It was two years ago when Toyota confirmed plans for an all-electric three-row SUV to be built at its massive assembly complex in Georgetown, Kentucky.
It appears that vehicle will break cover next Tuesday, Feb. 10, based on Toyota’s release this morning of another teaser image, this one showing the interior of an SUV with second-row captain’s chairs.
The photo was taken from the rear, likely through the raised liftgate, and editing that image with a bit more light reveals a third row with two seats, separated in a folding 50/50 split configuration.
The cryptic text that accompanied today’s image is short: “Big energy. Bigger versatility. A new adventure starts February 10.”
The Powertrain Guessing Game
The Toyota PR team isn’t confirming this SUV has an all-electric powertrain, or whether this is indeed the vehicle the company was talking about with its 2024 announcement for production plans in Georgetown.
But if this vehicle has internal-combustion power, would Toyota use the term “big energy” to describe it? Most likely not.
And Toyota already has several gas-powered vehicles offering three-row flexibility with up to eight seats: the Sequoia SUV, Highlander and Grand Highlander crossovers, and Sienna minivan.
The latest 4Runner also offers up to seven seats with the optional third row in the SR5 and Limited trim levels. Remember when even the RAV4 offered a third row? That was during the third generation, from 2006 to 2012. But the latest 2026 RAV4 is two-row only.
A Spacious Interior
If we’re seeing this teaser image correctly, the third row of seats being split 50/50 means the new SUV will seat up to seven occupants with a second-row bench seat, or six with the second-row captain’s chairs.
This image certainly reveals a lot about the spacious interior, and zooming in (as we did above) shows a large, horizontally oriented touchscreen protruding upward from the instrument panel, much like in the 2026 Toyota bZ two-row electric SUV (pictured below).
As we try to connect the dots of this forthcoming vehicle, one dot seems out of place. Last week, Toyota released a teaser image showing the silhouette back end of a vehicle, taken from near ground level. That perspective made the vehicle look like a compact pickup truck, especially because the cabin, being further from the camera, looked much too small.
About That Last Teaser
So our speculation last week that the vehicle was a pickup appears to be misguided, based on the latest image today showing a spacious interior with three rows of seats. We even called Toyota PR to ask, is it possible these two teaser images are for two different vehicles? Nope, it’s the same vehicle, came the answer. But take a closer look for yourself at last week’s teaser photo above and today’s image, atop the story. How about a three-row SUV, with a bed tacked on!
Is it physically possible to fit three rows of seats inside, especially when what appears to be the rearview mirror mounted to the windshield does not seem very far from the rear glass? All our questions — and yours — will be answered Feb. 10.
Does anyone else find it curious that, shortly after Volkswagen announced the all-electric ID. Buzz three-row minivan would be paused in the U.S. for 2026, Toyota is going in the opposite direction with what is likely an electric SUV? The Cadillac Escalade iQ might have some company soon.
Source: Toyota
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