Shock! Toyota reveals brand new battery electric car line-up

Toyota has today unveiled its strategy for carbon neutrality, which involves a massive swathe of brand new electric cars. “Welcome to our showroom of the future,” boss Akio Toyoda proudly states.

Indeed. The company is planning on 30 battery-electric models by the year 2030; a mixture of adding cells to existing cars, but also a brand new line-up. Stuff like the delightful Lexus supercar that brings back the spirit of the LFA, and indeed the dinky mid-engined BEV that looks set to resurrect the fabled MR2 (oh how we live in hope).

Toyoda breaks down the new plan with two vehicle streams – one of ‘carbon reducing’ cars, the other ‘carbon neutral’.

There’s mention of the bZ4X – a car, not a printer cartridge – developed in conjunction with Subaru. Alongside that, there’ll be another slightly smaller version, dubbed the ‘bZ Small Crossover’. That’s a small electric car designed for Europe and Japan, and “the most compact SUV in the series”, alongside a mid-sized ‘bZ Compact SUV’ that looks… really good, actually.

There’s a commercial ‘Mid Box’ which literally looks like a box, a ‘Micro Box’ (guess what that is), another crossover, a ‘Compact Cruiser EV’ that looks like a smaller Land Cruiser, and a socking great pick-up.

Over on the Lexus stable, there’s that LFA successor, the RZ – another SUV – and a simply gorgeous looking “Electrified Sedan”. That’s right, rumours of the the fast, pretty saloon’s demise appear to have been greatly exaggerated.

Indeed, Toyoda promises Lexus will turn into an e-brand focused on a “driving signature”, while overall the brand is invested in developing solid-state batteries (and has been since 2008, actually). There are plans to sell 3.5 million battery-electric cars per year by 2030.

“At Toyota we believe that truly good products create new experiences for the customer, enhancing their chosen lifestyle directions,” Toyoda said. “From that point of view, each electric vehicle should be unique and special, not only those on dedicated platforms but also those related to existing models.”

Lot to take in, no? Tell us below which one you’re most excited about.