Toyota Explores The Wild Side Of All Its Powertrains At SEMA

Toyota is letting its creative teams run wild

SEMA is a celebration of not just the automobile, but man’s creativity with the automobile. At the 2025 edition of SEMA, Toyota celebrated that with a roster of seven concepts that explored ideas for every type of powertrain in the brand’s portfolio, from gas to hybrid to electric to fuel cell. The Japanese giant also unveiled a surprise concept off-roader that could mark an entry into a new market segment. 

Here’s a rundown of each of the seven concepts, ranging from the fantastical to seemingly production-ready builds.

2026 Corolla Cross NASU Edition

The entry-level Corolla Cross is mostly a commuter or even a city car, but Toyota’s Service Parts and Accessories Development (SPAD) team reimagined it as an off-roader and named it after a Japanese mountain. To make it adventure-ready, SPAD gave it a custom lift kit, perched it on Toyo Open Country A/T III all-terrain tires on custom truck wheels, and draped it with a custom body kit with a unique hood scoop. A purple wrap plays off another meaning of nasu: eggplant. Additional off-road equipment includes rock sliders, modified Toyota light bars, and fog lamps. Overlanding features include a cargo basket, an articulating roof rack, a bike rack complete with a mountain bike, and a custom drawer system and refrigerator in the cargo area. CAD design, 3D printing, and CNC machining were used to make the various parts, but the powertrain isn’t changed from the Corolla Cross’s stock three-motor hybrid system.

Toyota Camry GT-S

The Camry GT-S is a what-if sport package that could one day appear on the Camry to go beyond the sporty XSE trim. Styled by the CALTY Design Research team in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and built by Toyota’s Research and Development team, it is based on the Camry XSE AWD Hybrid and has no more than the stock 232 horsepower from the 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine and trio of electric motors. However, it also features performance enhancements, including a 1.5-inch lowered ride height on adjustable coilovers, larger 14.4-inch front brakes with eight-piston calipers, and 14-inch rear brakes with six-piston calipers. Sporty exterior elements include a rear bumper and fascia modified to integrate a performance exhaust and a body kit for the sides and front end. It’s all topped off with an Inferno Flare orange and black paint scheme inspired by motorsports. Toyota says the company is gathering feedback on the GT-S, so if SEMA showgoers like it, it may become a sport package in the future.

Turbo Trail Cruiser Concept

Forty-something years of powertrain engineering have resulted in quite a bit of improvements for power, refinement, and fuel economy, and Toyota’s Turbo Trail Cruiser Concept proves it. To take advantage of those improvements, the Toyota Motorsports Garage crew stuffed the i-Force twin-turbocharged 3.4-liter V6 from the current Land Cruiser into a 1985 F60 Land Cruiser. The modern engine’s 389 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque almost double the output of the original 4.2-liter inline-six. Toyota engineers made it fit without cutting the firewall, moving the mounting points, or changing the structure. They did, however, have to engineer new motor mounts and machine an adapter plate to mate the new engine with the bell housing of the old five-speed manual transmission. They also gave the SUV a 1.5-inch lift, set it on 35-inch tires, reversed the front shackles, and installed a modern JBL audio system. The Turbo Trail Cruiser Concept is an example of the type of resto-mod builds that are possible with the brand’s crate engines.

bZ Time Attack Concept

The bZ is a pretty sleepy mainstream EV SUV built for daily transportation, but Toyota has rethought it as a race machine for time attack circuits and hill climbs. The Toyota Motorsports Garage team stripped a 2026 bZ to build the car. It uses the new 338-horsepower dual-motor powertrain, and Toyota R&D says it can tune the powertrain to produce more than 400 horsepower via an ECU tune. The crew set the car on TEIN coilovers and springs, enhanced grip with a set of 305/30R19 XL Continental ExtremeContact 02 tires, and improved braking with a set of Alcon brakes featuring Hawk pads from the Toyota 86 Cup and Corolla TC race cars. A roll cage stiffens the chassis, and the cockpit gets OMP racing seats and harnesses. Toyota R&D also designed a wide body and an aero kit in CAD and 3D printed the components. Don’t expect Toyota to go racing with this car, but it does show the performance potential for the brand’s EV technology.

Tacoma H2-Overlander Concept

The Toyota Racing Development team built the Tacoma H2-Overlander Concept to show how technology and adventure can go hand-in-hand. Starting with a stock, gas-powered Tacoma, TRD engineers used CAD modeling and 3D-printed guides to fit the concept with the Toyota Mirai’s fuel stack, three hydrogen tanks, a 24.9-kWh lithium-ion battery, a 225-kW front motor, and a 188-kW rear motor. The motors produce 547 horsepower, and a limited-slip front differential and an electronic locking rear differential give the concept all-wheel drive. The suspension uses a TRD billet long-travel kit with Fox 2.5 Performance Elite Series shocks for better articulation and ride quality over rough ground. Traction comes by way of 35-inch off-road tires, and a front brake upgrade from the full-size Tundra brings it all to a stop. The fuel cell powertrain’s only emission is water, and the concept uses a TRD exhaust water recovery system to provide overlanders with water for washing and showering, but not drinking. Other overlanding features include heavy-duty off-road bumpers, integrated recovery points, a winch, and a 15-kW power takeoff that can charge other EVs or run the custom camper’s power when adventuring off the grid.

RAV4 GR Sport with TCD Body Kit

Toyota will offer a GR Sport version of the RAV4 next year, but at SEMA, Toyota showed an even more aggressive version of its mainstream crossover. The GR Sport sits a rung below full GR, so the forthcoming model has a larger grille, a gloss-black roof and accents, a suspension dropped by 0.6 inches, a slightly wider body, lightweight 20-inch wheels, and sticky tires. Based on the plug-in hybrid variant of the newly redesigned RAV4, the GR Sport has 324 horsepower and 47 miles of electric range. The difference between the standard RAV4 GR Sport and the SEMA show vehicle is a prototype body kit with graphite accents, redesigned lower front and rear bumper sections, and side skirts. Toyota is soliciting feedback on the body kit at SEMA, likely with the possibility of offering it as an option for the new RAV4 GR Sport.

Scion 01 Concept

The Scion name may return, this time for the all-terrain vehicle market. Toyota unveiled the Scion 01 Concept as a four-seat side-by-side off-roader with off-the-shelf parts, including the hybrid powertrain. The turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine and electric motor are good for 326 horsepower, while a small 1.8-kWh battery gives the vehicle a short electric-only range. Designed by Toyota’s U.S.-based CALTY design team, the 01 Concept features a tube frame welded together into a single piece that also incorporates an FIA- and SCORE-compliant roll cage. The suspension components are mounted inboard as much as possible, and the design gives the vehicle 17 inches of ground clearance along with immense suspension travel. It rides on a long 133-inch wheelbase and is set on knobby 35-inch Carnivore Maxxis ML1 tires. Toyota didn’t say if the 01 Concept would make it to production, but if it does, a spokesman said it would be cost-competitive with other ATVs, and it would weigh about 3,300 pounds, down from the 4,000 pounds of the overbuilt prototype. If a production version does arrive, expect Toyota to take it racing.