2027 Toyota GR EV Sports Car: MR2, Is That You? Maybe Celica?
A concept sports car was among a whole raft of EV concepts that included pickups to autonopods. Here's what we know about it.
WHAT IT ISToyota's planning a sporty, fun EV in the mold of the old MR2, providing another injection of adrenaline to the still-young GR subbrand.
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WHY IT MATTERS
Toyota's EV game has been off to a slow start. After spending years insisting gas-electric hybrids marked a more realistic path to tackling emissions and a more efficient way to allocate finite battery resources—spreading electrification across millions of vehicles, not tens of thousands—it begrudgingly entered the space with the so-so bZ4X crossover. Although the RAV4-like bZ4X offers the right packaging and price point for the moment, it's also pretty boring and suffers from subpar driving range and charging speeds. Luckily, a more exciting Toyota EV is in the wings.
Well, several are, actually. In 2021, Toyota showed off a lineup of would-be EVs. Unlike the foretold lineup of bZ products, these were all over the place—there was a truck that almost exactly previewed the 2024 Tacoma, another couple looked like sports SUVs, and yet another was a blazing yellow sports car, dubbed the Sports EV concept.
Details on the sports car are thin, but Toyota executives have been dropping hints that a vehicle like it could be coming, promising "fun" EVs that'll entice gearheads like the company's own president, Akio Toyoda, who has been a leading proponent of the GR series, which now includes the Supra and GR86 sports cars and the GR Corolla.
PLATFORM AND POWERTRAIN
Given the Sports EV concept's modest dimensions and decidedly mid-engine-evoking layout, it would either make do with a rather small battery or benefit from new solid-state technology that can pack more usable capacity into a smaller volume. Such tech has been floated for a Lexus sports car that's also allegedly in the works, but we should point out solid-state batteries have yet to see widespread commercialization.
Provided Toyota can sort out the battery situation while ensuring this sports car delivers competitive driving range and a reasonable curb weight, it would make a compelling entry to the automaker's increasingly sporty lineup. Besides, it's been more than a decade since Toyota has sold an MR2 sports car. Why not bring that icon back as an EV?
ESTIMATED PRICE:
All of this fun and sportiness won't come cheap, with a starting price for the new Toyota GR EV expected to be somewhere in the $65,000 range.
EXPECTED ON-SALE DATE:
Best estimate at this point is a 2026 calendar year debut as a 2027 model vehicle.
A lifelong car enthusiast, I stumbled into this line of work essentially by accident after discovering a job posting for an intern position at Car and Driver while at college. My start may have been a compelling alternative to working in a University of Michigan dining hall, but a decade and a half later, here I am reviewing cars; judging our Car, Truck, and Performance Vehicle of the Year contests; and shaping MotorTrend’s daily coverage of the automotive industry.
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