Is there a pure electric version of the Toyota AE86? Maybe it's just a concept car

Recently, according to Nikkei, Toyota held a test drive event for the pure electric version of AE86. This is an event planned by KINTO (Nagoya City), a car flat-rate service launched by Toyota Group.

It is understood that the format of the event is to determine by lottery who is eligible to borrow this car for a test drive. The person who is selected can borrow the car in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture for 2 hours for 20,000 yen (approximately 956.18 RMB) and provide feedback to Toyota. It is estimated that Toyota will use this user feedback to develop future vehicles.

The Toyota AE86 is a widely recognized classic model, with its fame closely tied to the anime "Initial D". The renowned drift master Keiichi Tsuchiya honed his drifting skills in the early years using the AE86. Tsuchiya has mentioned multiple times that the AE86 is an excellent practice car for drift novices. After the AE86 gained popularity, its exceptional potential for modifications was further explored. However, unexpectedly, this time it was converted into an electric vehicle. Despite being fully electric, it still retains a gear lever and clutch that allow for manual transmission driving.

In fact, at the 2023 Tokyo Automobile Salon (Tokyo Modification Exhibition) in Japan, Toyota displayed two "new energy" AE86 concept cars, one of which uses hydrogen instead of gasoline, and the other is a purely electric version. These two cars are concept cars built by the Toyota GR department in the face of carbon goals and based on driving fun.

As for whether the pure electric AE86 will be mass-produced, I think it's almost impossible.  However, since Toyota mentioned the use of user feedback to develop vehicles, it is not clear what kind of feedback will be used in the development of new cars.

(Pictures/Text/Photography: Kevin Wong from Pacific Auto)