- Toyota is reportedly working on a reborn Previa seven-seater people carrier coming in 2026.
- It will be available with plug-in hybrid or pure electric power, and it will be mechanically related to the Sienna.
- It could become the first battery-electric vehicle built on Toyota’s TNGA-K platform.
The 1990 to 1997 Toyota Previa minivan was never a sales champ, but its unusual, rounded design certainly made it stand out. Now, the automaker wants to renew its lineup, and one report says an all-new Previa that you can plug in is in the cards for launch in the next couple of years.
Forbes, citing local sources from Japan, says Toyota is gearing up to launch the all-new Previa in 2026 with both plug-in hybrid and pure electric powertrains. It reportedly won’t be underpinned by the e-TNGA EV-specific platform used in the bZ4X and Lexus RZ, with Toyota opting for the TNGA-K platform shared with models like the Crown and the Sienna, which is Toyota’s only minivan on sale in the United States.
The Sienna is also the Previa’s more conventional replacement, and it will probably live on alongside the new Previa, as a non-plug-in hybrid alternative with a more traditional design.
According to Forbes’ unnamed insider source, Toyota has chosen the TNGA-K platform to allow for both plug-in hybrid and pure electric powertrains. Had it used e-TNGA to create the new Previa, it would have been limited to offering only a BEV variant in a market where plug-in hybrids are steadily growing in popularity.
The plug-in hybrid Previa could borrow the Prius Prime’s powertrain, which combines two electric motors with a 2-liter engine for a total of 220 horsepower. The Prius Prime has a 13.6-kilowatt-hour battery pack, giving it a claimed WLTP range of 33 miles. The larger and heavier Previa PHEV will go less on one charge, so Toyota may choose to equip it with a larger pack to boost its electric range.
The 18.1 kWh pack that powers the RAV4 Prime seems a much better fit for a seven-seater minivan. It gives the RAV4 PHEV an EPA range of 42 miles, so it should take the more aerodynamic Previa even further.
Toyota doesn’t currently make any EVs on TNGA-K. For the pure electric variant of the Previa, Toyota could adapt the powertrain out of its bZ4X, which has a 201 horsepower single-motor front-wheel-drive configuration in base form and adds a second motor in the rear to for 215 hp, all-wheel drive and a lot more torque.
The bZ4X has a 71.4 kWh battery with a usable capacity of around 64 kWh, giving it an EPA range of 252 miles in single-motor guise. The larger and heavier Previa would probably struggle to get anything over 200 miles on one charge, so the BEV variant will likely feature a bigger battery pack than the bZ4X.
The source also notes that Toyota considered a fuel-cell version too, but that was shelved since this type of powertrain is proving even less popular than before when it still struggled to find buyers. Toyota’s FCV sales took a nosedive in 2024, falling by nearly 70% in the first eleven months of last year compared to 2023.
Toyota’s EVs haven’t been among the best on the market, but a practical, battery-powered people carrier might change that, especially if it has a bold design. It will likely be designed to remind of the 1990s original, whose unusual rounded design may have polarized opinions when it was new, but today it might serve as the basis for a cool retro-futuristic design, something like the transformation of the classic LeCar into today’s sharp Renault 5 electric hatch.
Toyota created the original Previa as a global vehicle, which will likely remain the case with the new model. Even though it was discontinued in the U.S. in 1997, the Previa continued to be sold in other markets. It received a second generation in 2000, which lost some of the original’s roundness and its mid-engined layout, but it remained a boldly-styled minivan. The third-generation model arrived in 2006 and it remained in production until 2019.
What they all had in common was their very slanted nose and aerodynamic profile, with the most significant difference to the second and third generations being their more upright rear. Toyota will likely integrate this same desire for aerodynamic efficiency into the new model’s design, making a lot of sense in an age when streamliners seem to be returning.
We tried to picture what a 2026 Toyota Previa might look like by using Midjourney AI, and you can see the resulting image at the top of this article.
