SEMA 2025: Toyota Previews 400+ HP bZ Time Attack Concept

Toyota will showcase its first battery-electric SEMA build at the 2025 SEMA Show by debuting the bZ Time Attack Concept - a purpose-built performance EV developed for time attack circuits and hill climbs.

The bZ Time Attack Concept is based on the 2026 bZ AWD platform and was developed by Toyota’s Motorsports Technical Center to explore the limits of the company’s BEV technology. 

Engineers had equipped the concept with competition-spec suspension, advanced aerodynamics, and a track-focused setup designed to transform the production-based EV into a functional, high-performance prototype.

“This project was about exploring what happens when you take a production EV and build it with a motorsports mindset,” said Marty Schwerter, lead builder and operations director at Toyota’s Motorsports Technical Center.

Schwerter and his team, long-time contributors to Toyota’s SEMA program, faced new challenges in managing weight distribution, battery cooling, and aerodynamic efficiency on an electric platform. The goal was to create a functional, track-ready machine rather than a static display.

The car was developed using a mix of digital design and traditional craftsmanship. Engineers combined laser scanning, CAD modeling, and large-scale 3D printing to produce the widebody and aerodynamic components. Fender arches were printed full-scale and hand-finished, while rapid prototyping from Toyota’s Add Lab in Georgetown, Kentucky, shortened the development process.

The result is a vehicle that sits six inches lower and six inches wider than stock, equipped with a full aerodynamic suite that includes a front splitter, side skirts, rear diffuser, and large rear wing. 

Power from the R&D-tuned dual-motor system now exceeds 400 hp, up from 338 hp in the standard bZ AWD platform, which also improves on the production model’s 0–100 km/h time of 5.1 seconds. Supporting hardware upgrades include TEIN coilovers, Alcon brakes, and a full FIA-spec 4130 chromoly cage.

Inside, the cabin is stripped and fitted with OMP racing seats and harnesses. The concept runs on 19×11-inch BBS Unlimited wheels wrapped in 305/30ZR19 Continental Extreme Contact Sport 02 tires.

Finished in a tri-tone combination of pearl white, metallic black, and red, the bZ Time Attack Concept demonstrates the integration of additive manufacturing and motorsport engineering in a single, functional prototype.

“The challenge was to turn an all-electric Toyota into a real competition machine,” said Mike Tripp, group vice president of Toyota Marketing. “The bZ Time Attack Concept is more than a show car - it represents how Toyota’s multi-pathway strategy includes a serious commitment to performance BEVs.”

The concept will be displayed at the 2025 SEMA Show, as part of Toyota’s “Powered by Possibility” exhibit, which highlights the brand’s innovation across internal combustion, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, fuel cell, and battery-electric powertrains.