Check Out Its Tesla-Like Interior
- Toyota will introduce a three-row SUV on Feb. 10.
- It could possibly be its long-awaited electric SUV.
- It will likely feature Toyota’s next-generation Arene software-defined vehicle (SDV) platform.
Toyota might be track to have its biggest year so far for its electrification efforts. The automaker’s EV lineup already includes three new or refreshed models, including the updated bZ, the new C-HR and the bZ Woodland. We’ve also long known that a new three-row SUV has been in the pipeline. Now, Toyota has offered the clearest look yet at what that vehicle could be, starting with its interior.
Toyota teased the SUV’s rear exterior design last week, revealing a boxy silhouette and a full-width LED light bar. The automaker teased its interior and how the vehicle would sound on Monday, making it clear that it is aiming for a high-tech, modern three-row SUV, which will possibly be electric. The automaker said “big energy” in the press release, which makes the powertrain all the more ambiguous.
Photo by: Toyota
The cabin appears to be a significant step up from the current bZ, which mixes large screens with physical buttons and plenty of hard plastics. By contrast, this three-row SUV looks far more premium, with Volvo-esque minimalism and Tesla-style digital real estate. A massive center touchscreen dominates the dashboard, complemented by a digital gauge cluster, captain’s chairs with armrests and a panoramic sunroof.
Toyota still hasn’t disclosed the name or exact positioning of the SUV, but there are plenty of clues. The automaker teased a bZ Large SUV at its Beyond Zero event in Japan back in 2021. In 2023, it showed off the Land Cruiser Se concept, the battery-powered version of its iconic off-roader. And there have been several reports of an electric Highlander in the pipeline.
Photo by: Toyota
Toyota has also said it’s developing a family-focused electric SUV specifically for the U.S. market, to be built at its Kentucky plant. Design changes reportedly pushed the launch to this year. Given all of that, something like a bZ Highlander seems like the most logical outcome here, but we won’t know for sure until Feb. 10, when Toyota is set to fully unveil the model.
Beyond its basic technical specifications, software will be an important area to keep an eye on. After years of being labeled an EV laggard, Toyota has been working to accelerate its electrification and software efforts. We got a glimpse of that shift with the new RAV4, which debuts Toyota’s Arene software-defined vehicle platform. That system brings highly customizable, smartphone-like screens and more conversational voice commands, features that have become table stakes in modern EVs.
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Source: Toyota
This upcoming SUV may have something similar to the new RAV4, or potentially go further with a fully centralized electrical architecture and true SDV underpinnings.
That said, the timing of all this is critical. EV sales are hitting a reset after the end of the federal tax credits. If Toyota’s three-row SUV turn out to be electric, it will enter a segment that’s rapidly intensifying, with competitors like the Cadillac Vistiq, Cadillac Escalade IQ, Hyundai Ioniq 9, Kia EV9, Rivian R1S and the Tesla Model X. Although Tesla will discontinue the Model X at the end of this quarter. It’s a crowded field, and Toyota is arriving later than most.
Still, Toyota may have an advantage here that its rivals don’t. Surveys have consistently shown that Americans believe Toyota and Honda make the best EVs—even though that perception is not grounded in reality. Although the automaker now has a real opportunity to show that it can make a properly high-tech EV with great software and maybe even bring back some momentum to the broader EV market in what could be a year of uneven sales.
Contact the author: suvrat.kothari@insideevs.com
