Toyota Electric SUV For India To Have Real World Range Of 500 Km

Toyota-Maruti Suzuki midsize electric SUV is expected to be priced in the Rs. 13-15 lakh range (ex-showroom) upon likely arrival in 2025

Toyota and Maruti Suzuki are working on a global midsize electric SUV and it will serve as each brand’s first major assault in the EV space. The five-seater will reportedly sit on a skateboard architecture known as 27PL and is derived from Toyota’s 40PL. With high local content and battery sourcing, the e-SUV is expected to be priced in the Rs. 13-15 lakh range (ex-showroom).

It will have an estimated length of close to 4.3 metres, 1.8 metres in width and it could stand 1.6 metres in height with a wheelbase length of 2.7 metres. Thus, the electric SUV will have larger proportions than the best-selling passenger EV in the country, the Tata Nexon EV, and it could be somewhere close to the size of the recently facelifted MG ZS EV.

Toyota and Maruti will likely look to take the size advantage from the get-go and offer the midsize electric SUV in a competitive price bracket and more importantly, with a higher real-world range. Both iterations will be rolled out of Suzuki’s plant in Gujarat for the domestic as well as foreign markets and they will be bigger than the ICE Hyundai Creta.

The presence of an electric skateboard will enable optimal battery packaging and a long wheelbase meant a more spacious cabin. Expect the design of the Toyota SUV to draw influence from the bZ4X – the first dedicated electric crossover from the Japanese company based on the modular eTNGA platform. The SUV will reportedly be sold in 2WD and AWD configurations upon arrival by the middle of this decade.

As for the performance, a 48 kWh battery pack and an electric motor will pump out 138 hp and it will be good enough for an estimated driving range of 400 km while the larger 59 kWh battery pack will supply energy to two electric motors developing 170 hp. It will have an approximate drive range of 500 km on a single charge in real-world conditions.

Up next, Toyota is expected to launch a heavily updated Urban Cruiser following the debut of the new Vitara Brezza in the coming months. Later this year, a new midsize SUV directly rivalling Hyundai Creta will arrive based on the DNGA platform.