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The vehicle you see above is not a real, production Toyota. It should be, though. It’s called the Toyota Compact Cruiser EV and it’s quite the cool-looking thing. And, evidently, I’m not the only one who thinks this because it won the 2022 Car Design Award for Concept Vehicles on June 10, beating out a field that included the Audi Skysphere, the Polestar O2, Porsche Mission R, and the delightfully retro Opel Manta GSe ElektroMOD, among others.
Created by Toyota’s European design team in Nice and shaped like a Suzuki Jimny, the Compact Cruiser is made of modern, chiseled details but is also vaguely reminiscent of the original Land Cruisers and, of course, the FJ Cruiser. This being a concept car in the year 2022, it is also, of course, an EV.
Electric or not, though, this is definitely something I’d love to see produced. Afraid nobody’s gonna buy a small off-roader in America, Toyota? Feed it through the photocopier at 125 percent and trot it out as a Ford Bronco rival.
Eagle-eyed readers will recognize the Compact Cruiser from the grid of 15 electric concepts Toyota brought out back in December alongside its announcement to invest $70 billion toward an all-electric lineup by 2030. With this snagging an award for design—not exactly the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of Toyota—the company has gotta make it a reality now, right?
C’mon, guys. If a Corolla with no rear seats makes financial sense, surely this does too.
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