Toyota Finally Unveils Europe-Bound BEV Compact SUV

Toyota unveils its Urban Cruiser battery-electric compact SUV gunning for sales in electric-friendly European markets.

Developed from Toyota’s Urban SUV Concept, first seen at the Kenshiki forum in Brussels in spring 2023, the new car arrives next year a full year later than originally scheduled.

The famously powertrain-agnostic automaker stresses its launch is still in line with its multi-path strategy to offer customers a broad choice of electrified drivetrain technologies across Europe.

Toyota says that by 2026 it will have 15 zero-emission vehicles in its range, including six BEVs using a dedicated platform, combining with a range of plug-in hybrid, self-charging hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.

To meet city-dweller needs, the Urban Cruiser is slightly larger than Toyota’s hybrid compact SUV, the Yaris Cross, coming in at 14 ft. (4,267 mm) long, 5.9 ft.(1,798 mm) wide and 5.4 ft. (1,646 mm) tall with a wheelbase of 8.8 ft. (2,682 mm) and claiming a turning circle of 17 ft. (5.2 m).

It will be offered with two battery-pack power choices and the option of front- or all-wheel drive. Both use cheaper-to-make lithium-iron phosphate battery technology.

A 49-kWh battery will be available only in the front-wheel-drive version, giving an output of 144 hp. The FWD model will also be offered with the punchier 174-hp output from a larger 61-kWh battery pack. Both boast a 139 lb.-ft. (188 Nm) torque output.

Its all-wheel-drive sibling also gets the same battery size but its power is boosted to 184 hp and torque hiked to 221 lb.-ft. (300 Nm).

All Urban Cruiser versions are equipped with an energy-saving heat pump for the air conditioning system and manually operated battery pre-heating to improve performance in colder conditions. No range, charging times or prices are yet published.