What Toyota’s 900

Toyota's next-gen EVs may include GR models like the GR Supra and GR86, and solid-state batteries could be the way to do it.

Toyota has been on a roll for the last several years, and it looks like it will continue its streak within this decade or even next with its planned electric cars. Just recently, Toyota announced that in the new few years, it would commence mass production of solid-state batteries that could provide around 900 miles of range. At a glimpse, this new technology may not mean a lot for the GR Supra, GR86, and GR Corolla. However, it could.

As one of the major auto manufacturers in the world, Toyota has never appealed to everyone. Even when people are saying that Toyota vehicles as reliable yet boring, Toyota revived its most revered nameplates and created highly dynamic sporty versions of others.

Thus, Toyota gave birth to the dreamy GR86, GR Supra, GR Yaris (although not available in the United States), and GR Corolla.

These sporty models mean a lot to Toyota, and there’s a bit of doubt about their long-term future now that Toyota is looking forward to new battery technologies. For a long time, Toyota may have been behind its rivals, but it is now showing it can be at the forefront once again.

After a seemingly long silence, Toyota finally revealed that it will enter the EV revolution. It will pursue its new direction with a dedicated platform and a slew of related technologies. Just as how Toyota considers the battery is the heart of a BEV, it is also recognizing the need to evolve the technology to meet customer expectations. Those expectations include considerable range, short charging time, and greater driving performance.

As Toyota continues to concentrate its efforts to introduce its next-generation BEVs by 2026, it hopes that its battery technologies would have evolved by then. Thus, it is eyeing to evolve its current choice of batteries, by improving the energy density of its square batteries, and by adopting the bipolar structure for BEVs. This should result in the introduction of two next-gen batteries – low-cost, popular batteries and high-performance ones.

Toyota’s next-gen high-performance battery would be a breakthrough for the automaker. After all, it allows them to develop and build an EV that would boast an all-electric range of around 621 miles. This should be more than enough for most drivers, but Toyota isn’t stopping at 621 miles.

By 2027, the Japanese auto group could start mass production of a certain battery type that should allow EVs to offer a range of more than 900 miles.

RELATED: How Toyota’s Revolutionary Next-Gen Solid State Battery EVs Promise 900 Miles Of Range

Toyota is hyping its solid-state battery, which isn’t really an entirely new technology. A solid-state battery consists of solid electrolytes. Toyota had identified solid-state battery technology as a potential cure-all for the drawbacks of conventional lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles, such as relatively short range on a single charge and relatively longer charging times.

However, the development of solid-state batteries for commercialization hasn’t been fast, simply because of the lack of breakthroughs.

Toyota has been working on this technology since 2012, and as of 2021, it has over 1,000 solid-state battery patents to work with. After more than a decade of working with solid-state batteries, the Japanese automaker finally made a technological breakthrough.

Toyota was able to make solid-state batteries more durable, which should make them more commercially viable. According to the brand, it is currently developing a method for mass production of solid-state batteries, which should make commercialization possible in 2027 or 2028.

Solid-state batteries are virtual game changers, especially when produced with the right method to achieve the desired attributes. As per Toyota, the initial range for BEVs with solid-state batteries could reach around 750 miles. They are also currently developing a higher-level spec battery, which should deliver a range of more than 900 miles on a single charge.

Until 2025, Toyota is launching seven bZ all-electric models. The firstborn of these is the Bz4x, which is essentially an EV crossover sitting on a dedicated platform with ample battery power and range. However, Toyota will introduce a new generation of EVs by 2026, and it will launch them bearing new innovations and technologies. By 2027 or 2028, Toyota may introduce EV models featuring solid-state batteries.

Toyota’s next-gen EVs may not necessarily include just crossovers. They may also include the brand's enthusiast models, such as those from its GR line (GR Supra, GR86, GR Yaris, and GR Corolla).

These conventionally powered models have a strong following, especially among gearheads. These models are also part of the reason why Toyota stayed relevant in the eyes of enthusiasts.

The Japanese carmaker currently doesn’t offer sports EVs. However, it can create something similar out of the GR brand models. It can take a hint from its Lexus luxury arm, which RZ electric crossover is essentially the EV version of the RX. Toyota may not necessarily kill the gas-powered GR Supra, 86, Corolla, and Yaris, but an EV version of each of them could become another breakthrough.

RELATED: Toyota's Revolutionary Solid-State Batteries And EV Goals: 10 Facts You Should Know

If there is any hint that Toyota may introduce electric versions of its GR brand models, it is the AE86 BEV Concept that it showed at the 2023 Tokyo Auto Salon. The concept vehicles the electric motor from the Tundra hybrid, battery from the Prius plug-in hybrid, as well as a manual transmission.

As a result, the AE86 BEV Concept gained the robust driving force characteristic of an EV and the driving pleasure of an ICE model.

Interestingly, Hyundai had released a similar yet production EV in the guise of the Ioniq 5 N. Hyundai created the Ioniq 5 N as an EV but made it so that it feels and sounds like an ICE vehicle. As an N model, it boasts of a sporty demeanor, thanks to its greater power, stiffer body, sportier suspension, and larger brakes.

While it doesn’t have a transmission, its N e-shift function can simulate the jolt between gear shifts, making the Hyundai EV feels like it really has an 8-speed dual-clutch automatic. Moreover, the Ioniq 5 can sound like an engine is working underneath.

RELATED: The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N Brings A Significant Power Boost And Aggressive Styling

Toyota’s upcoming 900-mile solid-state battery should make it possible for the carmaker to offer electric versions of its GR brand models. Their EV versions could benefit from a number of advantages that an electric drive could bring. EVs from Tesla, Lucid, and Rimac have practically demonstrated how quick and fast they can be, especially when they come with high-capacity batteries.

EV versions of the GR Supra, 86, Corolla, and Yaris could exhibit the same quickness but with greater attributes. Solid-state batteries could allow them to offer more power, travel greater distances, shorter charging time, and more time on the track. Electric GR models won’t feel bloated, though, since solid-state batteries are more compact and lightweight than current battery systems.

Moreover, electric GR models may still feel like the ICE versions. Drive control and clutch functions can make BEV as enjoyable as a manual car. Toyota has the technology demonstrated through its luxury division. Lexus engineers fitted ICE systems into a UX 300e crossover.

Through software tinkering, the can vehicle simulates engine sound, which rises and fall with the tachometer (also simulated). A YouTube video from Evo shows the crossover featuring a clutch and manual transmission, which simulate the feeling of quick clutch work and the feel of a gearshift.

Nevertheless, Toyota can only achieve all of these once it can commercialize its solid-state batteries.

Source: Toyota, Lexus, Hyundai

Julybien Atadero writes from the island of Cebu covering various automotive topics including new sports cars, classic muscles, pickup trucks and SUVs. While I like peace and quiet, I love playing with my kid. When I have nothing else to do, I watch documentaries and animations.