Meet Toyota’s Small Electric Car Slated to Arrive in 2020

The cute little Toyota you see here isn’t just a concept made for auto shows. Nah, it’s more than that. In fact, the catchy little machine is a production-ready EV slated to be released in Japan by the end of next year. Its official moniker is the “Ultra-Compact BEV”.

Coming with two seats, the car is designed mainly for drivers who have just obtained driving licenses and the elderly. According to Toyota, the BEV is also suitable for those doing business far from home where an efficient and simple vehicle is needed to reach customers.

As previewed by the images here, the Ultra-Compact BEV is small and short, making it good at breaking through crowded urban streets. At only 98-inch long, 50.8-inch wide, and 61-inch tall, it can be an excellent car for the daily commute in big cities like Tokyo. With such an exceptionally compact vehicle, drivers will be able move more nimbly on a crowded or narrow road.

We don’t know about the size of the battery pack since Toyota didn’t reveal details about that, but we know that the battery is good enough for 62 miles of range on a single charge. In terms of performance, the car will also be satisfying in its class, according to what the Japanese company promises. The BEV is said to offer an “extremely short turning radius”. In addition, its top speed will reach 60 kph, which is good enough for a car built to be driven in a crowded city.

The Ultra-Compact BEV will be available in two variants; one is designed to be a personal vehicle while the other is designed to be a business vehicle. The business model comes with an interior that can be configured as needed, depending on the activated mode (office, drive, relax). Among the features that can be found in the car is a fold-out work table.