Toyota MR2 could become an electric sports car
A 1991 Toyota MR2 was converted to electric by EV West Toyota in 1993.
Toyota could revive its MR2 as an electric.
The company is at the “discussion stage” with the model, European sales and marketing vice-president Matt Harrison says.
Harrison also alluded to the brand’s so-called ‘Three Brothers’ of the Supra (also likely as a plug-in), Celica coupe and MR2, using boss Akio Toyoda’s term for the trio of sports models he wants to see returning to showrooms, Autocar
reports.
Toyota has already hinted at a smaller sports car with the 2015 S-FR concept, inspired by the 1965 front-engine S800 sports coupe.
Options include creating a pure electric sports car.
The greater packaging flexibility of the battery-electric running gear means that the highly adaptable Toyota New Global Architecture, designed to accommodate EV powertrains, could form the basis of an electric MR2, Autocar
says.
“The compactness of the electric motor would enable it to be located behind the car’s two seats, in the spirit of the original. The battery could be sited below the floor, bringing a desirably low centre of gravity, and the car’s relative simplicity should lower overall development costs.
“Range is likely to be less of an issue in a compact sports car, and a low-cost, low-weight EV sports car could be marketed as a fun, environmentally friendly, short-distance commuter car.”
A new MR2 is unlikely before the early to mid-2020s. The energy density of batteries and EV technology in general will have improved by then, Autocar notes. Toyota would also have a number of pure EV models either on sale or well under development by that time.
Toyoda is keen to see Toyota continue to offer “affordable, simple and fun-to-drive” cars among its zero-emission products.
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