Toyota recently stunned everyone when the company introduced 15 EVs stretching across all the vehicle segments, meaning the future electric lineup has everything from sports cars to SUVs and trucks. Interestingly, Lexus’s luxury brand will go side by side with Toyota to fully electrify its lineup.
The president of Toyota, Akio Toyoda, lined up various vehicles on the stage and introduced them one by one. Starting the lineup is the already unveiled bZ4x and a zero-emission compact crossover beside it, which sports bZ Compact SUV name for now. Toyota will change the name for the production vehicle, though. The president presented it as an exciting vehicle that would entice you to take a spin on it. It could be the electric version of the C-HR, we guess.
Next to the bZ is a small red vehicle, a city crossover boasting interior design cues we find in European and Japanese cars. Apart from the bZ4X, all the prototypes came with completely tinted side glass, signifying that the company didn’t want to reveal the interiors. Similarly, we find tinted glass for the midsize “bZ SDN” sedan, which Toyoda said is perfect for new drivers.
After that, we have bZ SUV, which comes with three rows of seating. Along with it is Lexus equivalent. In Toyota’s lineup, it sits above the bZ4X and will be its fifth electric offering in the Beyond Zero lineup.
From Lexus side, we saw a preview of the RZ – a luxury substitute of the bZ4X, as well as an exhilarating sports car featuring a noticeably sloped roofline. The two-seater will be powered by solid-state batteries offering tremendous power enabling it to hit 100 km/h (62 mph) in the down two-second range. The claimed drive range is also impressive at 435 miles (700 kilometres).
Toyoda said the engineers had used the technology they perfected for the iconic LFA. Besides, the Lexus also has a four-seater electric convertible, as well as a swoopy wagon.
From the Toyota side, Toyoda brought us a zero-emission truck with Tacoma looks and a blue coloured boxy off-roader, which we believe is an EV version of the FJ Cruiser. The company named it the “Compact Cruiser EV” and showed us a few sights of the Small SU EV, the Crossover EV, and a highly talented two-seater electric sports car.
Lastly, we witnessed two tiny models called the Mid Box and Micro Box that would perform duties of commuting and delivery within cities.
The Group has plans to sell 3.5 million all-electric vehicles annually. For this, both Toyota and Lexus will develop 30 EVs by the end of 2030, putting down around $70 billion to make it a reality. The luxury brand plans to go carbon neutral in Europe, the US and China by the end of this decade. In the next five years, Lexus will be an all-electric brand throughout the world, meaning it will be producing only battery-powered vehicles.
Source and Images: Motor1