Toyota reveals major plans for electric future
TOYOTA recently held its annual State of the Industry (SOMI) address, where it announced the new cars it has planned for South Africa in the foreseeable future.
The next-gen Prado and the new GR-Sport Hilux were mentioned, but perhaps one of the most intriguing reveals of the day was the fact that the Japanese brand is finally making plans to launch its first batteryelectric vehicle (BEV) in Mzansi – the Toyota bZ4X.
It doesn’t stop there as Lexus is also introducing a BEV in the form of the RZ, although EV fans will have to wait a bit longer to get their hands on either of these two cars as they are only scheduled for release in 2025.
The Lexus is pencilled in to launch in January 2025, while the Toyota can be expected a short while after. However, no exact date is available as yet.
Both the RZ and the bZ4X have been hinted for a South African debut for some time already, as the former was first confirmed in March 2023, while the latter was stated to be 'understudy' for our market as far back as August 2022.
As the bZ4X has been on sale in other markets for quite some time, South Africa will get the secondgeneration of the BEV.
The current bZ4X is available in both front-wheel-drive and allwheel-drive specifications, with one and two electric motors, respectively.
The single motor produces 150kW, while the dual motor arrangement (one over each axle) gains 80kW from each source for a combined output of 160kW.
In either case, a 71.4kWh battery is used as the power source, which affords the crossover a driving range of around 460km.
As for the Lexus, the South African-bound RZ units will feature a 'Direct4' all-wheel-drive solution with a 150kW motor over the front axle and an 80kW motor over the rear, producing a combined 230kW and 425Nm.
The car shares a platform with the Toyota bZ4X, meaning it uses the same 71.4kWh power cell with a range of roughly 430km, but its status as the more upmarket of the two cars entails a few added features.
Notably, the RZ will be the first model in South Africa to showcase its 'steer-by-wire' system, where the steering wheel (or yoke) is electronic, with no physical connection to the wheels and offers a highly-variable steering ratio to suit situations like a tight parking lot.
More information on the Lexus RZ and Toyota bZ4X will be shared closer to their launch dates in the first quarter of 2025.