Toyota Rolls Out First Battery Electric Car

Toyota Motor Corp has unveiled its first mass-produced battery-electric car in Japan. The electric car is available for lease only, under the company’s strategy to ease driver concerns about battery life and resale value. 

In the company’s home market, Japan, Gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles are far more popular, accounting for just 1% of the passenger cars sold in Japan last year, as per industry data. But with the growing market with fast and foreign automakers such as Tesla Inc have made it to the streets of cities like Tokyo. 

Toyota is planning to lease the bZ4X sport utility vehicles for $39,000 for the first four years with building insurance, repair costs, and a battery warranty into the deal. It also costs an additional fee for canceling in the first 48 months. 

Toyota is aiming to lease 5,000 SUVs in the current financial year, around the same cost as EVs that are already sold by Tesla in Japan. The company is also planning to sell bZ4X in other markets later this year, and pre-orders have started in some of the European countries.