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What Is the Toyota–BYD EV Partnership? The bZ3 Explained

Toyota and BYD formed a 50/50 technical venture before the China-market bZ3, developed by Toyota, BTET and FAW Toyota. Here’s what the companies announced about its battery and range.
Entry166 Date Time4 min MechanicCarCody Team
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Toyota and BYD’s electric-vehicle partnership took shape in three steps: a 2019 agreement to develop battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), a 50/50 technical joint venture registered in 2020, and the China-market Toyota bZ3 sedan announced in 2022. The bZ3 is the clearest product example, but Toyota named three development partners: Toyota, BTET and FAW Toyota.

How the Toyota–BYD partnership took shape

2019: agreement to develop electric vehicles

On July 19, 2019, Toyota and BYD announced that they would jointly develop BEVs, initially including sedans and low-floor SUVs, as well as onboard batteries for those and other vehicles. Their stated aim was to launch vehicles under the Toyota brand in China in the first half of the 2020s. Toyota’s 2019 announcement describes the planned scope; it was not a promise that every future Toyota EV in China would be part of the collaboration.

2020: BTET, an equally owned technical joint venture

Toyota’s April 2, 2020 announcement said the joint venture, Toyota BYD Electric Vehicle Technology Co. (BTET), had been registered. Toyota and BYD each held 50 percent. Its stated business was the design and development of BEVs, their platforms and related parts. The release gave Shenzhen’s Pingshan District as its headquarters and reported approximately 300 employees at that time. It said operations were scheduled to start in May 2020; that schedule is not, by itself, confirmation of BTET’s later operating status. Toyota’s registration announcement also records that the companies signed the JV agreement on November 7, 2019.

What car did Toyota and BYD develop together?

The China-market Toyota bZ3

Toyota announced the bZ3 on October 24, 2022, as a China-market electric sedan jointly developed by Toyota, BTET and FAW Toyota. It was therefore not simply a car designed by the two parent companies alone. Toyota said more than 100 of its engineers from design, production, engineering and quality-control departments worked alongside engineers from BYD and FAW Toyota. Toyota announced FAW Toyota production and sales through FAW Toyota’s dealer network. The bZ3 announcement describes the development partners and the announced sales plan.

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bZ3 size and design figures

Toyota’s 2022 announcement listed an e-TNGA platform and five seats. Its stated dimensions were 4,725 mm long, 1,835 mm wide and 1,475 mm high, with a 2,880 mm wheelbase. Toyota also reported a drag coefficient of 0.218. These are company-published specifications, not independent measurements.

Does the bZ3 use a BYD battery?

According to Toyota, yes: the bZ3 combines BYD lithium-ion lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery technology with Toyota electrification technologies developed through its hybrid program. Toyota said the car’s battery structure, cooling, control and safety-monitoring systems were newly designed for the vehicle. The announcement does not describe the bZ3 as using an off-the-shelf battery pack unchanged.

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How far can the Toyota bZ3 go?

Toyota announced a maximum cruising range of more than 600 km under the China Light-Duty Vehicle Test Cycle (CLTC), with range varying by grade. This is Toyota’s stated test-cycle figure, not a real-world driving result or a directly comparable figure from another market’s test procedure. The 2022 announcement said final specifications would be released when sales began, so the stated maximum should be read in that context.

What Toyota said about battery life

Toyota described a goal of retaining 90 percent capacity after ten years. Its footnote makes important limits clear: this was an estimate based on Toyota-simulated average use of the battery cell alone, not a measured result for a fleet of bZ3s. Capacity in a vehicle depends on driving and operating conditions, and Toyota said the figure was not guaranteed under all conditions. It should not be read as an unconditional vehicle or battery warranty.

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How the later bZ models differ

Toyota’s April 25, 2024 announcement listed different development partners for the bZ3C and bZ3X. The bZ3C partners were Toyota, BTET, FAW Toyota and IEM by Toyota. The bZ3X was a separate collaboration involving GAC, GAC Toyota and IEM by Toyota—not the same BTET/FAW Toyota partnership named for the bZ3. Toyota said it planned to begin sales of both in China within a year; that announcement establishes the plan, not whether it was fulfilled. Toyota’s 2024 announcement lists the partners and planned timing.

Model Partners named by Toyota What the announcement establishes
bZ3 Toyota, BTET and FAW Toyota China-market sedan announced in 2022; FAW Toyota production and dealer-network sales announced.
bZ3C Toyota, BTET, FAW Toyota and IEM by Toyota Partners listed in Toyota’s 2024 announcement; sales in China were planned within a year.
bZ3X GAC, GAC Toyota and IEM by Toyota A separate collaboration listed in Toyota’s 2024 announcement; sales in China were planned within a year.
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What the announcements establish—and what they do not

The company releases document the partnership’s announced structure, the bZ3’s named development team and Toyota’s published specifications and targets. They do not establish BTET’s current operating status, present-day bZ3 availability or sales, or whether every announced sales plan was completed. The range and battery-life figures above are company claims; the announcements are not independent road tests or battery-aging studies.

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