Electric Toyota AE86 returns to Tokyo

19th January 2024

Ethan Jupp

Toyota returned to the 2024 Tokyo Auto Salon with the ultimate bait project: a cult ‘80s sportscar with an electric powertrain swap. Yes, they took an AE86, removed its raspy 4AGE engine and replaced it with batteries and an electric motor. Whatever next, an Ionity charging station at the top of Mount Akina? Tesla Superchargers littering Daikoku PA?

The brand actually brought the AE86 BEV and a hydrogen-powered AE86 H2 to the show last year. While the H2 – visually almost identical to the famous star car of Initial D – actually maintains the combustion engine element, albeit swapping petrol for hydrogen fed from two Mirai tanks mounted in the rear, the BEV has undergone a few more extreme changes…

It uses a PHEV Prius battery in concert with a Tundra HEV electric motor while attempting to retain as much of the iconic ‘80s coupe’s body and chassis as possible. Even the manual transmission was retained to maintain the AE86’s famous sense of driver interaction. Both cars utilise recycled materials in their rejuvenated interiors.

Of course over the past year, the AE86 BEV has been evolved and developed. It’s even now road legal, with plans to let the public experience how the car drivers later in the year. At TAS 2024, the car’s capabilities were shown off in a gymkhana showdown with Keiichi Tsuchiya’s AE86 Super Mama.

While an electric AE86 makes for a juicy comment-baiting headline, the truth is that there is a moral to the story of this exercise in cult car defilement. Toyota is keen to highlight that there’s going to be a lot of time between now and when all new cars are carbon neutral, or have zero tailpipe emissions and that it is therefore important to promote the carbon neutralisation of existing cars. This AE86 BEV is Toyota’s concept exploring the idea of ZEV-ifying existing cars.

With the murkiness around how carbon-intensive the production of new cars is – especially EVs – and indeed how driving an existing already-built car can represent an enormous lifetime – if not tailpipe – carbon saving, this is a worthwhile endeavour, even if it’s not conducive with getting new units out the doors of dealers and buffing spreadsheet numbers. Profit and sustainability are difficult bedfellows…