The concept of "forbidden fruit" is a challenging one for car enthusiasts everywhere. When I was a kid, it meant lusting for the Honda Civic Type Rs and Audi RS6 Avants that wouldn't make it to the U.S. for decades. But in our electrified future, China is the king of forbidden fruit. Visiting the Shanghai Auto Show recently made me lust after vast lineups of electric and plug-in hybrid cars that will likely never make it to our shores.
Even Toyota, traditionally an EV-skeptical automaker, couldn't sit out that party. The Toyota booth in Shanghai revealed an entire family of bZ electric vehicles, some of which would do well if they could be sold in America. Case in point: the Toyota bZ5 FieldGo Concept.
Photo by: Patrick George
Toyota bZ5 FieldGo Concept
After all, what's more American than BFGoodrich all-terrain tires and a roof basket?
Let's start with what this thing is. The bZ5 may have a name and design that's similar to the bZ4X crossover we know (and that's receiving significant upgrades soon), but it's a wholly different vehicle. The bZ5 is a coupe-crossover that's made via a joint venture between Toyota and one of its Chinese partners, the automaker FAW. The motors come from BYD, as does what powers it—BYD's Blade LFP battery, supposedly good here for fast-charging from 30-80% in 27 minutes. It should do around 400 miles of range on China's CLTC testing cycle.
Like the rest of the bZ family, it's handsome, bold and futuristic; looks were never those cars' real problem. But this bZ5 variant, the FieldGo, really caught my eye.
Photo by: Patrick George
Toyota bZ5 FieldGo Concept
Photo by: Patrick George
Toyota bZ5 FieldGo Concept
Photo by: Patrick George
Toyota bZ5 FieldGo Concept
That's because with those tires, that roof basket and the camping setup all around it—including bedding in the back and rear seats that seem to fold pretty flat—this bZ5 looks ready for a camping adventure. It even has mudflaps.
This is Toyota knowing its audience. Camping became an incredibly popular activity in China during and after the pandemic as a newly-emboldened middle class looked to get their whole families out of crowded cities and back into nature for a bit. And with Chinese EVs packing so many comfort and technology features—they're already kind of offices-on-wheels, in many cases—they're already well-suited to being a base of operations for an outdoor adventure. A lot of car advertising I noticed over there seems to be camping-centric:
Photo by: Toyota
And if you have an EV, you can at least enjoy nature and power your devices without burning gas or adding harmful emissions.
It's unclear if the bZ5 FieldGo Concept will become a reality or not; I could find oddly little information about it on Toyota's website, and while I saw it at the show itself, let's just say that my Mandarin suboptimal.
Photo by: Patrick George
Toyota bZ5 FieldGo Concept
But this car, and the rest of the bZ family on display, makes me wish Toyota could pull the same moves over here in the U.S. Granted, several of these EVs are built via Chinese joint ventures, so they're a no-go in our market anytime soon.
Still, we can dream. And if anyone asks: an electric Toyota with those tires, that root basket and that camping vibe would do just fine over here in America, too. You know Subaru would want in on that as well. See what I mean when I told you China feels like the future?
Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com
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