The Toyota FT-Se Is Toyota's Electric Sports Car Future

Photo: Toyota

Toyota teased a new addition to its GR sports lineup last week, a sleek electric coupe that uses buttplug technology for high-density energy storage. Now, we’ve finally seen the car in full, but it comes with a strange caveat: Despite the near-production looks, it may take some time for this new FT-Se to actually hit dealer floors.

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The FT-Se (presumably meaning Future Toyota Sports Electric) debuted at the Japan Mobility Show today, as an expression of Toyota’s “Find Your Future” mantra. The approach stands for a commitment to variety in EVs, such that any prospective buyer can find their future dream car among Toyota’s electric offerings.

But, buried within Toyota’s reveal presentation, CEO Koji Sato let slip a very interesting piece of information about the FT-Se’s future availability: The platform that underpins it will be given to Lexus first, before being allowed to trickle down to Toyota. From Toyota’s translation of the presentation:

In these cars, the scenery looks completely different.
The Lexus brand will first produce cars that tell this story.

…

Of course, Toyota and GR-brand cars, like with these two models here, will also change.
If we have the technology to make cars smaller, lower, and lighter, from sports cars and SUVs to pickup trucks and small vans, we can create a diverse lineup with outstanding qualities.

The FT-Se looks absolutely fantastic, and may well finally deliver on the longstanding promise of low-slung EV platforms making incredible sports cars. But, while it’ll likely still beat the Tesla Roadster to market, you’re not likely to see a shiny new coupe on your local Toyota lot come Christmastime. Sounds like we’ll all get at least one Lexus December to Remember first.