A plug-in version of the RAV4 and a fully electric car have been cited to join more mild hybrids heading into Toyota’s local showroom.

FIVE more mild hybrids, a plug-in replenished battery-assisted model and a fully electric car are on Toyota’s national agenda, though sign-off for several – including the EV – has yet to be fully sorted. 

What’s being sought and when it might arrive, all going to plan, has been shared by Toyota New Zealand.

Aside from the Yaris Hybrid covered extensively this week, the roll-out starts with another hybrid CH-R, but in a sportier-looking format that leverages the GR (Gazoo Racing) pitch that TNZ continues to develop. It’ll be here before the end of the year.

Following, apparently in the first half of 2021, are two vital volume products. The heavily revised Camry and a new Highlander, are also primarily – if not wholly – running battery-fed petrol drivetrains next year. So, if you still prefer a petrol V6, act fast. That choice will not transfer to the new lines.

Also tied down for New Zealand introduction, but with time yet to be fully sorted, is a hybrid Hilux. Toyota New Zealand’s chief executive, Neeraj Lala, says he hopes to see it in the latter part of next year, but accepts release could yet spill into 2022.

So that’s five: What else is in the thought stream? Two potential big-hitters that draw off mains power.

There’s the RAV4 PHEV/Prime, which replenishes its plug-in petrol-electric drivetrain off the grid. After debuting in North America last year, it’s now being built in right-hand-drive in Japan, but only for sale there at this time.

In this variant the front motor and inverter achieve more powerful output than the RAV4 hybrid system, the maximum system output cited at 225kW, which Toyota says, facilitates a 0-100kmh time of six seconds and “sporty, powerful driving”. 

The make also claims a wholly electric driving range of 95 kilometres. That’s well above the cited range for Japan’s only logical competitor already sold here, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. The EV range, and the car’s claimed total range of 1300km, is a calculation based on Japan domestic market processes.

Lala is keen to see it and says introduction as a domestic Japan model is a good thing.

“We’ve asked Toyota Motor Corporation if that car can be made available to New Zealand. We have not had confirmation yet but it is a car we would definitely like to have in our market. 

For 2021? He hopes so. One alternate option for TNZ is to introduce it as a brand-backed used import, via the Signature Class channel, but Lala’s preference would be to represent it as a brand-new product.

But that can take time. “Introducing a new car isn’t easy … there has to be a lot of testing and compliance to ensure it meets our conditions. But generally, if something has been available as Japanese domestic it has been pretty much a safe choice for NZ compliance so we’re hoping there won’t be too many hoops to jump through.”

And then the ultimate step …  a fully electric product. Which is what exactly; a completely new model or something based off an existing product?

No help here, from Lala. He’s sworn to absolute secrecy. “I cannot tell you anything about it.”

That doesn’t mean nothing is known. Toyota’s determination to branch away from being the global kingpin in hybrid drivetrains and start plugging into the zero emissions EV-sphere was announced 14 months ago, when it announced intention to create pure electrics not only for itself but also for other Japanese marques in which it has tech agreements.

Toyota then unveiled a new platform with enough flexibility to entertain what could be a very wide span of different kinds of vehicle – from small city cars to large sports utilities – using a "next step" solid state battery it also racing to get into production.

The starter project is an all-electric platform for midsize and large vehicles jointly developed with Subaru. Those brands are also working together to produce an electric crossover far more advanced than the mild hybrid Forester and XV recently launched here.

That vehicle, which will be sold separately under each brand, will debut in the early 2020s and, though the US is cited as a main target market, other countries where Subaru performs well (and that’s NZ) are expected to stand a chance.

Toyota is also working with Suzuki and Daihatsu to jointly develop a compact EV.

It revealed last year that its new platform would initially underpin six variations in all - a large SUV, a medium SUV, a medium crossover, a medium minivan, a medium sedan and the compact. Styling concepts of these proposals were presented at a forum on June 7.

TNZ’s intention to take an EV is an acknowledgement, after years of denial, that nothing less than a fully electric car with actual external recharging functionality has become a must-have in this market.

Even though it has long delivered battery-involved cars across the Toyota and Lexus line-ups that have a degree of regenerative capability, presently only one product in the showroom – Prius Prime PHEV – even counts as an EV.

That’s why Government departments and companies looking to include EVs in their fleets have had to bypass the Camry, Corolla, RAV4 and Prius mild (non mains-replenished) hybrids.

Toyota Motor Corporation has said its EV deployment plans will not slow down its hybrid imprint; hence why TNZ – which has 17 already, just two less than Lexus – is able and keen add more.

Yet Japan headquarters has also acknowledged a "sudden surge" of international EV popularisation – and the repercussion of increasingly stringent emissions requirements in China and Europe - has meant it has to reconsider its thinking, which until now has been that electrics are an unnecessary step between its petrol-electric hybrids and the hydrogen fuel cell vehicles it still sees as being the ultimate cars of the future.

Accordingly, it cites that of the 5.5 million battery-assisted vehicles it aims to build by 2025, almost one million might well be pure EVs.

TMC had intended to showcase unveil a solid-state battery for electrified vehicles ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which were to have begun this week but instead have been delayed until 2021, assuming the world is by then on top of the coronavirus crisis that has caused so much disruption since March.

Solid state technology promises lighter, more powerful and safer batteries and could well be a breakthrough in popularising EVs.

Toyota is still forging ahead with a plan to start making EVs in China, purely for sale in that country. The first was expected to be a variant of the CH-R.

The new dedicated EV platform it has developed with partners is dubbed e-TNGA, a play on the company's new-generation Toyota New Global Architecture modular platform used by Corolla, Camry, RAV4 and the latest Yaris, also about to come on sale here, including in a mild hybrid form.

Toyota’s decision to also give Hilux a hybrid drivetrain was announced some months ago. Lala ‘s enthusiasm for this product is very high; he sees a big potential. Some others in the sector are looking to going all-electric – just this week the New Zealand importer for the LDV brand reckoned it will have a purely battery-compelled edition of the current T60 ute here next year. Production is set to kick off in the second quarter, with NZ market arrivals stated to start in the third quarter. Detail about the potential range, outputs and price ate still under wraps. LDV already has an electric van in the market with another on the way.

It’s far from clear whether a Hilux hybrid will be petrol-electric or diesel-electric. The latter would be a first for Toyota, which favours petrol-electric hybrid technology over diesel in its passenger car line-up.