Toyota and BYD Soon to Launch the bZ3 Small Electric Sedan for the Chinese Market

JAKARTA - Toyota Motor Corp. on Monday, October 24 announced the launch of a small electric sedan, which will be powered by batteries produced by BYD Co. This vehicle will be manufactured and sold in China.

The Japanese automaker said the car would be called the Toyota bZ3. However, it is not clear when the eco-friendly vehicle will be available in showrooms.

This is the second model in the new Beyond Zero (bZ) series of battery electric vehicles (BEV) from Toyota. Japan's largest automaker has been criticized by environmentalists and green investors for not getting into BEVs fast enough.

Toyota had planned to unveil the bZ3, which uses a not-so-big Blade BYD battery, at the Beijing auto show in April. However, the event was canceled due to the COVID-1 pandemic.

According to a Reuters report, the bZ3 was jointly developed by Toyota and BYD. This electric car will fill the small electric car niche that currently has a very large market in China.