Toyota is planning to unveil its next-generation electric vehicle (EV) concept at the upcoming Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo this fall. The automaker has promised that this concept car will be a completely reinvented and innovative vehicle that sets a new benchmark for the global EV race. Toyota's CEO, Koji Sato, announced that the company will also be investing an additional $7.44 billion into EV development and production through the end of this decade, bringing Toyota's total commitment to $37.19 billion in this period, Automotive News reports.
This new EV, scheduled to be launched in 2026, is anticipated to be a super-slick and sporty offering, as seen in the teaser image released by Toyota. The image reveals a wedge-shaped silhouette with a long wheelbase, tucked-down nose, raked windshield, and fastback rear. According to Toyota's Chief Technology Officer Hiroki Nakajima, the driving themes for this vehicle will be "greater efficiency" and designs that "set hearts racing."
Toyota's newly christened in-house EV development center, called the BEV Factory, will be a siloed, laser-focused operation charged with reinventing Toyota's approach to EVs on everything from chassis and software to batteries and production. The new dedicated EV architecture will enable Toyota's future EVs to double their range, thanks to more efficient battery use, and require half the investment and development resources.
Toyota's CEO, Koji Sato, stated that the company's first stage comprises the rollout of all its EVs currently on the market, including such nameplates as the bZ4X crossover. From now, Toyota enters the second phase, when it will quickly incorporate learnings and improvements from those EVs into forthcoming model introductions. That stage will last until around 2026, when the automaker will have built up enough capacity to sell some 1.5 million EVs globally.
In the third phase, starting in 2026, Toyota will launch its next-generation EVs. Those entries will get a completely new EV platform along with its Arene software system for cars. That will allow Toyota to leverage a new vehicle software system to unlock new revenue streams, business models, and hyper-efficient product development cycles.
Toyota is now rethinking its entire manufacturing approach for EVs. Among the possible goals outlined by Nakajima was halving the length of assembly lines. "We will have a wholesale change of the manufacturing process," Nakajima said.
The concept cars will be displayed at the Japan Mobility Show, the new name for what used to be called the Tokyo auto show. The event runs from October 26 to November 5 in Tokyo. Toyota has invited the public to see the concept models and give feedback. This is an opportunity for car enthusiasts and Toyota fans to get an up-close look at the new EV and provide valuable feedback to the company.
If there is an opportunity to attend the auto show and report from there first hand about Toyota's new EV concept, I will, God willing, travel to Japan and reporter from there for you guys. So keep an eye on Torque News for that.
Armen Hareyan is the founder and the Editor in Chief of Torque News. He founded TorqueNews.com in 2010, which since then has been publishing expert news and analysis about the automotive industry. He can be reached at Torque News Twitter, Facebok, Linkedin and Youtube.
