Having spread hybrid power across its range, Toyota is getting ready to go electric.
The world’s biggest carmaker will reveal its first electric car for Europe, a mid-sized SUV, in the coming months based on its e-TNGA platform.
Details about the SUV, which is likely to be a similar size to the RAV4, are thin on the ground. But it’ll kickstart a significant electric push for Toyota, which is plotting six EVs on the e-TNGA platform.
The same platform will also underpin a pure-electric Subaru.
Toyota has revealed the e-TNGA will support front- and all-wheel drive, and will be able to house batteries of varying sizes.
“Toyota will shortly take the next step in the rollout of its forthcoming battery-electric portfolio by first previewing an all-new mid-sized SUV in the coming months,” said Koji Toyoshima, deputy chief officer of Toyota’s zero-emissions factory.
“The versatility and flexibility of e-TNGA technology allows us to design and create vehicles that are not just battery-electric, but also exciting to drive and beautiful to look at.”
Last year, Toyota revealed renderings of its six-member e-TNGA family. In the image above, you can see the leaked mid-sized SUV to the far left and Toyota’s version of the Subaru Evoltis on the far right, with a sleek, mid/full-sized hatchback in the middle.
Though these models likely won’t launch for another couple of years, Toyota earlier this year introduced its first all-electric vehicles in China.
The C-HR EV and its IZOA twin use a modified version of the existing C-HR platform, with a 54.3kWh lithium-ion battery pack and an electric motor producing 150kW of power and 300Nm of torque. Electric range is 400km under the more lenient NEDC measures.
Toyota isn’t giving up on hybrids. In addition to rolling out its six e-TNGA vehicles by 2025, Toyota intends to have electrified versions of its entire range by the same year.
That goal will include both conventional hybrids and plug-in hybrids, with Toyota recently introducing its first plug-in hybrids, the Prius Prime and RAV4 Prime.
