Toyota to build EV in China

BEIJING -- Toyota Motor Corp. will launch a small electric sedan, powered by BYD Co. batteries and produced and sold in China.

The Japanese automaker said the car would be called the Toyota bZ3. It did not say when the vehicle will be available in showrooms.

It is the second model in the new Beyond Zero (bZ) series of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from Toyota, which has been criticized by activists and green investors for not embracing BEVs quickly enough.

Toyota had planned to unveil the bZ3, which uses BYD's less bulky Blade batteries, at the Beijing auto show in April, but the event was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, people familiar with the matter have told Reuters.

The bZ3 was developed jointly by Toyota and BYD, Toyota said on Monday.