At Toyota Motor Europe’s (TME) 2023 Kenshiki event, a team of executives presented the company’s latest electrified products and technologies. Kenshiki means “insight” in Japanese; this year’s edition, with an audience of more than 300 media, focused on the battery electric and hydrogen vehicles which will play a significant role in the company’s multi pathway strategy in the years ahead.

The line-up of future Toyota and Lexus battery electric vehicles presented at Kenshiki are intended to appear on European roads in the coming years—including the Lexus LF-ZC, Toyota FT-Se Toyota FT-3e, Toyota Sport Crossover concept and the Toyota Urban SUV concept.

Last year, TME announced its goal of achieving full carbon neutrality in Europe by 2040. SBTi Scope 1 & 2 carbon neutrality will be achieved in its European operations and manufacturing facilities by 2030.

For Scope 3, Toyota will achieve 100% CO₂ reduction in new vehicles sales in 2035 and, by 2040, full carbon neutrality in value chain and logistics—where TME is already making progress by starting to use hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks on its four key logistics routes from Belgium to Germany, France and Netherlands.

In Europe, Toyota’s electrified mix is already at 71% and is expected to grow to 75% in 2024. This will further expand with new battery electric vehicles playing an increasingly significant role in its sales volumes.

By 2026, TME will offer around 15 different zero emission vehicles under the Toyota brand from passenger cars to light commercial vehicles, when Toyota’s European BEV mix is expected to be more than 20% and more than 250,000 vehicles per annum. tear

Toyota’s hydrogen strategy reaches across several mobility sectors; in the passenger car segment, it offers the Mirai and newly launched Crown. In the commercial sector, TME’s Hydrogen Factory Europe is integrating its current fuel cell technology into trucks, buses, coaches, boats and pick up trucks as seen in the hydrogen fuel cell Hilux prototype presented at Kenshiki.

Hydrogen technology will be further advanced when Toyota launches its third generation fuel cell systems in 2026.

Urban SUV Concept. Toyota provided a preview of its future battery electric vehicle (BEV) strategy for Europe with the unveiling of the new Urban SUV Concept at the Kenshiki forum. The concept car hints at a production version of a new dedicated battery-electric vehicle, planned for market launch in 2024.

2023 Urban SUV Concept

The new vehicle will be the most compact and accessible in a planned six-model dedicated BEV line-up and will compete in the B-SUV segment, which Toyota predicts will be one of the largest markets for BEVs in Europe.

Both front and all-wheel drive powertrains will be available, with AWD being a key part of Toyota’s product DNA. Similarly, the production model will offer a dual battery strategy: customers will be able to choose between two battery options, with different capacities to suit their needs and priority for accessibility or driving range.

Further details and the production model will be announced during 2024.

Toyota Sport Crossover Concept. Toyota presented its Sport Crossover Concept for the first time in Europe, previewing a new battery electric model that will join its electrified range by 2025.

Sport Crossover Concept

The Sport Crossover Concept was first presented at Auto Shanghai in April this year. It has been developed for both the Chinese and European markets by BYD Toyota EV Technology Co. Ltd. (BTET—a joint venture established in China by Toyota and BYD.

Toyota FT-3e concept previews next-generation EVs. Toyota provided an insight into the design and technology possibilities it is exploring for next-generation of battery electric vehicles by presenting its FT-3e concept for the first time in Europe at the Kenshiki forum.

Toyota FT-3e

FT-3e features the versatile new generation BEV architecture that supports a wide variety of products including the Lexus LF-ZC luxury sedan and the performance-oriented FT-Se sports car.

These next generation BEV vehicles are designed to achieve the lowest possible weight and optimized aerodynamics for increased efficiency and range, while at the same time bringing a focus on efficient resources usage.

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TOYOTA FT-Se sports car concept. With its name drawn from ‘Future Toyota Sports electric’, the FT-Se is a concept for high performance in the carbon-neutral era. It incorporates a sleek, smooth silhouette characteristic of a pure two-seater sports car, encasing next generation battery electric technology. Toyota first displayed the FT-Se at the Japan Mobility Show 2023 in Tokyo on 26 October - 5 November, alongside the FT-3e.

TOYOTA FT-Se