- Toyota is reportedly engaged on a reborn Previa seven-seater folks provider coming in 2026.
- It will likely be accessible with plug-in hybrid or pure electrical energy, and will probably be mechanically associated to the Sienna.
- It may develop 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 could 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 US.
The Sienna can be the Previa’s extra standard substitute, and it’ll most likely stay on alongside the brand new Previa, as a non-plug-in hybrid various with a extra conventional design.
Based on 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 could have been restricted to providing solely a BEV variant in a market the place plug-in hybrids are steadily rising in recognition.
The plug-in hybrid Previa may 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 could 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 offers 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 may 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 most likely battle to get something over 200 miles on one cost, so the BEV variant will possible characteristic a much bigger battery pack than the bZ4X.
The supply additionally notes that Toyota thought of a fuel-cell model too, however that was shelved since this kind of powertrain is proving even much less well-liked than earlier than when it nonetheless struggled to search out patrons. Toyota’s FCV gross sales took a nosedive in 2024, falling by almost 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 would possibly change that, particularly if it has a daring design. It is going to possible be designed to remind of the Nineteen Nineties unique, whose uncommon rounded design could have polarized opinions when it was new, however at the moment it’d function the premise for a cool retro-futuristic design, one thing just like the transformation of the traditional LeCar into at the moment’s sharp Renault 5 electrical hatch.
Toyota created the unique Previa as a worldwide car, which is able to possible stay the case with the brand new mannequin. Regardless that it was discontinued within the U.S. in 1997, the Previa continued to be bought in different markets. It obtained a second technology in 2000, which misplaced among the unique’s roundness and its mid-engined format, 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 frequent was their very slanted nostril and aerodynamic profile, with probably the most important distinction to the second and third generations being their extra upright rear. Toyota will possible combine this identical want for aerodynamic effectivity into the brand new mannequin’s design, making a whole lot of sense in an age when streamliners appear to be returning.
We tried to image what a 2026 Toyota Previa would possibly appear to be through the use of Midjourney AI, and you’ll see the ensuing picture on the prime of this text.
