The FT-Se’s production plans were confirmed to Inside EVs on the floor of the Japan Mobility Show, where the concept was revealed this week. Curiously, their firsthand report of the concept indicates it’s much more complete than Toyota’s many other EV proposals present at the event. That’s because Hideaki Iidi, project manager for GR Design Group and the FT-Se’s father, confirmed the concept will enter production after the Lexus LF-ZC sedan, with which it shares its battery.
“We’re going to release the Lexus model in 2026 and this one afterward,” Iida told the outlet. “We can’t guarantee the year itself, but as soon as possible. After 2026 is what I can tell you.”
The Lexus LF-ZC EV sedan concept, which is also slated for production in the coming years. Lexus
All this may have you thinking the FT-Se will be an inauthentic followup to the MR2—it’s expensive, electric, and it may get smushed like the FT-1 concept did when it was turned into the GR Supra. But Iida emphasized the FT-Se isn’t supposed to be a part of the MR2’s (or Supra’s) lineage, stating, “this is a brand-new design language to show this is a new brand… not traditional.”
If you want to see the FT-Se as a fourth-gen MR2 anyway, an E-W40, you still can. It has the small footprint, short wheelbase, and high-bubbled roof characteristic of the AW11 and SW20. Plus, I as The Drive‘s resident MR2 owner have already proposed a way Toyota could execute such a car without offending MR2 owners. (They’ll probably be angry anyway, but they can’t afford an FT-Se, so their dollars won’t vote.)
Design sketch of the Toyota FT-Se concept, by Hideaki Iida. Toyota
I accepted long ago that the MR2 is dead and never returning; the economy and car market just wouldn’t support it. But I’ll welcome the FT-Se with open arms—though it may be a side hug until Toyota’s fake manual proves itself a worthwhile innovation and not a shallow gimmick.
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