As a toyota that is firmly in the top three global sales, its attitude towards pure electrification has always been "careless". At present, there are two pure electric models on sale, the Yize EV and the C-HR EV, which are actually oil to electricity, and cannot show Toyota's views on electrification.
Toyota's pace in the field of electric vehicles is slightly slow, but this does not mean that it has not been involved. Unlike the bold new forces, Toyota's technical experience in the field of pure electric has been steadily accumulating.
Toyota's change in attitude towards electrification is not blindly following the trend, but based on its nearly 60 years of experience in electric exploration and more than 30 years of pure electric technology accumulation. Especially in December last year, as many as 16 pure electric products covering almost all levels of the market were released in one go.
According to the plan, by 2025, Toyota will launch 15 BEV models worldwide, of which the bZ pure electric exclusive series plans to launch 7 products, and will introduce 5 models to the Chinese market, the "protagonist" of this time, FAW Toyota bZ4X is Toyota's first product in the field of pure electric, and will officially achieve mass production in June.
Toyota's carbon reduction concept
In fact, toyota has always been a pioneer in the field of electrification, and for more than 20 years, Toyota's concept of building electrified cars is not to pursue innovative designs or extremely aggressive performance, but to popularize them.
In fact, Toyota began to explore new energy power technology as early as 1965; in 1977, it launched toyota Sports 800 gas turbine hybrid, in 1991 it launched the pure electric box car Townace Van EV, and in 1993 it officially launched the gasoline-electric hybrid research, and in 1997 the world's first mass-produced hybrid model Prius was born.
In 2011, after the launch of the Prius PHEV, Toyota seemed to be more optimistic about hydrogen energy models, releasing the world's first mass-produced hydrogen fuel cell sedan Mirai in 2014, and releasing a second-generation hydrogen fuel cell Mirai based on the TNGA architecture five years later.
In Toyota's view, the automobile industry needs to eliminate carbon dioxide rather than engines, and the realization of emission reduction in the entire automotive industry chain is a systematic project, which needs to start from the whole life cycle of the automobile, rather than using some new energy to replace fossil energy drive technology.
Therefore, the introduction of new energy vehicles that are "aimed at reducing carbon emissions but cannot be popularized" is meaningless to reduce carbon. According to the data, Toyota's HEV-based electrified models have accumulated more than 18 million vehicles worldwide, reducing the consumption of 52 billion liters of gasoline and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 140 million tons, and HEV has been the absolute main force.
The "bZ" of Toyota's exclusive series of pure electric vehicles means "beyond Zero", Chinese translated as "different freedom", aiming to create value beyond zero emissions. Its launch means that Toyota believes that the time has come to achieve its goals.
The bZ series adheres to the core of "people-oriented", and the bZ pure electric exclusive series supports the brand value with the four core values of "people and people", "people and cars", "people and society" and "people and nature". Whether it is the environment in which people coexist in the car, the driving pleasure of people and cars, the safety responsibility of people and society, or the energy conservation and environmental protection of harmonious coexistence between man and nature, all of which are integrated into Toyota's thinking and practice on future travel and social responsibility.
The continuation and innovation of bZ4X
Returning to the product itself, FAW Toyota bZ4X is the first model to land the exclusive e-TNGA architecture, and it is also Toyota's first e-TNGA model in China. TNGA is not only a production structure, it is a comprehensive innovation of Toyota's production methods, technical bottlenecks, organizational systems, and car manufacturing concepts.
In terms of design, the bZ4X is not much different from the previously released concept car, with bev's unique hammerhead shark design, and the overall design style continues TNGA's previous design elements.
The lines are angular, but they are not as exaggerated as other manufacturers' pure trams seem. In addition, thanks to the unique layout of the exclusive e-TNGA architecture, the bZ4X has a wheelbase of 2850 mm and a distance of 1000 mm for passengers in the front and rear rows, which is comparable to mid-to-high-end cars.
Toyota has also worked the interior part of the new car, and the design of the dashboard is very combative, and there is a feeling of being in the future. Not only that, the bZ4X top-of-the-line model is equipped with a special-shaped steering wheel for the first time, bringing users a new handling experience, and the design and use of materials show Toyota's new ideas, but whether this can be quickly accepted by Volkswagen is still a question.
The suspended central control screen measures 12.3 inches and is built into Toyota's latest multimedia control system, with much better resolution and fluency than Toyota's existing systems. And in addition to regular modules such as navigation and Bluetooth, the car also supports smart features such as voice recognition and OTA upgrades. In addition, the new car also adopts a knob shift mechanism.
In addition, in terms of technology configuration, the new car will also be equipped with X MODE function and equipped with "Grip-Control" to achieve excellent performance to get rid of difficulties. In addition, bZ4X also has a solar charging dome, which can use solar power to generate 12V power or power battery, and the energy absorbed each year can be used for vehicles to travel about 1800 kilometers, making bZ4X a BEV model that can generate its own electricity, and truly achieve low carbon and energy saving.
According to the current information, FAW Toyota bZ4X is equipped with a 71.4kWh battery pack, which will use ternary lithium batteries in the Ningde era after domestic production, and the end time may be available in 400 km and 500 km versions.
As far as the development trend in recent years is concerned, electric vehicles are unstoppable, and it is only a matter of time before they replace traditional fuel vehicles. The launch of FAW Toyota bZ4X is obviously Toyota's foundation for the future of smart cars.
At present, Toyota has 9 million customers in China, it is only a matter of time to reach the tens of millions, more and more users of electric vehicles, but no one will ignore the existence of Toyota, "late but arriving" plus its huge volume and financial support, it should not be difficult to achieve overtaking.