Toyota teams up with electric car giant BYD to dominate Tesla Model Y: 2025 Toyota bZ3C to use Chinese EV tech in sleek SUV body to tackle Ford Mustang Mach-E and Kia EV6

It might look like a Toyota on the surface, but almost everything under the skin of the brand-new, all-electric bZ3C SUV will be sourced from Chinese rival BYD.

According to CarNewsChina, Toyota's second EV instalment will utilise electronic architecture from the Chinese automaker.

Homologation images from the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) show the four-door, five-seat bZ3C will go largely unchanged from its reveal at the Beijing auto show earlier this year.

The Chinese-based publication has said Toyota’s all new electric SUV will sport a single 200kW electric motor sourced from BYD’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Fudi Power.

Power will be stored in a lithium ion phosphate (LFP) battery sourced from Fin Dreams, BYD’s battery-manufacturing facility where the brand’s Blade batteries are produced. Tesla currently sources battery cells from Fin Dreams for its Model Y’s produced at the Berlin gigafactory.

There are no official figures for the bZ3C yet, although driving range is speculated to fall somewhere between 500 and 600km. According to China's MIIT submission, the bZ3C is 4780mm long, 1886mm wide, 1510mm tall and weighs 1920kg.

There will be a choice of 18-inch or 21-inch low-drag wheels, as well as optional Lidar unit mounted to top of the car’s front windscreen, presumably to enhance autonomous driving capabilities.

In terms of design, the bZ3C’s front-end is strongly reminiscent of the current-generation Toyota Prius.

At the rear, a ‘C’ shaped LED light bar sweeps across the tailgate onto the car’s rear panelling, while a pronounced spoiler lip boosts the bZ3C’s sporty credentials and reminds us of the C-HR small SUV.

There are no homologated images of the car’s interior, however, images taken at the Beijing auto show back in April show racy red upholstery, with the steering wheel and driver’s display configuration appearing to be borrowed from the current bZ4X SUV.

It differs with a floating multimedia screen, however, which helps declutter the centre console by repositioning the wireless charging pad and central cup holders.

Homologation documents did not include any further information on the bZ3C’s full-sized SUV sibling, the bZ3X, which was revealed at the Beijing auto show alongside it. Despite the similar name, it is expected to arrive as a much larger model competing against the likes of the Kia EV9.

CarNewsChina has indicated that production for the bZ4X will commence in China during Q4 of this year, with the car expected to go on sale in China sometime in 2025.

At this stage, It is unclear whether the bZ3C will be produced exclusively for the Chinese market, where EV uptake has been skyrocketing.

Australia has seen a slower EV transition, with driver’s increasingly opting for hybrid vehicles instead, of which Toyota controls a large share of the market.

Toyota’s only EV on sale in Australia, the bZ4X, is far from the brand’s most popular model, selling 717 units so far this year. Compare that to the RAV4 hybrid, which has sold some 38,050 vehicles so far for 2024, receiving the title of Australia’s best-selling car last month.

Having said that, Toyota is also rumoured to be collaborating with BYD on its plug-in hybrid (PHEV) technology, with numerous reports suggesting the Japanese brand looking could be looking to incorporate BYD's PHEV technology into the next-generation RAV4.