All-electric C-HR breaks cover in Beijing
OFFICIAL
TOYOTA unveiled a battery-electric C-HR crossover at the Beijing show. It will launch in China in 2020, but there are no plans yet to bring it to Europe.
The C-HR EV forms part of the brand’s pledge to launch 10 electric cars in China by the end of 2020. Plug-in versions of the (not-for-uk) Corolla and Levin will be introduced before the end of the decade.
All three of these new models will be supported by localised production of electric motors, batteries and invertors, along with “other core technologies” for vehicle electrification. Toyota will open a new battery testing facility in China in 2020 and bolster its other R&D and production bases in the region.
The brand has revealed no further information about the electric C-HR, with no details on power, range or performance available as yet.
However, we do knoww it will be the first pure EV on the TNGA platform, which also underpins the Prius and forthcoming RAV4. The architecture will form the basis of future Lexus models, such as the next-generation CT, too.
The marque is investing heavily in China because the country’s demand for electric carss continues to soar. In 2017, the firm sold 140,000 electrified vehicles in China alone.
Toyota’s China boss Kazuhiro Kobayashi said: “We arere steadily and confidently advancing all aspects of our environmental strategy in China, the world’s most advanced country in electrification.”