{"id":53262,"date":"2025-07-22T09:41:54","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T01:41:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ljdevice.com.tw\/?p=53262"},"modified":"2025-07-22T09:41:54","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T01:41:54","slug":"toyota-new-secret-weapon-cut-costs-keep-pace-chinas-ev-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ljdevice.com.tw\/en\/toyota-new-secret-weapon-cut-costs-keep-pace-chinas-ev-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Toyota has a new secret weapon to cut costs and keep pace in China\u2019s EV race"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jul 16 2025<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Toyota\u2019s most affordable electric vehicle, which starts at around $15,000, is off to a hot start in China. With a new locally-built EV motor,\u00a0Toyota<\/a>\u00a0is already cutting costs to keep pace in China\u2019s fierce EV price war.<\/p>\n

Toyota secures a new China-made EV motor to cut costs<\/h2>\n

After launching the bZ3X in March, Toyota\u2019s joint venture, GAC Toyota, claimed the new electric SUV was \u201cso popular that the server crashed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The electric SUV is selling faster than expected. In May, its second full month on the market, the bZ3X was the\u00a0best-selling foreign brand EV<\/a>\u00a0in China, outselling the Volkswagen ID.3 and ID.4 Crozz, BMW i3, and Nissan\u2019s new N7.<\/p>\n

GAC-Toyota\u2019s general manager of sales, Peng Baolin, announced the bZ3X retained the title in June with 6,030 units delivered.<\/p>\n

Toyota has already sold around 20,000 models, a new record for joint venture electric SUVs. Thanks to a new, locally made EV motor, the Japanese automaker can offer the bZ3X at such low prices.<\/p>\n

Japan\u2019s Nidec built a \u201cmade-in-China\u201d EV motor to help Toyota compete in China\u2019s intense EV market. Nidec\u2019s president, Mitsuya Kishida, said in an interview (via\u00a0Bloomberg<\/a><\/em>) that around 99% of the materials and parts are sourced from China.<\/p>\n

\"Toyota-EV-motor-China\"
Toyota bZ3X electric SUV (Source: Toyota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to Kishida, building the new electric motor was \u201cincredibly tough,\u201d but it\u2019s already helping Toyota cut costs in China.<\/p>\n

Nidec began supplying the new EV motor for the bZ3X in March, a key factor in the electric SUV\u2019s starting price of roughly $15,000.<\/p>\n

\"Toyota-EV-motor-China\"
Toyota bZ3X electric SUV (Source: GAC Toyota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The bZ3X is available in seven different trims with prices ranging from 109,800 yuan ($15,000) to 159,800 yuan ($22,000). It\u2019s offered with two battery packs, 50.03 kWh and 67.92 kWh, providing a CLTC driving range of 430 km (267 miles) and 610 km (379 miles), respectively.<\/p>\n

\"Toyota-EV-motor-China\"
Toyota bZ3X interior (Source: Toyota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite the low price, the interior is surprisingly luxurious and equipped with advanced technology, including a 12.3\u2033 infotainment screen and an 8.8\u2033 driver cluster screen.<\/p>\n

Powered by\u00a0Momenta\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0end-to-end intelligent driving model, the electric SUV offers nearly 50 advanced safety features, including Level 2 assisted driving.<\/p>\n

\"Toyota-EV-motor-China\"
Toyota bZ3X EV interior (Source: Toyota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Toyota promotes it as a budget-friendly family SUV. With all seats folded down, the bZ3X has nearly 10 feet of space.<\/p>\n

At 4,645 mm in length, 1,885 mm in width, and 1,625 mm in height, Toyota\u2019s electric SUV is about the same size as the BYD Yuan Plus (sold as the\u00a0Atto 3<\/a>\u00a0overseas).<\/p>\n

Electrek\u2019s Take<\/h2>\n

Toyota is showing signs of a recovery in China with a series of new electric vehicles rolling out. Last month, the company launched another electric SUV, the bZ5.<\/p>\n

The bZ5 is about the size of a\u00a0Tesla Model Y<\/a>, but it\u2019s about half the cost in China, with prices starting at 129,800 yuan ($18,000).<\/p>\n

During GAC-Toyota\u2019s EV Tech Day in June, the company announced partnerships with \u201ccar industry bigwigs,\u201d including Xiaomi, Huawei, and Momenta.<\/p>\n

Through the first five months of 2025, Toyota\u2019s sales in China are up 7.7% with over 530,000 vehicles sold. With several more EVs on the way, including the bZ7, the Japanese automaker aims to catch up.<\/p>\n

Toyota also broke ground on a\u00a0new Lexus EV plant\u00a0<\/a>in Shanghai last month, the second wholly owned auto plant in China from a foreign automaker, following Tesla. Kishida said Nidec could cooperate with Toyota on the project for supply.<\/p>\n

Source:Toyota has a new secret weapon to keep pace in China’s EV race<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jul 16 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":53263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[609],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industrial-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ljdevice.com.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ljdevice.com.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ljdevice.com.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ljdevice.com.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ljdevice.com.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53262"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ljdevice.com.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53275,"href":"https:\/\/ljdevice.com.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53262\/revisions\/53275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ljdevice.com.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ljdevice.com.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ljdevice.com.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ljdevice.com.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}