Toyota rolls out first battery electric car
Bundling insurance, repair costs and a battery warranty into the deal, Toyota will lease the bZ4X sport utility vehicles (SUV) at the equivalent of $39,000 for the first four years.
Toyota Motor Corp rolls out its first mass-produced battery electric car in Japan on Thursday for lease only, a strategy the automaker says will help ease driver concerns about battery life and resale value but has raised analysts' eyebrows.
Gasoline-electric hybrid models remain far more popular in Toyota's home market than electric vehicles (EVs), which accounted for just 1 per cent of the passenger cars sold in Japan last year, according to industry data.
The automaker plans to start selling the bZ4X in other markets later this year, and pre-orders have already started in some European countries.
Still, the market is growing fast and foreign automakers including Tesla Inc are making visible inroads on the streets of cities such as Tokyo.
First-time customers are concerned about battery life and the potential fall in the trade-in value over time, said Shinya Kotera, president of KINTO, the Toyota unit offering the leases.
