Photo: via CarNewsChina
In December 2021, we told our readers that the electric sedan Toyota said it would build with BYD was probably the bZ SDN concept it presented on December 14. That suspicion was confirmed by multiple spy shots that emerged ever since. Now, patent images show, and more spy shots tell us almost everything we need to learn about this vehicle.
According to the Chinese media, the new Toyota should be called bZ5, something its dimensions perfectly admit. While the SUV is 4.69 meters (184.7 inches) long, the sedan is 4.73 m (186.2 in) long, making it slightly larger. The wheelbases are also very close: 2.86 m (112.6 in) for the bZ4X and 2.88 m (113.4 in) for the bZ5.
As expected, the SUV is wider – 1.86 m (73.2 in) against 1.84 m (72.4 in) – and taller – 1.65 m (65 in) against 1.48 m (58.3 in) – than the electric sedan. However, that has more to do with the body style than with the market segment in which these vehicles will compete. As we said, bZ5 is perfectly coherent with the longer sedan. Its top speed will be 150 kph (93.2 mph). Using LFP cells will make it a relatively heavy vehicle: 2,215 kilograms (4,883 pounds).
The patent images present only Toyota’s version for the electric sedan. It is very likely that BYD will not just badge-engineer this vehicle, which is a recipe for disaster. Looking and costing the same as a Toyota product, BYD’s sedan would not be very competitive unless the idea is to sell it in foreign markets for different customers.
According to CarNewsChina, the development process is still far from finished, and the patent images just present the current stage, with very few details of what the EV will look like. Without rear-view mirrors or door handles in the pictures, we must agree they are pretty generic. Despite that, we think the bZ5 may arrive in less than one year in production form, as the prototypes already photographed in the wild suggest.
As expected, the SUV is wider – 1.86 m (73.2 in) against 1.84 m (72.4 in) – and taller – 1.65 m (65 in) against 1.48 m (58.3 in) – than the electric sedan. However, that has more to do with the body style than with the market segment in which these vehicles will compete. As we said, bZ5 is perfectly coherent with the longer sedan. Its top speed will be 150 kph (93.2 mph). Using LFP cells will make it a relatively heavy vehicle: 2,215 kilograms (4,883 pounds).
The patent images present only Toyota’s version for the electric sedan. It is very likely that BYD will not just badge-engineer this vehicle, which is a recipe for disaster. Looking and costing the same as a Toyota product, BYD’s sedan would not be very competitive unless the idea is to sell it in foreign markets for different customers.
According to CarNewsChina, the development process is still far from finished, and the patent images just present the current stage, with very few details of what the EV will look like. Without rear-view mirrors or door handles in the pictures, we must agree they are pretty generic. Despite that, we think the bZ5 may arrive in less than one year in production form, as the prototypes already photographed in the wild suggest.
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