Meet the electrical Toyota LandCruiser, and electrical Toyota ute of the long run
The Toyota LandCruiser Se and Toyota EPU idea break with custom by not solely that includes all-electric drivetrains, but in addition being based mostly on a monocoque passenger car-platform quite a body-on-frame structure.
The pair shall be on present on the Tokyo motor present, and level to a future the place Toyota’s icons can be found with extra than simply petrol or diesel energy.
LandCruiser Se
Other than the refined Toyota lettering on the higher “grille”, and its boxy silhouette, there are few different apparent hyperlinks between the LandCruiser Se and its inner combustion engine-powered kinfolk.
In accordance with Toyota, the LandCruiser Se is a spacious three-row seven-seat SUV that “broadens the LandCruiser model’s attraction” by catering “to the world’s numerous wants”.
Measuring 5150mm lengthy, 1990mm huge, 1705mm tall, and driving on a 3050mm wheelbase, the LandCruiser Se ought to have loads of area for as much as seven passengers to lounge about.
The Se pairs a monocoque physique with both the e-TNGA structure or its successor. This ensures the automobile has “extremely responsive dealing with and confidence in tackling tough terrain”, though it’ll most likely really feel extra at residence at Toorak or Vaucluse than the Simpson Desert.
Traditionalists will little question abhor the sort of model extension, however Toyota has a whole lot of current type on this discipline. For the sixteenth technology of the Crown, the corporate added a crossover sedan and crossover hatch to the vary, basing each these variants on the GA-Okay traverse engine, front- and all-wheel drive structure shared with the Camry.
The automaker has additionally expanded the Century line to incorporate a new crossover that shares extra with the Grand Highlander than the normal rear-drive ultra-luxury saloon.
EPU
There have been loads of rumours of Toyota launching a car-based “life-style” ute to tackle the likes of the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz.
Possibly all that business chatter was pointing in direction of the EPU idea.
Measuring 5070mm lengthy, 1910mm huge, and 1710mm tall, the EPU has just about the identical dimensions because the Maverick and Santa Cruz.
The one space the place it stands out, aside from its all-electric drivetrain, is its 3350mm wheelbase, which is at round 300mm longer than its rivals from America and Korea.
Toyota has not offered any particulars concerning the drivetrains for both the LandCruiser Se or EPU, nor has it offered any indication of when these ideas would possibly transition into manufacturing fashions.
Given the EPU has an inside, it’s attainable the “mid-size” ute is nearer to manufacturing than the LandCruiser Se.
Forward of the motive force is yoke-style steering wheel together with a pair of overlapping screens, one for an instrumentation show, and the opposite for the touchscreen infotainment system.
Separating the 2 shows is a pod housing the transmission shifter, and controls for the digital parking brake, engine cease/begin, and hill maintain help.
The sprint additionally options sturdy-looking arduous surfaces, together with two lipped areas to assist facilitate storage of odds and ends. Along with this, there are a number of open and coated storage areas the place a transmission tunnel would usually reside.
The pictures and Toyota’s press launch counsel the EPU has a big pass-through port permitting lengthy gadgets to be carried within the tray and into the passenger cabin.
Land Hopper
Toyota can be giving a debut to its Land Hopper idea. From earlier teaser photos of a sub-Prado SUV, and the trademark purposes for the Land Hopper identify, many assumed the 2 had been one and the identical.
Alas, it doesn’t look like that’s case, at the very least for now.
The Land Hopper on show at this month’s Japan Mobility Present in Tokyo is a three-wheel “electrical private mobility idea” with two linked wheels on the entrance.
Designated as a small motorised bike in Japan, it may be ridden by anybody over the age of 16 even when they don’t have a driver’s licence. As such it may be used as a final mile automobile, a automobile various for the younger, or a mobility support for seniors.
The compact 1355mm lengthy Land Hopper could be folded up for storage, or when taken on board public transport. The low seat is claimed to make it straightforward to journey or alight, and its “distinctive lean mechanism” is claimed to “supply an intuitive, exhilarating journey not like any automobile or bicycle”.
Click on any of the photographs to see extra of the LandCruiser Se, EPU and Land Hopper.
