Toyota is considering producing a performance version of its first electric vehicle, the Toyota bZ4X, but will not reveal anything until it is “assured.” According to a source, Toyota’s GR Sport division is considering building a commercial version of the bZ4X GR Sport vehicle. “We are discussing with the GR guys,” Daisuke Ido, the chief engineer of the Toyota bZ4X EV, said in a report, “but it’s still not a solid plan yet.”
When it comes to the performance edition of the EV, Ido noted that the largest problem for the firm is matching the performance of other cars in Toyota’s GR lineup, rather than increasing the power or torque of the electric vehicle. Ido was cited as saying that to make the notion of producing a performance edition of the bZ4X EV a reality, “We can manage any profile with a battery EV, so the feeling is really essential, and we have to work out how to deliver more power with the same mechanism.” That is the difficulty.
The Toyota bZ4X electric car is the first vehicle to utilise Toyota’s new E-TNGA platform in production. It will initially be equipped with a single 201-horsepower motor. The EV will be able to produce up to 215bhp thanks to its twin motor setup. In terms of the GR variation, Toyota debuted a bZ4X GR Sport concept vehicle at the Tokyo Auto Salon in January, but no details about the powertrain were revealed.
In April, Toyota released the bZ4X electric SUV in the United States and Japan. Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 and Kia’s EV6 will be competitors for the electric vehicle. The Toyota bZ4X will be produced in Toyota’s factory in Japan. Toyota anticipates selling 5,000 units of the electric SUV in its first year on the market.
