- Toyota is reportedly engaged on a reborn Previa seven-seater folks provider coming in 2026.
- Will probably be accessible with plug-in hybrid or pure electrical energy, and will probably be mechanically associated to the Sienna.
- It might turn into the primary battery-electric car constructed on Toyota’s TNGA-Ok platform.
The 1990 to 1997 Toyota Previa minivan was by no means a gross sales champ, however its uncommon, rounded design actually made it stand out. Now, the automaker needs to resume its lineup, and one report says an all-new Previa that you would be able to plug in is within the playing cards for launch within the subsequent couple of years.
Forbes, citing native sources from Japan, says Toyota is gearing as much as launch the all-new Previa in 2026 with each plug-in hybrid and pure electrical powertrains. It reportedly gained’t be underpinned by the e-TNGA EV-specific platform utilized in the bZ4X and Lexus RZ, with Toyota choosing the TNGA-Ok platform shared with fashions like the Crown and the Sienna, which is Toyota’s solely minivan on sale in the USA.
The Sienna can also be the Previa’s extra standard substitute, and it’ll in all probability reside on alongside the brand new Previa, as a non-plug-in hybrid various with a extra conventional design.
In response to Forbes’ unnamed insider supply, Toyota has chosen the TNGA-Ok platform to permit for each plug-in hybrid and pure electrical powertrains. Had it used e-TNGA to create the brand new Previa, it might have been restricted to providing solely a BEV variant in a market the place plug-in hybrids are steadily rising in reputation.
The plug-in hybrid Previa might borrow the Prius Prime’s powertrain, which mixes two electrical motors with a 2-liter engine for a complete of 220 horsepower. The Prius Prime has a 13.6-kilowatt-hour battery pack, giving it a claimed WLTP vary of 33 miles. The bigger and heavier Previa PHEV will go much less on one cost, so Toyota might select to equip it with a bigger pack to spice up its electrical vary.
The 18.1 kWh pack that powers the RAV4 Prime appears a a lot better match for a seven-seater minivan. It provides the RAV4 PHEV an EPA vary of 42 miles, so it ought to take the extra aerodynamic Previa even additional.
Toyota doesn’t at the moment make any EVs on TNGA-Ok. For the pure electrical variant of the Previa, Toyota might adapt the powertrain out of its bZ4X, which has a 201 horsepower single-motor front-wheel-drive configuration in base type and provides a second motor within the rear to for 215 hp, all-wheel drive and much more torque.
The bZ4X has a 71.4 kWh battery with a usable capability of round 64 kWh, giving it an EPA vary of 252 miles in single-motor guise. The bigger and heavier Previa would in all probability wrestle to get something over 200 miles on one cost, so the BEV variant will doubtless function a much bigger battery pack than the bZ4X.
The supply additionally notes that Toyota thought-about a fuel-cell model too, however that was shelved since this kind of powertrain is proving even much less fashionable than earlier than when it nonetheless struggled to search out consumers. Toyota’s FCV gross sales took a nosedive in 2024, falling by practically 70% within the first eleven months of final 12 months in comparison with 2023.
Toyota’s EVs haven’t been among the many finest in the marketplace, however a sensible, battery-powered folks provider may change that, particularly if it has a daring design. It’ll doubtless be designed to remind of the Nineties unique, whose uncommon rounded design might have polarized opinions when it was new, however right this moment it’d function the idea for a cool retro-futuristic design, one thing just like the transformation of the basic LeCar into right this moment’s sharp Renault 5 electrical hatch.
Toyota created the unique Previa as a worldwide car, which is able to doubtless stay the case with the brand new mannequin. Though it was discontinued within the U.S. in 1997, the Previa continued to be offered in different markets. It acquired a second era in 2000, which misplaced among the unique’s roundness and its mid-engined structure, but it surely remained a boldly-styled minivan. The third-generation mannequin arrived in 2006 and it remained in manufacturing till 2019.
What all of them had in widespread was their very slanted nostril and aerodynamic profile, with essentially the most important distinction to the second and third generations being their extra upright rear. Toyota will doubtless combine this similar want for aerodynamic effectivity into the brand new mannequin’s design, making a number of sense in an age when streamliners appear to be returning.
We tried to image what a 2026 Toyota Previa may seem like through the use of Midjourney AI, and you’ll see the ensuing picture on the high of this text.
