Toyota teases new full-electric SUV

The wraps will come off Toyota’s first-ever mainstream electric SUV at the 2021 Shanghai motor show in mid-April.

Teased in a new photo hidden underneath a veil, the full-electric Toyota SUV could bear the ‘BZ’ name and will preview the Japanese car-maker’s upcoming EV design direction.

The shape of the new electric SUV was also previewed late in 2020, confirming an angular design motif.

Thought to be an almost production-ready design, the new EV is expected to take on vehicles like the Tesla Model Y and looks set to be a mid-size SUV roughly the same size as the Toyota RAV4.

Battery size, motor count and cruising range are all unknown, but the platform that underpins the new model, dubbed e-TNGA, is being jointly developed with Subaru as one of the brand’s many resource-sharing projects.

The Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86 sports cars are another example.

The new e-TNGA platform will underpin an expanding range of Toyota and Subaru EVs over the next decade and has been designed from the ground up to be scalable, meaning it can be deployed underneath a range of different-sized vehicles.

While the new EV will be the brand’s first mainstream EV designed for global markets, Toyota has launched an electric compact micro car in Japan and other models in China, including a battery-powered version of the Toyota C-HR small SUV.

Closer to home, Toyota has previously stated it is actively considering an EV rollout in Australia and that an EV Corolla is inevitable.

The car-maker is also set to uncover the Toyota X Prologue in Europe, however details on this (smaller) model remain unclear.