At the Shanghai auto show, Toyota and its Chinese partners have revealed a pair of EV concepts in the “bZ” electric vehicle family that preview models that will be sold in China in 2024. One is a sleek, angular SUV and the other is a larger, much more conventional design, but both are signs of life for a brand that’s been struggling to keep up with the fresh wave of new electric vehicles.
Toyota has formed a joint venture with BYD and FAW, two Chinese automakers, and its Chinese subsidiary Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing (TMEC), to build the eventual production version of the bZ Sport Crossover, which will be sold by FAW Toyota Motor. The concept, with a rakish roofline and slim greenhouse, looks like a handsomer (and longer) mashup of the bZ4X currently on sale and the Toyota Crown hybrid sedan-crossover mashup. It’ll likely change somewhat for production, but we expect the final model to look similar overall.
Inside, the concept has a very concept-y layout, with a flat, shelf-like dash mounted low against a wrap-around bullhead of sorts, with a pair of screens mounted on top—an interesting, if fanciful, interior layout. It does appear to give an unobstructed line of sight over the screens onto the road, while still allowing the screens to stand proud of the dash for a bold look. We’ll see what the production version looks like.
Meanwhile, the bZ FlexSpace Concept will be developed by a different joint venture with Guangzhou Automotive Group (GAC) and TMEC, and is a more conventional and utilitarian MPV-like vehicle with a two-box shape and tall flanks. No one’s going to mistake it for Kia’s dramatic electric SUV, the handsome EV9, but at least it has some interesting garnish on its lower bits—some hash-mark like trim gives it some visual texture.
The interior is likewise a little tamer than the Sport Crossover, but with a similarly inset and mostly horizontal dash arrangement with a single central screen and what looks to be a projected gauge cluster on a small, transparent panel.
We don’t imagine either will reach the U.S., but they may influence U.S. product design. Toyota plans to introduce 10 new EV models by 2026, and these count as two towards that goal.
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