Toyota Prepping Unexpected Surprise For BMW

Toyota recently reaffirmed its commitment to internal combustion engines for the foreseeable future yet significant resources are still being put towards new all-electric models. The first pure battery-electric will be the 2022 Toyota bZ4X crossover, sister ship to the also just-announced Subaru Solterra. But there are two other critical things to know: the "bZ" moniker will be applied to additional Toyota EVs and the vehicle's dedicated platform, called e-TNGA, will serve as the basis for those future models.

According to a report coming from Japan's Spyder7, one of those vehicles is an all-electric BMW-fighting Toyota sedan. Details are not very specific at this time, but the report claims this new "bZ" model will be the second in the series and could be as big as the BMW 5 Series.

It'll have a four-door coupe body style and a number of bZ4X exterior design elements, such as the unique "one-stroke" headlight styling, will be carried over. In general, expect sporty styling emphasizing Toyota's commitment to "emotional" cars. And because it shares its bones with the crossover, this still unnamed sedan will receive new technologies such as an all-wheel drive system, regenerative braking, and possibly solar charging designed to charge the vehicle even at a standstill. It doesn't appear Subaru is planning its own EV sedan at this time; a fully electrified Outback-like wagon is likely to arrive before anything else.

Assuming Toyota is indeed pursuing an all-electric sedan, it's not expected to debut until after the bZ4X has had its time in the limelight, meaning 2023 at the earliest.