Say goodbye to "bZ4X" and other confusing alphanumerics. Toyota is changing its naming strategy as future cars get EV counterparts.
Before long, purchasing an electric Toyota won’t require solving equations involving b, Z, or X anymore.
At its annual Kenshiki Forum event in Brussels last week, Toyota officials announced a plan to walk away from its confusing and often-criticized naming scheme for electric cars, which has yielded models with names like bZ4X , bZ3 and bZ3X Instead, new electric vehicles will be christened using names from "Toyota’s existing and well-known model lines," according to officials.
"Andrea Carlucci, who leads marketing and product development for Toyota Motor Europe, stated, 'This strategy will evolve further since every upcoming electric vehicle will naturally form an essential component of our Toyota range,'" he explained.
While no Toyota officials at the event would confirm exactly what new models would arrive with this new naming system, they indicated a desire to lean on the company's existing brand equity, not unlike the two generations of RAV4 EVs .
2026 Toyota bZ4X Live Photos
However, CarluCCI suggested potential future developments concerning two new and anticipated electric vehicle models. The first one is the Urban Cruiser , which is currently a compact electric crossover available in Europe under a nameplate that has been intermittently used over the past twenty years and associated with the renowned Land Cruiser brand. The other model is the newly introduced C-HR+, a mid-size crossover. that shares the name with a hybrid version However, it is entirely different from the original vehicle.
Masaya Uchiyama, who serves as the chief engineer of the bZ4X, stated InsideEVs that this decision was a step towards integrating all-electric vehicles into everyday use.
We chose 'bZ4X' as the name because it felt innovative. Uchiyama said. " Currently, BEVs (Battery Electric Vehicles) are growing in popularity and becoming more commonplace. Previously, they appealed mainly to innovators and early adopters. However, today, these vehicles are geared towards ‘early majorities’. We believe it’s time to choose a common or well-known term for BEVs since this type of vehicle is no longer considered extraordinary.
Uchiyama is correct on that front. EVs made up about one in 10 new car sales in the U.S. in 2024, a record result. In Europe, the numbers are even higher, with around 15% of new car sales being electric in the European Union in January. Those numbers go significantly higher depending on what European country you're in; in Belgium, EVs make up nearly 30% of the new car market , while in Norway—where the bZ4X has consistently topped the sales charts—as electric vehicles (EVs) continue to be essentially 90% of newly sold cars .
Toyota has been traditionally hesitant about completely adopting electric cars and has instead leaned on its "multi-pathway" approach to offering many different types of vehicles. Yet the continued growth of the EV sector, especially in Europe, has led the world's largest automaker to step up its game there. Toyota intends to unveil three more all-electric models by the end of 2026; one is presumed to be a pickup truck, and another could be a production version of The Land Cruiser Se concept .
Land Cruiser Se Concept
Automakers frequently face challenges when deciding how to name their upcoming electric vehicles (EVs) as these become increasingly common, potentially even replacing gasoline-powered models across various series. Some manufacturers choose distinct monikers for their EVs such as the Kia EV3 or Hyundai Ioniq 5; others hesitate to discard long-established brand associations and familiar recognitions. For instance, Audi has been hesitant recently abandoned a convoluted strategy where EVs would be even-numbered cars like A4 and Q6 while gas-powered cars would use odd numbers.
On Toyota's end, it's unlikely that many people will miss the " Beyond Zero 4 Crossover especially since this modern electric RAV4 is essentially an electrified version under another name. Introducing electric variants of the Sienna, Tacoma, and Corolla could make it far more appealing for enthusiasts of these vehicles to transition away from gas-powered models.
Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com
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