Will Toyota's New EV Stick with the Brand's Awful Naming Scheme?
On Tuesday, Toyota announced it will be releasing a new electric SUV for European customers on the evening of March 11 here in the United States. While the teaser image only offers a general peek at the design of the new EV and the brand is offering nothing in terms of specs of the upcoming model, the profile and lights do strike a notable resemblance to the brand's previous bZ Compact SUV concept.
The aforementioned concept made its debut during the Los Angeles Auto Show in 2022, and slots comfortably below the existing bZ4X offering. The compact SUV concept sat around 6.0 inches shorter than the bZ4X, while also sitting 3.6 inches lower overall. A hint of extra width did give the concept a muscular appearance, though whether that will carry over to the production model will have to be seen; the teaser image does highlight a similar coupe-like design language, with wide hips and high-rising fenders. The lighting elements and fascia are largely obscured, but they do appear to follow suit with the cues found on refreshed Camry, Crown, and Prius models.
The automaker has yet to share any hints about the powertrain beneath the new model. That said, the recently-unveiled Urban Cruiser could give us some hints as to what Toyota has planned for the small SUV. That model offers either a 49.0-kWh or 61.0-kWh battery pack, which offers 142 hp and 172 hp, respectively. Opt for the dual-motor motor and output jumps to 181 hp. For reference, the bZ4X makes between 201 hp and 215 hp, depending on configuration.
Toyota Europe will pull the cover off of the new model on March 11 at 6:01 pm EDT. Given the recent rumors surrounding the short future of the bZ moniker, perhaps we'll get our first taste of Toyota's updated EV naming structure. There's no word yet as to whether or not the brand plans to bring the EV SUV to the States, given the debut event hasn't been mentioned by the automaker's North American counterparts. That doesn't mean the model won't make its way here at some point, however — and even if it doesn't, sooner or later, we'll be seeing more electric Toyotas at Toyotathon.
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