As per several listings on the Ministry of Commerce & Industry's Patents Design & Trademarks page, Toyota Motor Corporation has filed trademarks for an entire range of BZ model names in India. If you have been following Toyota's activities closely, you will know that Toyota's new bZ or Beyond Zero series signifies a brand new range of electric vehicles from the Japanese carmaker. The BZ Series will see seven new electric vehicles globally by 2025. To that effect, Toyota even unveiled a concept version of the Toyota bZ4X at the 2021 Shanghai Motor Show, which will be the first model in the bZ Series.
Toyota has applied for as many as eleven names to be trademarked under the BZ Series in India - BZ, BZ1, BZ1X, BZ2, BZ2X, BZ3, BZ3X, BZ4, BZ4X, BZ5, and BZ5X. A closer look into the patent filings reveal that the trademarks were applied between May and October 2020 and they are valid until 2030. However, it must be noted that just because a carmaker has filed for a trademark does not necessarily mean that it will launch the said product in India. That said, the fact that Toyota has registered these names in our country alone suggests that they could be considering bringing the bZ Series to India.
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The Toyota bZ Series will be based on BEV-dedicated platforms that can be used with multiple variations in terms of size and design. For this, Toyota has pooled in resources from other brands such as BYD, Subaru, Suzuki and Daihatsu to jointly develop the series. In fact, the recently showcased Toyota bZ4X concept at the Shanghai Motor Show is a battery-electric vehicle that has been developed in partnership with Subaru. The production-spec vehicle will be based on the e-TNGA BEV-dedicated platform that has been jointly developed by both brands.
This electric SUV has been developed using Toyota's expertise in electrification and Subaru's AWD technologies. The platform underpins a four-wheel-drive crossover - hence the 4X suffix - and is claimed to be high on comfort, connectivity and openness. The defining characteristics of this platform include short overhangs and a long wheelbase, which should translate to “spacious and open cabin”. In fact, Toyota claims that the rear legroom offered with this vehicle is almost similar to the near-900mm legroom offered by Lexus's flagship LS luxury sedan.
In terms of design, the Toyota bZ4X concept looks very bold with heavily angled styling cues. In fact, one can even find resemblance with the Toyota RAV4 in this electric SUV's silhouette. However, the rest of the styling, including the all-new front and rear design, hint at an all new design direction for the bZ-badged EVs. Technical details of the dual-motor electric powertrain remain largely under wraps, but the system is said to draw on Toyota’s 20-plus years of offering electrified powertrains.
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