Toyota Confirms a New Battery-Powered EV Coming for Europe

author: Vineeth Joel Patel   

Toyota has been one of the few automakers that continues to stick with hybrids and fuel-cell vehicles as the powertrains of choice in the future. While other automakers are moving toward battery-powered vehicles, Toyota thinks they're too expensive and not popular enough. We're sure Volkswagen, Ford, General Motors, Tesla, Hyundai, Kia, and Nissan would disagree. Toyota's finally getting on the EV train, announcing that an electric vehicle is on the way.


Europe To Get New EV First


There's not a whole lot of information to go off of, but Toyota provided the sketched outline of the upcoming vehicle above as a hint of what's to come. The EV is set to be revealed within the next few months, so we're sure we're going to get more information on the vehicle within the next few weeks. At the moment, the electric SUV will be similarly sized to the compact Toyota RAV4 and go on sale in Europe within the next few years.


The automaker also included a second picture in the official release, which is one we saw at the same time when Toyota announced its partnership with Subaru in 2019. That leads us to believe this upcoming EV could be the one that the two brands are working on together.


The upcoming electric vehicle will be all-new. Consumers in Europe will be able to purchase the vehicle first, though it's possible that Toyota could bring a version of the EV to the U.S. Subaru will probably come out with an EV that shares a lot of the same components and features, but have different styling and a unique name. Recent rumors point toward Subaru using the Evoltis name.


More EVs Are Coming


As an all-new vehicle, Toyota's electric SUV will also feature a unique platform. Toyota currently uses its TNGA (Toyota New Global Architecture) platform on a lot of its vehicles. The upcoming electric vehicle will be the first to feature e-TNGA. It's a modular platform that will be able to house a variety of battery configurations, electric motor layouts, and drive trains. Just like with its regular vehicles, we're sure Toyota will use the e-TNGA platform on the majority of its upcoming electrified vehicles.


The upcoming electric SUV is just one of 10 zero-emissions vehicles Toyota plans to introduce in Europe by 2025. Six of the 10 will utilize the e-TNGA platform. Lexus also has plans to use the platform for any possible luxury electric vehicles that it looks to build in the future. 


While Toyota is getting ready to introduce a battery-powered electric vehicle in Europe, a report from Automotive News reports that the Japanese brand has a battery-electric model for the U.S. in the "short term," said Toyota North America CEO Tetsuo Ogawa in an interview. In the same interview, Ogawa told the outlet that hybrid powertrains would be the focal point for the automaker going forward.


One can only assume that Toyota will have to introduce electric vehicles for the U.S. market. Numerous automakers are prioritizing fully-electric vehicles in the country, as more and more states announce bans on the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles. EVs are going to become must-have for automakers in the future if a nationwide ban is implemented.

Vineeth Joel Patel

Joel Patel has been covering all aspects of the automotive industry for four years as an editor and freelance writer for various websites. When it comes to cars, he enjoys covering the merger between technology and cars. In his spare time, Joel likes to watch baseball, work on his car, and try new foods