Toyota’s most affordable electric vehicle, which starts at around $15,000, is off to a hot start in China. With a new locally-built EV motor, Toyota is already cutting costs to keep pace in China’s fierce EV price war.
Toyota secures a new China-made EV motor to cut costs
After launching the bZ3X in March, Toyota’s joint venture, GAC Toyota, claimed the new electric SUV was “so popular that the server crashed.”
The electric SUV is selling faster than expected. In May, its second full month on the market, the bZ3X was the best-selling foreign brand EV in China, outselling the Volkswagen ID.3 and ID.4 Crozz, BMW i3, and Nissan’s new N7.
GAC-Toyota’s general manager of sales, Peng Baolin, announced the bZ3X retained the title in June with 6,030 units delivered.
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Toyota has already sold around 20,000 models, a new record for joint venture electric SUVs. Thanks to a new, locally made EV motor, the Japanese automaker can offer the bZ3X at such low prices.
Japan’s Nidec built a “made-in-China” EV motor to help Toyota compete in China’s intense EV market. Nidec’s president, Mitsuya Kishida, said in an interview (via Bloomberg) that around 99% of the materials and parts are sourced from China.
Toyota bZ3X electric SUV (Source: Toyota)
According to Kishida, building the new electric motor was “incredibly tough,” but it’s already helping Toyota cut costs in China.
Nidec began supplying the new EV motor for the bZ3X in March, a key factor in the electric SUV’s starting price of roughly $15,000.
Toyota bZ3X electric SUV (Source: GAC Toyota)
The bZ3X is available in seven different trims with prices ranging from 109,800 yuan ($15,000) to 159,800 yuan ($22,000). It’s offered with two battery packs, 50.03 kWh and 67.92 kWh, providing a CLTC driving range of 430 km (267 miles) and 610 km (379 miles), respectively.
Toyota bZ3X interior (Source: Toyota)
Despite the low price, the interior is surprisingly luxurious and equipped with advanced technology, including a 12.3″ infotainment screen and an 8.8″ driver cluster screen.
Powered by Momenta’s end-to-end intelligent driving model, the electric SUV offers nearly 50 advanced safety features, including Level 2 assisted driving.
Toyota bZ3X EV interior (Source: Toyota)
Toyota promotes it as a budget-friendly family SUV. With all seats folded down, the bZ3X has nearly 10 feet of space.
At 4,645 mm in length, 1,885 mm in width, and 1,625 mm in height, Toyota’s electric SUV is about the same size as the BYD Yuan Plus (sold as the Atto 3 overseas).
Electrek’s Take
Toyota is showing signs of a recovery in China with a series of new electric vehicles rolling out. Last month, the company launched another electric SUV, the bZ5.
The bZ5 is about the size of a Tesla Model Y, but it’s about half the cost in China, with prices starting at 129,800 yuan ($18,000).
During GAC-Toyota’s EV Tech Day in June, the company announced partnerships with “car industry bigwigs,” including Xiaomi, Huawei, and Momenta.
Through the first five months of 2025, Toyota’s sales in China are up 7.7% with over 530,000 vehicles sold. With several more EVs on the way, including the bZ7, the Japanese automaker aims to catch up.
Toyota also broke ground on a new Lexus EV plant in Shanghai last month, the second wholly owned auto plant in China from a foreign automaker, following Tesla. Kishida said Nidec could cooperate with Toyota on the project for supply.
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Founded in 1689, Husqvarna was a musket maker for the king of Sweden – but now, the company best known for quirky motorcycles and commercial riding mowers is becoming an innovator in the field of robotics, and its latest fleet of electric autonomous mowers are eager to get grazing.
Husqvarna’s autonomous lawnmowers made history earlier this year at the AIG Women’s Open, when they became the first autonomous groundskeeping solution to see duty during a UK Major golf week.
“At the AIG Women’s Open, the Husqvarna portfolio is helping us deliver this goal through improved resource management, regular lightweight mowing and reduced carbon usage,” explains Royal Porthcawl’s Course Manager, Ian Kinley, who has championed the use of robotic technology at the course. “With the AIG Women’s Open set to be the largest-ever women’s sporting event in Wales, we know there’s tremendous pressure to produce playing surfaces that are worthy of such a high-profile event.”
Events like the AIG Women’s Open are proving that the little robot Huskies can get the job done quietly, sustainably, and with significantly less operator input. As such, you’d think everyone at Husqvarna would be excited about them.
You’d be wrong. The company’s franchise dealers have been hesitant to push them forward, effectively putting the parent company in the position of going B2C, or going home.
“Dealers live and breathe the previous technology,” said Yvette Henshall-Bell, Husqvarna’s President of its Forest and Garden division for Europe, in that same Forbes piece. “They want to protect that servicing, that aftermarket revenue. Whereas if they really thought about what the customer’s problems are and the job to be done, they would be looking at a completely different solution.”
A solution, frankly, that looks a lot like a little robot mower.
The bigger CEORA can handle up to 18 acres of ground twice each week, while the Automower, with its 80V battery and pinpoint precision EPOS (Exact Positioning Operating System) software, can handle another 2.5 acres. Both are fully electric, and can guide themselves back to their pens to recharge as needed.
Prices aren’t public, but the Husqvarna CEORA and Automowers are available as part of a custom lease package through Husqvarna Finance that will include access to the company’s customizable back end and ongoing support. Check with your local dealer for more.
Electrek’s Take
As a typically pro-union, pro-labor type of guy, I am hesitant to heap praise upon a robot taking away anyone’s job. That said, it does seem to be difficult for landscapers and construction crews to keep and find good labor at rates they can afford (and, let’s face it – the current Trump Administration isn’t going to be making that any easier). As such, if companies like Husqvarna and John Deere and Einride and others can build a demonstrably better mousetrap at a compelling price point … good for them. (?)
Let us know what you think in the comments.
SOURCES: Forbes, Golf Monthly; images by Husqvarna.
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In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss Apple CarPlay possibly coming to Tesla cars, VW getting access to Superchargers, a Toyota electric pickup, and more.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
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Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET:
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2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 at a Tesla Supercharger (Source: Hyundai)
US EV sales declined in October following the expiration of the $7,500 federal tax credit on September 30, and the average transaction price (ATP) edged up, according to initial estimates from Kelley Blue Book, a Cox Automotive brand. However, there are still deals to be had.
Kelley Blue Book’s initial estimates show that US EV sales fell to 74,835 in October, down 48.9% from September, which was a record month, and 30.3% year-over-year.
Prices also ticked up. The average transaction price (ATP) for a new EV climbed 1.6% month-over-month to $59,125, which is 2.3% higher than a year ago.
Tesla didn’t escape the downturn, but it held up better than the overall EV market. The company’s ATP fell 1.1% from September to $53,526, and its prices are 5.5% lower than they were in October 2024. Sales of the Model 3 and Model Y both declined month-over-month, and overall Tesla sales decreased by 35.3% from September and 23.6% year-over-year, which are smaller declines compared to the broader EV segment.
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Cox Automotive senior analyst Stephanie Valdez Streaty said the shift wasn’t surprising:
We expected this shift in the electric vehicle market. With the IRA-backed sales incentives gone, lower-cost EV volume was hit hard, pushing the mix toward more luxury and driving October’s EV ATP to a 2025 high of $59,125 – now $9,359 above the industry average. Affordability has always been the core challenge with EV sales, and this reset only underscores how critical it is to bring more attainable EV options to market.
Electrek’s Take
September was a record-breaking month for both EV deals and sales. Dealers were offering all sorts of sweet incentives to stack with the federal tax credit to move cars off the lot. October’s sales drop was entirely anticipated, like a pounding headache after a big blowout party.
We didn’t know what the post-federal tax credit EV market would look like. As Valdez Streaty rightly states, EVs do have a higher ATP than the industry average. But it turns out that, so far, it’s not all doom and gloom, and the federal tax credit isn’t the only incentive in town.
Every month, I compile great EV lease deals, and for the last few months, some EVs’ monthly lease payments have been cheaper than before the federal tax credit expired. Many states are still offering rebates on EV purchases, and dealers still have really good deals. While cheaper models would definitely be welcome, there are good deals available right now.
And let’s not forget the fact that EVs are much cheaper to drive than gas cars, with or without that tax credit.
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