Tiny Toyota Ultra-Compact BEV is a production-ready electric city car

The Toyota Ultra-Compact BEV is revealed ahead of a debut at the Tokyo Motor Show as a tiny electric city car. And it’s going in to production.

Toyota has eschewed electric cars in favour of hybrids so far, but the focus is changing, in part because Toyota has no choice, but also because they seem to be close to delivering solid-state battery technology.

We can now expect Toyota, and Lexus, to start delivering BEVs in increasing numbers in the coming years, and one of the first to arrive will be this – the Toyota Ultra-Compact BEV.

Debuting at the Tokyo Motor Show, the tiny Ultra-Compact BEV is under 100 inches long (smaller than a Smart ForTwo) and is, say Toyota, designed for use in crowded cities. No kidding.

Toyota aren’t saying what lurks beneath the electric car, but it’s only really enough for scooting around very locally, with a range of about 60 miles and a top speed of just 37mph.

Akihiro Yanaka, Toyota’s Head of Development, said:

We want to create a mobility solution that can support Japan’s ageing society and provide freedom of movement to people at all stages of life.

With the Ultra-compact BEV, we are proud to offer customers a vehicle that not only allows for greater autonomy, but also requires less space, creates less noise and limits environmental impact.

Toyota say the little two-seater EV is designed specifically for use by the elderly, newly-licensed drivers and for business users visiting local clients and will go in to production in 2020, at least for the JDM.

Why does it put us in mind of the ‘National Health Blue’ Invacar we used to dole out to the elderly and disabled in the UK?