Toyota’s developing a rival to the growing small electric SUV market, and this Urban SUV concept is our first look at its new contender.

The Urban SUV Concept has a tall, boxy small crossover shape that’s designed to make it a relative companion to the hybrid-powered Yaris Cross – even if it looks a little larger than the ‘self-charging’ baby SUV that’s already on sale. ‘It has a compact footprint and high driving position that many customers in urban environments are looking for,’ says president and CEO of Toyota Europe, Yoshihiro Nakata. ‘This model gives us a strong indication of what will be a key contributor to our BEV sales here in Europe.’

Performance specs are sparse, but Toyota has confirmed that production version will have two different battery sizes available and offer front- and all-wheel drive versions. ‘This will be our electric offer for the B-SUV category that is growing more and more in the European market. We have had success with the Yaris Cross, and we don’t intend to leave anything to the competition when it’s about battery electric vehicles,’ says Andrea Carlucci.

We expect the new model to launch under Toyota’s current electric car nomenclature, meaning it could bear the name bZ2 or bZ2X (as the bZ3 already exists for the Chinese market).

The resulting production car will rival the likes of the Vauxhall Mokka Electric and Jeep Avenger, as well as the Smart #1 and upcoming Ford Puma EV.

Interested? If you are, you won’t have to wait long: ‘we plan to reveal the production version of this car in the first half of next year,’ says Nakata. After something smaller? Toyota’s not venturing into the supermini EV market like Renault with its upcoming 5 EV for now, according to Carlucci: ‘This will be the most compact BEV car, at least for a while.’