Toyota will use the Shanghai auto show next month to unveil a near-production concept of a full-electric utility vehicle that will compete against battery-powered models such as the Tesla Model Y and Volkswagen ID4.
The EV is similar in size to the company's RAV4 crossover.
The vehicle is based on the automaker's new electric-only e-TNGA platform, which the automaker is developing to underpin battery-electric cars for major markets such as China, the U.S. and Europe.
The platform is flexible enough to accommodate body styles including an utility vehicle with three rows of seating, a sporty sedan, a small crossover or a compact car. It can support rear-wheel-, front-wheel- and all-wheel-drive layouts and differing battery sizes ranging from 50 kilowatt hours to 100 kWh.
The utility vehicle will be sold in Europe, the U.S. and China, a Toyota spokesman told Automotive News Europe. The company gave no date for the sales launch but it is expected to reach showrooms next year.
It will be built at Toyota’s so-called ZEV Factory in Japan.
The EV was developed with Subaru, which will launch its version "within the next five years," Subaru said in December.
