• The Toyota bZ3x is priced between $15,000 and $21,000 in China.
• It’s the automaker’s cheapest EV in China and gets autonomous features found on far more expensive vehicles.
• Toyota’s web servers reportedly crashed after orders opened due to a flood of visitors.

Toyota has launched an all-electric family SUV in China. Its features hint that the Japanese automaker may finally be getting serious about EVs, at least on the other side of the planet.

The bZ3x, or Bozhi 3X as it’s locally called, is Toyota’s cheapest EV in China. It starts at 109,800 yuan or $15,150 as of current exchange rates. The version equipped with lidar and self-driving features is not much more expensive, starting at 149,800 yuan ($20,707).

Toyota operates in China under a joint venture with local partner GAC Group. It is aiming to grab a larger piece of China’s burgeoning yet cutthroat new energy vehicle (NEV) market, where over a hundred brands are competing to stay relevant in the long term. Brands that fail to keep up with the fast-advancing EV tech risk getting wiped out by the bigger players in China. Toyota doesn’t want to be in that position.

The bZ3x isn’t groundbreaking on the range and charging fronts, but it makes up for that in features. Toyota has launched seven trims of the bZ3x, five without lidar and two with it included. They are all equipped with a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery, varying in size depending on the version, between 50 and 58 kilowatt-hours.

With the larger battery, the range on the overly optimistic CLTC cycle is 520 kilometers (323 miles). Output isn’t all that great either, with 200 horsepower and 200 and 147 pound-feet of torque. It appears to be using a 400-volt architecture, with a charging time of 24 minutes for a 30-80% charge.

The cabin is more reminiscent of a California start-up than something from Toyota, with a minimalist look. There’s a 14.7-inch screen in the center powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip. It also gets its “smart driving system” from Chinese autonomous driving startup Momenta, which includes hardware such as the Nvidia Drive Orin X chip offering up to 254 trillion operations per second (TOPS) of computing power. And the sensor suite is impressive for an EV that costs just $20,000. It gets one lidar, three long-range radars, 11 short-range ultrasonic radars, and 11 cameras.

China’s traffic landscape is far more complex than the U.S., with many more two-wheelers, narrow roads and tricky intersections, so this sensor suite makes sense as companies race to develop more sophisticated driver aids.

Local reports also suggest that the model may be an instant hit given its low price, with Toyota getting 10,000 orders in the first 60 minutes and then the web server crashing due to a flood of visitors.

Have a tip? Contact the author: [email protected]