Are the Toyota RAV4 and Camry going EV?

Toyota may have quietly hinted at further electrification plans for its top models at the Shanghai motor show, namely the popular RAV4 mid-size SUV and the Camry mid-size sedan.

At this week’s Auto Shanghai 2025, Lexus detailed the “redesigned TNGA GA-K” platform which allows for both hybrid (HEV) and battery electric (BEV) drivetrains, and which debuts under the 2026 Lexus ES.

In its older form, the Toyota GA-K architecture underpins a number of popular Toyota and Lexus models including the outgoing ES, as well as the likes of the Toyota RAV4, Camry and Kluger and the Lexus NX and RX.

The new ES’s powertrain lineup could preview what’s in store for the next-generation RAV4 and Camry, as well as other products on the platform, with two hybrids to be offered as well as single- and dual-motor EV options.

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“By unlocking the full potential of the newly developed TNGA GA-K platform, designers were able to position the large-capacity battery (designed specifically for BEVs) beneath the floor to lower the centre of gravity and enhance driving stability,” Lexus says in its media release.

At launch the new ES will offer two hybrid and two electric drivetrain options, with 2WD and AWD available for both, and both HEV and BEV powertrains have been confirmed for the Australian market in 2026.

Further, the recently revealed Toyota C-HR+ BEV for the European market runs the same single- and dual-motor electric drivetrains of the ES350e and 500e, though that car is based on the e-TNGA electric vehicle platform which also underpins the Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra, as well as the Lexus RZ.

Toyota’s “multi-pathway approach” to powertrains and electrification will be “region-centred”, with new electrified products to be “tailored to the customer needs in each country and region around the world”.

China is leading the charge given its high proportion of EV sales volume, hence why Toyota has launched a number of market-specific bZ models, and debuted the new bZ7 BEV sedan in Shanghai developed by the GAC-Toyota Chinese joint venture.

Due for “commercialisation within a year”, the Toyota bZ7 BEV appears to be the Toyota brand’s cousin for the Lexus ES BEV, said to measure “over five metres in length”.

Further details are scant given it’s still in development, but as the images above show it’s very similar to its Lexus counterpart inside and out.

The new bZ7 joins the existing bZ4X, bZ3, bZ3X and bZ5 in the Chinese market. With the exception of the bZ4X which is sold in a number of global markets, the entirety of Toyota’s bZ lineup in China is specific to the region.

A new Toyota RAV4 is in the works, though not much has been confirmed by the Japanese manufacturer about the next iteration of its top-selling SUV.

The above image was reportedly taken at a GAC Toyota dealer meeting in China, first published on Chinese social media network Weibo and re-shared by Japanese outlet Creative Trend.

It’s understood the undisguised vehicle is the new Chinese-market Toyota Wildlander, which in its current form is the GAC-Toyota joint venture’s lightly restyled take of the current RAV4 produced in China by FAW Toyota.

While rumours that this new vehicle would be revealed at this week’s Shanghai show have fallen flat, a similarly styled, camouflaged prototype believed to be the next-generation Toyota RAV4 has also been spied testing in the US.

Previous reports have speculated the next RAV4 will continue to offer hybrid and plug-in hybrid power, and boast the fifth-generation Toyota hybrid system from the latest Camry.

However, if this is true that could mean the new RAV4’s TNGA-K platform could be a version of the current vehicle’s architecture, not the new one under the ES – a move that could keep production costs low, crucial for a volume-selling vehicle like the RAV4.

Given the Camry was revealed and brought to market in 2024, however, it could also mean Toyota will completely overhaul the RAV4 with the ES’s redesigned platform as opposed to rejigging the old car which has been on sale largely unchanged since 2018 – meaning new hybrid and EV options for the brand’s most popular car.

The Camry was only just given a ‘generational overhaul’ in 2024, though the latest model is more or less a heavily updated version of its predecessor rather than an all-new model.

It’s now hybrid-only in a number of markets including Australia, North America, and Europe, running the brand’s fifth-generation hybrid system incorporating a 2.5-litre petrol engine, an electric motor and lithium-ion battery.

With that in mind, the Camry as it is could be with us towards the turn of the decade, meaning an EV version of Toyota’s iconic nameplate could still be some time away.

The ES’s new platform and powertrain tech could potentially trickle into other products like the Crown family as well as the Alphard/Vellfire/LM people movers, too.

However, it’s also possible the overhauled version of the TNGA-K platform could be reserved for the Lexus brand.

Another brand that has successfully adopted a similar multi-pathway strategy is BMW, which generally offers internal combustion, mild-hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery-electric versions of the same car.

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