Auto manufacturers have this weird thing where they’ll introduce new vehicles based not on what the market is trending towards, but instead what they think people should want, cultural context notwithstanding. The result tends to be an unappealing bubble. Sure, that bubble might make sense if your focus is solely functional. But, as the existence of trucks in cities proves, focusing on needs isn’t what sells vehicles.
More often than not, these concepts die on the vine, a brief attempt at shaming an SUV-buying public for not accepting that a shapeless bubble offering outrageous travel range and minimal performance is what they need. They shut these projects down and return to building SUVs and trucks and other vehicles that may not be necessary, but sure do sell.
Toyota’s been one of the companies that have pushed some of these concepts through to production, finding a sizeable enough niche in their buyers market to launch these ideal compromises. Such is the Prius. In fact, doing some research, it seems that there’s a whole family of… Priuses? Prii? Whatever they’re called, the hybrid gas/electric lineup sacrifices some of what many consider necessary (style, performance) in exchange for meeting the bare necessities.
The First Toyota EV Offers Low Range, Low Speed, Low Sense of Purpose
We’ve recently covered another non-gas option Toyota offers, the soon-to-be-far-more-attractive Mirai. Swapping out the cumbersome hybrid powertrain of the Prius for fuel cells, it’s a stately looking sedan built on a rear-drive platform. And while it offers an alternative to fossil fuels, it doesn’t forgo style to achieve it.
It’s a shame, then, that
the first Toyota EV to run solely off of batteries is a massive leap backward. Looking like a Smart car, it suggests nothing more than a minimalist approach to meeting one’s vehicular needs. It features none of the (way too) aggressive styling inflicting the rest of Toyota’s lineup. Nor does it have any of the classier looks of the second-gen Mirai.
Instead, it’s a box. With four wheels, some seats and a little battery-powered engine. It’ll hit 60 km/h and travel 100km.
Something says that this will resemble Smart cars in more ways than one…
