Toyota Urban SUV concept and Sport Crossover concept preview future EVs for Europe with next-gen batteries

8 December 2023, 10:14:05

At Toyota Motor Europe’s (TME) 2023 Kenshiki event last week, a team of Global and European executives presented the company’s latest electrified products and technologies. Kenshiki means insight in Japanese and this year’s edition to an audience of over 300 media, focused on the battery-electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles which will play a significant role in the company's multi-pathway strategy in the years ahead.

TME announced last year, its goal of achieving full carbon neutrality in Europe by 2040. SBTi Scope 1 & 2 carbon neutrality will be achieved in its European operations and manufacturing facilities by 2030. For Scope 3, Toyota will achieve 100% CO2 reduction in new vehicles sales in 2035 and, by 2040, full carbon neutrality in value chain and logistics - where TME is already making progress by starting to use hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks on its four key logistics routes from Belgium to Germany, France and Netherlands.

In Europe, Toyota's electrified mix is already at 71% and is expected to grow to 75% in 2024, and this will further expand with new battery electric vehicles playing an increasingly significant role in its sales volumes. By 2026, TME will offer around 15 different zero-emission vehicles under the Toyota brand from passenger cars to light commercial vehicles, when Toyota's European BEV mix is expected to be over 20% and more than 250,000 vehicles per annum.

Toyota Motor Europe (TME) presented more details of the upcoming products and technologies that will lead the company towards zero emissions in Europe. It revealed more details on its promise to introduce six dedicated BEV models by 2026, with the presentation of the Urban SUV and Sport Crossover concepts. Those 2 concepts are joining the Compact SUV concept revealed last year and the bZ4X, showing 4 of the 6 models. It also gave insights on the development of next-generation battery technologies that will be rolled out to vehicles beyond 2026.

In Europe, TM's model range will include six dedicated battery-electric vehicles by 2026. In addition to the bZ4X that is already on sale and the Compact SUV concept trailed at last year’s forum, Toyota previewed two further vehicles that will broaden the line-up: an Urban SUV Concept and a Sport Crossover Concept.

The Urban SUV concept is a close-to-production design for a model that next year will enter what’s expected to become one of Europe’s largest BEV market segments. It has authentic SUV design and draws on the success of the hybrid electric Toyota Yaris Cross, a top-selling model in its class. As well as the option of all-wheel drive – a key element for Toyota products – customers will also have two battery choices, to suit their budget or driving range requirements.

The Sport Crossover Concept signals an alternative to SUV models with a distinctive, fastback profile that will make it a style hero for the BEV line-up. It is scheduled for introduction in Europe 2025.

Toyota is also preparing to introduce a series of new batteries, the first of which will be a performance version, designed with a conventional structure but expected to offer twice the driving range and a 20% cost reduction compared to the current bZ4X.

This will be followed by a good quality, low-cost battery that will help popularise BEVs. It will have a new shape, a bipolar structure and use cheaper lithium iron phosphate (LFP) as its principal material. The aim is for this to increase range by 20% and reduce cost by 40% (vs bZ4X).

The third battery to be introduced will focus on high performance, using bipolar technologies and a high nickel cathode. Even lower costs and a further extended driving range are expected.

Turning to the prospect of Toyota’s first solid state batteries, Andrea Carlucci said: “We have made a technological breakthrough that overcomes the long-standing challenge of solid state battery durability. A method for mass production is currently being developed and we are striving for commercialisation in 2027-2028 with production capacity of several tens of thousands of vehicles."

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