Toyota teases new pure-electric SUV due in 2021

Toyota has begun teasing a small pure-electric SUV it is readying with Subaru that will go on sale in 2021 and be underpinned by the car-maker's all-new dedicated electric vehicle architecture.

Releasing a simple line drawing of the Toyota RAV4-sized model it will launch next year, Toyota has not yet named its battery-powered SUV, but says it will be tailored specifically to European buyers, despite being produced at a dedicated zero-emissions factory in Japan.

Said to be the first of six electric cars to use the all-new e-TNGA architecture, Toyota says the new SUV has been co-developed with fellow Japanese car-maker Subaru.

According to Toyota, the e-TNGA picks up where the similarly-named TNGA architecture, created for combustion engines, left off.

Capable of offering different wheelbase lengths, the new platform is claimed to be highly adaptable and has been designed to package a wide range of battery capacities and allow for multiple electric motors.

The other electric cars in the pipeline include a smaller SUV that Toyota is developing with Suzuki, plus a large SUV, sedan, people-mover and crossover.

Toyota has already announced that it is well underway in developing solid-state battery technology and has now confirmed the tech will power e-TNGA-based vehicles in the "first half of the 2020s".

Solid-state batteries are claimed to offer better battery life, faster charging times and are more stable than equivalent lithium-ion cells.

Next year, Toyota will also introduce pure-electric versions of its Proace people-mover and delivery van in Europe as part of ambitious electrification plans that will see the Japanese auto giant introduce 60 new or updated electrified vehicles by 2025 in Europe alone.

By 2025, Toyota expects 70 per cent of its sales will be hybrids, while plug-in hybrids, pure-electric cars and hydrogen fuel-cell-powered vehicles will each account for 10 per cent of volume.

Commenting on the new electric SUV, Toyota Europe product boss Andrea Carlucci said the new model will be “very European in the DNA and design”.

Despite the emphasis on Europe, Carlucci stressed Toyota's rival to the Volkswagen ID.4 will be exported to other global markets.

Toyota Australia has previously made it clear that it will look to introduce full-electric vehicles where they are a suitable fit for the market, and this RAV4-sized EV looks to fit the bill.

Discussing EVs built in collaboration with Subaru, Toyota Australia sales and marketing chief Sean Hanley said late last year that "we in Australia, like all the other global markets, have unique requirements for vehicles and mobility solutions".

"So right now, clearly, we see hybrid electric vehicles as the immediate future in Australia. But we would never ever rule out the potential for bringing EVs to this country," he said.