lexus, the new Lexus RX, a few other crossovers/suvs from the premium branch of Toyota and two sports cars.
Successor Toyota MR2 and Lexus LFA-like supercar
Lexus will introduce an electric supercar in 2030. The model will be a kind of successor to the Lexus LFA, with a sprint time from standstill to 100 km/h in “less than 2 seconds” and a range of up to 700 kilometers. Toyota has a modern MR2 in the pipeline. The last Toyota MR2 was built until 2007 as a Porsche Boxster competitor. Before that, the MR2 was a compact sports coupé with a mid-engine and targa roof.
