New Toyota EV arrives just in time to target the updated Tesla Model Y
A teaser video flashing words like “space and comfort,” and “electric power,” points to the arrival of a new Toyota EV. However, this isn’t some electrified pickup truck or large SUV. Instead, the new EV looks like a sleek, stylish competitor for Tesla’s updated Model Y. But you might not get one anytime soon.
Toyota is debuting a new, sleekly-styled EV in the hopes of attracting buyers from the Tesla Model Y and Kia EV6 crowds
Toyota bills its new EV as “exciting and surprising,” two terms typically reserved for the most dramatic EVs. It calls to mind the controversial styling of the Tesla Cybertruck or the explosiveness of the Lucid Air Sapphire. However, the Japanese automaker asserts that the new EV, set to debut on March 12, will fit the bill.
For starters, the new EV appears to be a stylistic derivation of the bZ Compact SUV concept vehicle from 2022. Like the bZ concept SUV, we expect the new EV to be smaller than the current bZ4X. Using the concept as a guide, the new EV could be around three inches lower and six inches shorter in overall length than the production bZ4X.
Paired with some ground clearance and a sloping, fastback-style roofline, and we have the unmistakeable looks of a sleek crossover SUV. However, details on the new EV are sparse at this point. The EV will likely offer a couple of battery options, not unlike the European-market Urban Cruiser’s 61 kWh and 49 kWh offerings. Still, questions like range and performance remain shrouded in mystery until mid-next month.
There’s a catch
Getting excited? Don’t clear some space in your garage quite yet. Toyota hasn’t clarified which markets are getting the wee EV SUV. It will, however, begin cruising European streets as the company’s latest electrified crossover.
Of course, should the new EV reach star-spangled shores, it’ll have to contend with competition like the mega-popular Tesla Model Y. Last year, Americans took home over 400,000 Model Ys. That makes the lumpy Model 3 sibling the best-selling EV in the country.
However, Electrek holds that the automaker’s new, $14-billion battery plant in North Carolina might have something to do with it. The Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina (TBMNC) plant covers over seven million square feet of the Tar Heel State. But it’s unclear whether TBMNC will have anything to do with the new EV.
