TOYOTA Motor Corp. plans to start production and sales of a small electric sedan powered by BYD Co. batteries by year-end as part of an ongoing collaboration with the Shenzhen-based company, sources close to the Japanese carmaker said.

The for now China-only bZ3 sedan co-developed with BYD will be the second model in the new “Beyond Zero” (bZ) series of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from Toyota, which has been criticized by activists and green investors for not embracing BEVs fast enough.

Toyota had planned to unveil the bZ3, which uses BYD’s less bulky blade batteries, at the Beijing auto show in April, but the event was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the sources said.

The car is roughly the same size as Toyota’s Corolla model but with a bigger back-seat section, the sources said.

The pricing of the bZ3 could not be determined, but one of the sources said it would likely sell for around 200,000 yuan (US$28,000), nearly 30% below an entry-level Tesla Inc.’s Model 3.

The bZ3 will be produced in Tianjin at a pace of 30,000 vehicles a year, two of the sources said. The plant is jointly operated by Toyota and one of its two Chinese partners, FAW Group.

There are no plans for Toyota’s other joint venture with GAC Motor to produce the bZ3, the sources said.

Toyota has long advocated a small car that does not compromise on comfort as the best way to popularize BEVs, but it has struggled to produce one.

(SD-Agencies)