Toyota teases next-gen EV, confirms electric three-row SUV

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Toyota officials in Japan showed a teaser photo of the company’s next-generation electric vehicle (EV) during their annual financial briefing in early May. The automaker had previously announced its plans to offer ten new battery models globally by 2026, with a target of 1.5 million EV sales per year as its “base volume.”

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The ten models will range from “luxury vehicles to compacts and commercial vehicles, mainly in the United States and China,” according to Koji Sato, Toyota’s chief executive officer. He further said that Toyota will increase its in-house battery production capacity and collaboration with partner companies to secure enough batteries to meet the demand.

In April, Toyota officials announced the automaker will start building a three-row electric SUV in the U.S. in 2025, with batteries that will be made in North Carolina, although the vehicle’s assembly location hasn’t yet been divulged. In China, two new EVs will be introduced, designed specifically for the local market and built there, alongside the BZ4X crossover and BZ3 sedan. Asia and other markets will also see local production of battery-powered pickup trucks.

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In the May briefing, Sato said the new models for the 2026 deadline will be built on three new platforms, consisting of the body and chassis; the electronics; and the software. “They will all be renewed as we aim to achieve mobility by way of a new vehicle packaging with a rational structure that is unique to BEVs (battery electric vehicles),” he said. The company will operate a new division called the “BEV Factory.”

Toyota also plans to up its game with hydrogen, primarily in the commercial sector in Europe and China “where hydrogen consumption is particularly high,” Sato said; and to focus on hybrid vehicles in Asia and emerging markets, where it expects to grow that business by 30 per cent or more by 2030.

The next-generation vehicle shown as a teaser during the presentation will be unveiled as a concept model, along with other concept EVs, at the Japan Mobility Show – formerly called the Tokyo Motor Show – in October 2023. Toyota had previously stated that in addition to the new designs and platforms, its EVs going forward are planned to have double the driving range of its current electric models. In Canada, Toyota currently offers only two EVs: the Lexus RZ 450e; and the Toyota BZ4X, jointly developed with Subaru, which markets its version as the Solterra.