Toyota is yet to launch en electric family hauler with room for seven. Sorry, soccer moms, you may want to look at Tesla, Rivian, Hyundai, Kia or Mercedes for now, all of which have already raced to the market with their big battery-powered family haulers. Toyota knows this and is working hard to change that.
Currently, Toyota and Lexus each offer only one EV in the U.S., the bZ4X and RZ crossovers. By early next year, Toyota and Lexus will have several EVs in their line-up: the upgraded bZ, the off-road bZ Woodland, the sporty C-HR alongside the refreshed Lexus RZ and all-new ES sedan. That's a step change from what the Japanese automaker offers today and there's little reason to believe that Toyota will stop there.
The automaker has two three-row electric SUVs in the pipeline. The first one is a ground-up model tailored for the U.S. market that Toyota said last year would be made at the Kentucky plant this year onwards—but that model was delayed to 2026 due to design changes, Nikkei later reported. The second one is a posh Lexus alternative for which the automaker has already filed trademarks with the European Union Intellectual Property Office for the names TZ450e and TZ550e.
Here's what we know so far.
Toyota Three-Row Electric SUV Design
In 2021, the Japanese automaker showcased no less than 15 futuristic EV concepts as part of its “beyond zero” offensive. This included a Toyota pickup truck, a Lexus supercar and also what Toyota called a “bZ large SUV,” among many other concepts.
Gallery: Toyota and Lexus preview 15 EVs
The bZ large SUV looks like a grown-up, more mature version of the bZ4X. The concept has a dual-tone paint scheme, with the body in silver and the roof and hood in black. Just like the bZ4X, it has a slim bar of chrome connecting the headlamps. It also has a slender greenhouse and what looks like wraparound rear taillamps—although we don’t have a clear rear angle view of the concept so we can’t say for sure.
This design would naturally evolve in the production versions, but these elements are the consistent theme in the bZ range of Toyota and Lexus concepts. The new RAV4 and Camry are now hybrid-only models. Those two vehicles, plus the Crown and Crown Signia share the brand's latest design language. So it's possible that we could see an evolution of the same on the three-row EV. Expect the Lexus version to continue with that iconic spindle grille theme.
Battery And Powertrain Details
It could be a while before official details surface. But for the size and class of this vehicle, a dual-motor all-wheel-drive configuration should be standard. More than 300 miles of range should also be a no-brainer.
We know that Toyota has been working on a bunch of different battery programs, including long-range solid-state batteries. But there’s little information out there on how far these programs have come and automakers tend to be tight-lipped about future products.
Toyota said last year that three of those programs involve new liquid electrolyte technologies and one with solid-state batteries. An electrolyte is a solution inside a battery that allows the transfer of charge-carrying particles between the positive and negative terminals.
The automaker has said it was working on improving charging speeds, achieving higher energy density compared to today’s batteries and reducing production costs. It also made some bold claims, that future models would deliver between 497 and 620 miles of range.
Would these new generation batteries make it to the three-row electric SUV? Your guess is as good as mine.
Where Will The Toyota Family SUV Be Made?
Toyota is pouring billions of dollars into manufacturing EVs and producing batteries locally in the U.S. It announced in June last year that the three-row electric SUV would be manufactured at an expanded facility at the brand’s Georgetown, Kentucky plant. However Nikkei reported that the Lexus alternative will likely be made in Japan.
The Japanese automaker has also invested 13.9 billion dollars towards battery production in North Carolina. The construction and tooling of that plant is now complete and it will begin supplying locally-made batteries for Toyota's U.S. models later this year. This investment would support batteries for BEVs, PHEVs and conventional hybrids. Toyota has said that this facility will be the "epicenter of lithium-ion battery production in North America."
An equivalent Subaru model will also be made in Kentucky, Automotive News reported last year. Moreover, similar Lexus models also seem to be in the pipeline.
Toyota Three-Row Electric SUV Price And Availability
We don’t expect the future Toyota model to come cheap. It would be positioned above the bZ4X, which currently starts at approximately $37,070 before destination. The Toyota family SUV should compete with the Kia EV9 and Hyundai Ioniq 5, which are priced between $55,000-$80,000. Production is expected to begin sometime in 2026.
Toyota earned its "laggard in the EV race" reputation because of its infamous anti-climate lobbying and a reluctance to embrace EVs fast enough, despite being the early pioneer of hybrids such as the Prius. And Toyota is by far the most dominant maker of hybrids in the world, and that's unlikely to change anytime soon.
The EV market is undergoing turbulence as the tax credits are under the guillotine, vehicle emissions targets have been rolled back and tariffs threaten to blow a hole in automakers' bottom lines even as the EV shift continues to be capital intensive. Plus, Tesla sales are in a freefall. If Toyota delivers the models it has promised, it may end up becoming the unexpected savior of the EV industry.
Contact the author: suvrat.kothari@insideevs.com
