Small EV with mid-engine profile could arrive mid-decade
Electric model would be a spiritual successor to MR2
The most interesting of the Toyota concept cars previewed yesterday by the company’s CEO might have been the smallest. The Sports EV at the back of the lineup of cars, wearing a Gazoo Racing badge in the nose while looking like the EV equivalent of a mid-engine sports car.
While not much about the vehicle – or any of the concepts on display – was said, Inside EVs reports that Toyota confirmed that the electric sports car will be co-developed with sports car icon Lotus. It could also possibly be built by that company rather than in-house at Toyota.
While Lotus is known for helping to develop chassis technology for a number of automakers, it has worked with Toyota for nearly 40 years. The first result of that was the second-generation Toyota Supra, and today Lotus uses Toyota engines with some of the brand’s own tweaks to power its sports cars.
Lotus has already announced an electric successor to the Elise that is expected in 2026. It’s possible that that car could be part of the Toyota Sports EV program, and that they could share significant components.
Toyota said that all of the planned vehicles would launch by 2030, which really doesn’t narrow it down for when we might see this car on the road. Or confirm that it would come to North America since it looks positively tiny. Would we eagerly await an electric successor to the MR2? Absolutely.
