Toyota Files Trademark Application for ‘Beyond Zero’ EV Sub-Brand Logo
It also reveals the names of five potential models of the brand.
On Tuesday, Toyota filed a trademark application with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) for what appears to be a logo for its rumored "Beyond Zero" sub-brand of electric vehicles. The actual name of the reported sub-brand, Toyota Beyond Zero, was filed a bit earlier in late March.
The logo, which features the connected letters "BZ" in blue lettering with gray trim, was first spotted by the aptly-named BZ Forums shortly after its filing. Along with the logo, The Drive was able to locate trademark applications for "Toyota BZ," "BZ Series," as well as what appear to be model monikers ranging from "BZ1" to "BZ5."
This suggests that Toyota could have as many as five models planned for the BZ Series at this time, including models appended with an "X," perhaps to designate vehicles equipped with all-wheel-drive.
In 2019, Toyota published a plan to popularize Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) by introducing six BEVs beginning in 2020. This included working collaboratively with Subaru on a medium SUV, as well as Suzuki and Daihatsu on a single compact vehicle, both of which would be developed on Toyota's e-TNGA platform. One of its first releases, a battery-powered SUV, is poised to be unveiled at the 2021 Shanghai Motor Show later this month and will build on the teasers which Toyota previewed at the Kenshiki Forum last December.
In February, Toyota announced that at least two of its upcoming EVs will be sold in the United States in 2022.
Toyota's ultimate goal since 2015 has been to use BEVs as a stepping stone towards Fuel Cell EVs (FCEV) and achieve zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. So it comes as no surprise that Toyota also filed an application for a "Hydrogen Drive" logo at the same time as its BZ logo.
Toyota has used the "Beyond" notion to describe its future products, whether they be FCEVs like the Mirai, its upcoming BEVs, strange mobility concepts like the iRoad, or vehicles that are better aligned to other various mobility solutions. Given the number of models trademarked at the same time, it would appear that the Beyond Zero branding will likely be reserved for vehicles aimed at meeting Toyota's goal of zero emissions.
We should know more as Toyota begins to release vehicles under the BZ branding, which could happen as early as the Shanghai Motor Show.
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