Toyota President Akio Toyoda Unwraps 15 Concepts for Upcoming Toyota and Lexus Electric Cars

Toyota president Akio Toyoda unpacked no fewer than 15 very different concepts for Toyota and Lexus’ upcoming electric cars as he outlined the two companies’ plans to introduce a total of 30 battery-powered electric vehicles by 2030.

Alongside Toyota’s first bespoke electric car, the bZ4X, the vehicles on show included a range of new SUVs, utility vehicles, off-roaders, and a Lexus LFA-inspired supercar.

Toyoda revealed a bold strategy for the two companies to sell around 3.5 million battery-electric cars by 2030. He stated that “we need to reduce emissions as much as possible as soon as possible” and that the brands will “expand options for carbon-neutral vehicles” powered by “clean” energy.

Toyota and Lexus’ plan to sell 3.5 million electric cars, including BEVs and FCEVs, by 2030 is higher than the previous target of two million. Toyoda compares this target with Daimler, PSA and other manufacturers, which have comparable volumes to Toyota globally.

“We are talking about a significant volume here,” he said.

The company has increased its investment in battery development by 500 billion—¥ 3.3 billion to ¥2 trillion (£13.3 billion).

He pointed to the difference between carbon-neutral and carbon-reduced vehicles, stressing that the energy source used to power the company’s EVs is one of the essential factors in the strategy. Toyota and Lexus, he said, will achieve carbon neutrality by 2035.

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He began by showing concepts for the electric cars called by that will follow the launch of the new bZ4X SUV shortly: a compact SUV with “a beautiful silhouette”, an Aygo X-inspired urban SUV for Japan and Europe, a mid-size sedan “that meets expectations for a first car” and a full-size SUV.

These are the company’s “affordable” production models, but a further 11 models unveiled underline the diversity of electric cars planned by Toyota and Lexus; in addition to small commercial city cars, large SUVs, a pick-up and even two supercars were unveiled.

Simon Humphreys, Senior General Manager of Design, said the variety of electric vehicles on display showed Toyota and Lexus‘ belief that “future electric vehicles should be unique and special”.

Some of the future electric vehicles will be based on existing models, according to Toyoda, and indeed some of the concepts bear a resemblance to current models, including the Toyota Hilux and Lexus NX, but others will be entirely new, bespoke models based on the brand’s new e- TNGA EV platform developed with Subaru.

Details of the individual models have not yet been revealed, but Toyoda announced that Lexus will launch electric cars in all segments by 2030, switch to electric vehicles in Europe, North America and China by 2030 and do away with internal combustion engines altogether 2035.

Lexus will launch its first bespoke electric vehicle, the RZ Crossover, in 2022, based on the same e-TNGA architecture as the Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra. After that, Lexus will launch a whole range of electric cars, which, according to the concepts shown, will include an SUV the size of the RX, a sedan the size of IS and a true supercar.

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