Toyota will soon hit the afterburners on EV development, with the marque’s new leadership team headed by incoming president and chief executive officer Koji Sato reportedly accelerating timelines on future Toyota EV products.
A new team at Toyota is working on an entirely new, re-engineered, next-generation platform set to arrive in 2026.
According to a report by industry journal Automotive News, Toyota wants to incorporate breakthroughs by companies such as Tesla and deliver reliability, quality and safety – all of which Toyota has become known for – while implementing dramatic cost and performance improvements.
Toyota will light the afterburners when it comes to battery electric vehicle production
Toyota is closely watching its competitors and recently conducted a teardown of a Tesla Model Y, calling its construction “a work of art” – a compliment name-checked by the EV maker’s leadership during its March investor day keynote.
But the Japanese automaker won’t just build new EVs going forward. It will continue to produce hybrid, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen-powered cars at the same time as it pursues BEVs, though it will reportedly have an “EV-first” mentality.
What’s the plan going forward, and what models can we expect?
Toyota’s first EV in Australia will be the BZ4X SUV
Toyota is expected to stick with its current e-TNGA platform until 2026 when it is set to be replaced by a next-generation platform.
Adapted in part from its existing combustion-car architecture, the e-TNGA platform currently underpins the Toyota BZ4X, Lexus RZ and Subaru Solterra midsize SUVs, plus Toyota’s BZ3 electric sedan.
Late in 2021, Toyota announced 13 new electrified concepts, including a Land-Cruiser-looking SUV, an electric sports car and the BZ3 sedan. Also shown were a large Camry-like sedan and small C-HR-styled SUV. None have been confirmed for production just yet, though.
The Toyota EV concept lineup announced at the end of 2021
For Australia, we could see an electrified Hilux, also, between now and 2030.
While some of these new models will roll out on the existing e-TNGA platform, it seems likely that many of them that arrive after 2026 will benefit from the more advanced next-gen EV platform floated recently.
Toyota is not alone in accelerating development of next-generation EV platforms to make electric cars more efficient and cheaper to run.
There are plenty more Toyota BEVs coming in the future!
Hyundai will release its new-generation IMA platform in 2025 to replace its K3 and e-GMP architectures, while Volkswagen is working towards the release of a unified SSP EV platform for later in the decade.
Tesla continues to tease its ‘generation 3’ EV architecture that is set to underpin a new small car model that is said to target the Toyota Corolla at around $35,000 in price.
Toyota currently offers an electrified, hybrid version for a majority of their products sold in Australia, excluding the Land Cruiser 300 Series, Hilux, Fortuner, Prado and its GR performance products.
Toyota’s first electric car, the BZ4X, will launch in Australia during the fourth quarter of 2023.
