As with the bZ4X, Toyota will build a three-row SUV in Kentucky that wears its own badge, as well as one branded as a Subaru
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Although it got off to a rocky start with the bZ4X, Toyota and Subaru’s EV collaboration will continue. This time, the automakers will be building a three-row crossover at Toyota’s plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, starting in 2025.
The bZ4X was rebadged as the Solterra when sold by Subaru, and primarily engineered by Toyota, which owns a 20 percent stake in the former. Produced in Japan, the EVs had disappointing range and were quickly recalled over fears that the wheels might literally fall off.
However, Toyota may be going back to that same well, and is tentatively planning to call its three-row SUV the bZ5X, unnamed sources told Autonews. No name has been suggested for the Subaru equivalent, but it will be the second of four electric crossovers it is planning to launch by 2028.
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Read: Subaru To Accelerate EV Development, Will Launch 4 New Electric Crossovers By 2028
As the larger of the two electric SUVs we are so far aware of, the new model will likely be targeted at American customers. That may explain why Toyota plans to build it at its Kentucky plant, and to supply batteries for it from its Liberty, North Carolina, facility that is currently under construction.
The factory is expected to be ready to start making battery cells in 2025, which may help the EVs that Toyota and Subaru produce qualify for federal tax incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act, something the bZ4X currently does not.
Toyota previously announced that it would spend $461 million re-tooling its 9-million-square-foot assembly plant in Kentucky. The location currently produces the Camry, Camry Hybrid, RAV4 Hybrid, and the Lexus ES (though it is being moved to Japan), as well as four- and six-cylinder engines. It will start making hydrogen fuel cell powertrains for heavy-duty trucks starting later this year.
Toyota plans to launch 10 electric models around the world by 2026. Production of its three-row EV is set to begin in 2025, just before it starts making the Subaru equivalent.
