Toyota Urban Cruiser EV specs ANNOUNCED ahead of going on sale in the summer

The new Toyota Urban Cruiser – Toyota’s second EV – will go on sale in the UK in the summer, ahead of which Toyota announces spec options.

Toyota may be king of the Hybrid, but it’s been slow to embrace EVs and has always been sceptical about the appetite for electric cars, despite legislation forcing them down the EV route.

The only EV from Toyota so far has been the bZ4X, which hasn’t exactly been a runaway success, as the first of a planned range of ‘bZ’ models, but with the reveal of the Toyota Urban Cruiser a few months ago it seems clear Toyota has given up the idea of naming their EV models after 1980s games consoles.

Not only is Toyota’s decision to give their EVs proper names a sensible move, so too is delivering a Compact SUV EV to take aim at cars like the Kia EV3 and Volvo EX30 as buyers baulk at the cost of EVs.

The Urban Cruiser comes with two battery options – 49kWh and 61kWh – with FWD models with the 49kWh battery delivering 142bhp, FWD models with the bigger battery 172bhp and AWD models with the bigger battery 181bhp.

Now we get spec-level details for the Urban Cruiser – Icon, Design and Excel – with Icon models getting the 49kWh battery, 18″ alloys, 10.1″ infotainment, 10.25″ drive display, Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Ambient lighting, Driver Monitoring Camera, Rear View Camera, Blind Spot, Pre-Collision, Adaptive Cruise, Air Con and Heat pump.

Moving up to Design trim adds heated steering wheel, heated front seats, electric heated door mirrors, wiper de-icer and rear cabin vents, with range-topping Excel trim also coming with 61kWh battery, 19″ alloys, JBL Sound, Bi-tone paint, part faux leather, Panormaic roof, LED Adaptive headlights, wireless phone charger and Panoramic View monitor.

Toyota says order books for the Urban Cruiser will open in the UK in the summer. Expect prices to be in the £30-35k range.