2024 Toyota Compact Cruiser: The Baby FJ EV You Didn’t Know You Wanted
WHAT IT IS: Following an early focus on hydrogen and hybrids, Toyota now seems to be progressively shifting its focus to battery electric vehicles. The new 2024 Toyota Compact Cruiser is one of the vehicles that will serve as the cornerstone of this orientation change. The Compact Cruiser is a little electric off-roader designed in the style of early 1990s classics like the Suzuki Samurai. It is a sort of replacement for the popular FJ Cruiser, which departed our market in 2014 but is still produced in the Middle East. With four doors, lots of ground clearance, tucked-away bumpers, all-terrain tires, and beefy-looking skidplates, this little electric off-roader should be a blast to drive off-road.
WHY IT MATTERS:
Toyota has promised to launch 10 new "lines" of EVs by 2025, and the Compact Cruiser will be one of those shots. WHY IT MATTERS: Toyota is finally making headway in the EV market. The Compact Cruiser, shown here with images of the Toyota Compact Cruiser Concept from earlier this year, aims to satisfy hordes of Toyota's hard-core off-road enthusiasts by offering more traditional Land Cruiser styling cues in an effective, modern package. While models like the 2023 Toyota bZ4X cover Toyota's more conservative audience, the Compact Cruiser targets the more mainstream market.
PLATFORM AND POWERTRAIN:
Although we don't know much about what lies behind the Compact Cruiser's bodywork, we believe it is reasonable to assume that it will be Toyota's new e-TNGA platform, which also serves as the foundation for the Subaru Solterra and bZ4x. We anticipate the Compact Cruiser to have about 250 horsepower and dual-motor all-wheel drive. The more aerodynamic all-wheel-drive bZ4X achieves 222 miles of range in its least efficient configuration and is one of the slowest-charging EVs on the market, so if that's the case, don't expect it to be a range or charging champion.
ESTIMATED PRICE: $45,000
EXPECTED ON-SALE DATE: Fall 2023