During massive 15-concept rollout, Toyota has unveiled a pretty cool-looking electric model that caught our attention. The Toyota Compact Cruiser EV is an off-road-focused SUV with compact dimensions that is borrowing several design features from the legendary Land Cruiser heritage. As the name suggests, the Compact Cruiser EV is quite compact, and even though we don’t have any measurements it looks a lot smaller than the pickup and about the same size as the CH-R-based concept parked next to it.

The rugged styling and the color combinations immediately bring to mind the FJ Cruiser from back in 2006. This is natural since both models have strong references to the Land Cruisers of the past. At the front, the Compact Cruiser has a retro grille featuring Toyota lettering that is surrounded by horizontally-arranged LED headlights for a J80-style face. The unpainted bumper with a protruding aluminum-style skid-plate and vertical slits makes the Compact Cruiser look tough and ready to conquer the wilderness. The heavily sculpted profile with plenty of plastic cladding on the fenders features wraparound windows that seem to be connected with the upright windshield. The retro-styled rims are shod in all-terrain tires and the generous ground clearance hint at more than adequate off-road credentials. At the back, there are Wrangler-style LED taillights and a weird-looking door hosting the expansion of the roof rack.

 

While Toyota only published a couple of official pictures, we managed to grab a couple more from the video presentation showing different angles of the car. Those included an interior shot revealing a large portion of the dashboard. There is a free-standing panel incorporating a digital instrument cluster and a large touchscreen, a weirdly shaped steering wheel, a high-mounted center console with a few controls, and plenty of storage space on the dashboard showing a utility-focused approach similar to the new Land Rover Defender. he Compact Cruiser doesn’t come out of the blue, since a similar vehicle appeared back in 2017 in the form of the Toyota F4-X concept car. This one shared the TNGA-C architecture with the CH-R and came fitted with a four-cylinder engine. The Compact Cruiser EV could follow a similar road – with the exception of the engine – using an electrified variant of the TNGA platform as a base. Toyota was coy on details but a dual-motor setup with standard all-wheel-drive and an adequate-size battery would be ideal for this type of vehicle.

The Toyota Compact Cruiser EV might be a concept car but it will most likely reach production sometime in the coming years. We hope that Toyota designers and engineers will find a way to produce this compact off-roader without changing much of the concept’s styling and quirky character. In terms of market placement, the Compact Cruiser could be an electric rival to the Ford Bronco Sport as another rugged-looking SUV based on a mainstream unibody chassis. Another direct rival could be the next generation of the Jeep Renegade, especially if it gets a fully electric variant.