Toyota has announced two different models of electric cars for China

April 21, 2023: This week, Toyota began taking orders for its initial electric sedan in China and revealed that two more models would arrive in the local market in the coming year.

The three vehicles are part of the Japanese car company’s bZ, or “beyond zero” lineup of battery-electric cars. Toyota, the significant automaker in vehicles sold, has been cautious about investigating completely electric cars.

The bZ3 electric sedan started in October, received 5,000 orders Sunday after starting sales that day, according to Toyota’s joint venture with the Chinese state, which automaker FAW owns. Deliveries are beginning this year, according to an official WeChat account post.

BZ3′s battery comes from BYD, and the driving range on a single charge is well above 500 kilometres (310 miles). Prices start at 169,800 yuan ($24,643). That’s down from the starting price of 189,800 yuan announced in December.

Comparatively, BYD’s Han sedan begins at 209,800 yuan. Tesla’s Model 3 began at 229,900 yuan in China.

Toyota’s prices released electric bZ4x SUV starts at 199,800 yuan. However, the car has yet to sell at volume, while the China Passenger Car Association stated that Rav4 was the sixth-most-sold SUV in China in the previous year.

On Tuesday, this year’s Shanghai auto show, Toyota held the global start of the “bZ Sport Crossover Concept” and the “bZ FlexSpace Concept.” The firm said both cars are set to launch in China next year.

The bZ sports car concept sedan is developed by Toyota, BYD and Chinese state-owned FAW. For years, foreign automakers in China could not completely own car manufacturing and had to work with partners.

The bZ “FlexSpace” idea SUV is a collaboration between Toyota and state-owned GAC.

Toyota is also still producing hydrogen as a source of power. The company said at the auto that its first factory dedicated to hydrogen fuel systems in Japan would begin production in Beijing next year.

Sales of battery-powered and hybrid people cars have increased over the last few years in China, supported by the administration’s policies to boost the penetration of that category of new energy vehicles.