Toyota has us in the eternal promise that ‘shortly’, and it is always ‘shortly’, they will have a range made up of several electric cars with revolutionary battery technology. They aim to be, according to themselves, the first, or almost the first, to have electric vehicles on the market with a solid-state battery. But at the moment the reality is that they only sell the bZ4X and their move with this model has gone badly. It arrived with problems because it had the risk of the wheels falling off, and then it was clear that its range did not meet what it should.
And while Toyota continues to fail to meet what would be expected from the brand that sells the most cars in the world, there is a ‘small brand’ that is giving it a real lesson in how things should be done in this area of electric cars. We’ll see if the situation changes in the coming years, which it should, for Toyota’s sake, but as of today this small brand has beaten Toyota when it comes to electric vehicles. In addition, they have signed an agreement with the world’s second-largest battery manufacturer to have the best technology on the market, in terms of batteries, for their current and future electric cars.
Surprising as it may be, SsangYong is one step ahead of Toyota in the electric car world
While the Japanese brand, with enormous financial resources and a world leadership position in the production of passenger vehicles, only has one electric car for sale, this brand already has two models. While the Toyota bZ4X is an electric vehicle with insufficient performance at an unaffordable price, SsangYong has a quite competent model for less than 28,000 euros. So, as I say, it’s the story of David versus Goliath.
The Toyota bZ4X, which has a minimum price of 37,650 euros, is an electric SUV 4.69 meters long. It has a 204 HP motor combined with a 71 kWh battery and promises a range of between 418 and 506 km depending on the configuration chosen, although we already know that it has received harsh criticism because it does not meet these figures. Something that, yes, has to do with the calibration of the battery and not with a problem with it on a physical level.
Meanwhile, SsangYong has the Korando e-Motion in its range starting at 27,400 euros, which is more or less what a Hyundai Tucson or a KIA Sportage cost with its cheapest gasoline engine in the range. We are talking about a 4.46 meter-long SUV that, yes, is smaller than the Toyota bZ4X, but it has 551 liters of trunk compared to only 452 liters of capacity. And yes, it is true that the SsangYong model only reaches 339 km of maximum range with 190 HP of maximum power, but for those who need something more, they have a much better product that is positioned just above.
This is the new SsangYong Torres EVX, which will soon begin to be sold as KGM Torres EVX, and it already measures 4.7 meters long so it is positioned at the height of the Toyota RAV4. In this case, the Japanese model is only sold with hybrid and plug-in hybrid engines, but nothing electric. Well, this new Torres EVX now reaches up to 500 km of range under the WLTP cycle, and it does so with a Blade battery with BYD LFP cells. It will arrive shortly in Spain and we will see its price, but it uses better technology than the Toyota bZ4X and it is expected to be somewhat cheaper even though, among other things, it also has a larger trunk.
Today, while Toyota has only one electric car in its range, and it does not meet expectations, manufacturers of much less relevance worldwide, such as SsangYong, are already several years ahead in both range and technology. It is something that, of course, should concern Toyota and should lead them to accelerate their complete electrification strategy if they want to remain a relevant player in the coming years. And if not, it would not be strange to see brands like Tesla, BYD, or Stellantis, putting their global leadership in trouble.