Toyota surprised the automotive world earlier this year with an all-new Land Cruiser, better-looking and less expensive than observers expected. With a standard hybrid drivetrain and an expected starting price in the mid-$50,000 range, it takes an iconic name on the road since 1958 into a new era. We thought that was enough.
But Toyota also plans to bring the Land Cruiser name into the next era of cars. The brand will use the Japan Mobility Show (formerly the Tokyo Motor Show) to show off an all-electric Land Cruiser late this week.
Just a Concept For Now
Toyota hasn’t officially said the Land Cruiser Se electric vehicle (EV) is headed for production. And it has cameras in place of side mirrors — an auto show trope at this point that tends to appear on cars that will never make it out of the concept stage.
But otherwise, it looks remarkably like a production car and could easily be to the Land Cruiser what the Escalade IQ is to the Cadillac Escalade.
This could be an electric cousin to a gas-powered model, with the two sitting side-by-side in showrooms.
Lacks Body-on-Frame Flexibility
Toyota has revealed almost no mechanical details about the Land Cruiser Se beyond noting that it uses monocoque construction rather than the body-on-frame flexible layout that makes traditional Land Cruiser models so capable off-road. But no one has yet shown off an EV that doesn’t since EV batteries tend to be large single units that make up the entire floor of a vehicle.
The company has only shown exterior images so far. It wears a longer hood than many EV designs, suggesting a sizable frunk for storage. It borrows the polygonal fenders and rear window kink of the Land Cruiser but otherwise looks much less rugged and more polished.
Toyota says it offers three rows of seating and will feature “highly responsive handling and confidence in tackling rough terrain.”
There’s A Good Argument for Building This
The lack of details means we can’t be sure this is headed for production. But, investors have been pushing Toyota to push more aggressively into electric vehicles. The company has successfully sold hybrids but is slow to move into the EV space.
That’s not a bad plan. The publicity given to EVs has pushed many Americans to buy hybrids instead, as they lack some of the drawbacks of EVs.
However, investors have been pushing Toyota to show it has a plan for the era when EVs overtake hybrids. The 3-row SUV space, filled with shoppers who expect to spend more on a vehicle, could be a reasonable place to start. America, so far, has just one 3-row electric SUV for sale without a luxury badge and price on it — the Kia EV9.
Toyota could stake out a position in that space with a well-known name by turning the Land Cruiser Se into a production car.
