Toyota executives have paved the way for an electric performance car from the brand’s Gazoo Racing division, assuring enthusiasts the Japanese car giant’s electric cars will “appeal to the car lovers”.
Toyota executives have assured fans that electric cars from the world’s biggest car maker won’t be boring – opening the door for the Japanese giant’s Gazoo Racing performance division to live on in the electric era.
Late last year Toyota revealed a fleet of up to 20 new electric sedan, SUV, ute and hatchback concepts, most of which were said to preview the 30 new electric vehicles (EVs) the car giant plans to launch by the end of the decade.
Included in the mix was a pair of sports cars – one with Toyota Gazoo Racing badging and proportions not dissimilar to the iconic mid-engined MR2 sports car (below), sparking hope Toyota’s recent performance car onslaught will continue once the brand begins the switch to electric power.
Speaking at the Tokyo Auto Salon event last month, Toyota president Akio Toyoda assured car enthusiasts would not be left behind in Toyota’s electric car rollout, and hinted at how motorsport-bred performance cars like the GR Yaris could be reimagined with batteries and electricity.
“We are going after all the options [petrol, electric, etc] with 100 per cent of our energy. We are going to appeal to the drivers and the car lovers, as close as possible,” the executive said during the live-streamed press conference.
Koji Sato, president of Toyota Gazoo Racing and Lexus, added: “We are going to have a lot of expectations in [battery-electric vehicles] in the future of the ‘taste’ of driving.
“We really have to enhance the base performance of a car [to make it fun to drive] – make it lighter, enhance the power. And motorsport is a venue for honing the base performance of [any] car,” he continued.
“We [must] go back to the basic level of the car and hone each and every [aspect of] performance. Based on that experience, we [will] develop [our battery-electric vehicles],” said Sato.
While such a model is yet to be confirmed, the Toyota executives’ remarks pave the way for the introduction of an all-electric Toyota Gazoo Racing performance car – either as a standalone model, such as the two-seat ‘Sports EV’ roadster shown, or a high-performance version of a regular Toyota vehicle.
Akio Toyoda stated during the reveal of the electric car concepts last year that “most of the [13] Toyota battery EVs that we introduced here … will be coming out in the next few years” – suggesting the Sports EV concept could see the light of day in a future Toyota showroom.
Toyota Gazoo Racing has indicated its future production models will be “motorsport-bred” – meaning that much like the GR Yaris hot hatch, which was built primarily for success in the World Rally Championship, some future GR road cars will be developed first as race cars, from which road-going versions will be adapted.
Should Gazoo Racing adopt a similar strategy for its first electric car, options available to the company include a Corolla-sized hatchback for the ETCR touring car series, a smaller GR Yaris-sized hatch for electric rallycross racing, or a high-end sports car for the upcoming Electric GT championship.
The reveal of the two-seat Sports EV concept follows persistent rumours out of Japan in recent years that Toyota is working on a new mid-engined sports car with another car maker as a partner – similar to Toyota’s relationship with Subaru and BMW to create the GR86 and GR Supra respectively.
However, these rumours – which have yet to materialise in showroom-ready form – discuss a petrol-powered (rather than electric) sports car, and do not reach a consensus on the company Toyota will choose as a partner, with publications suggesting brands from city car maker Suzuki to British specialist Lotus.
The most powerful electric vehicle revealed by the Toyota group to date is the Lexus LF-Z Electrified concept, which features dual electric motors and a 90kWh battery pack for claimed outputs of 400kW and 700Nm, and a three-second 0-100km/h time.
The concept – along with upcoming Lexus electric production cars – features the car maker’s Direct4 all-wheel-drive technology, allowing the torque split between the front and rear axles to be controlled in real time based on speed, accelerator input and steering angle for optimal performance.
Expect to hear more about Toyota’s plans for its Gazoo Racing performance division in the electric car era once the Japanese car giant’s zero tailpipe emissions cars begin rolling out en masse in the coming years.
The post Toyota opens door to electric performance cars appeared first on Drive.
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