Toyota’s 400+ hp bZ Time Attack at SEMA 2025: How Wild Is It?

Toyota is stepping into new territory with a battery electric vehicle built for real competition, not just the display floor. The bZ Time Attack Concept will debut at the 2025 SEMA Show as a purpose-built electric machine aimed at time attack circuits and hill climbs. It is Toyota’s way of asking a simple question: how far can an all-electric platform be pushed when the goal is lap time?

The foundation is strong. The 2026 model year all-wheel drive bZ already delivers 338 horsepower and a 0 to 60 miles per hour sprint of 4.9 seconds in showroom form. For this concept, Toyota research and development turned up the wick with electric motors delivering over 300 kilowatts, paired with bespoke control software that sends power to all four wheels. TEIN coilovers and springs lower the chassis dramatically, and an Alcon brake package with Hawk pads, informed by Toyota’s 86 Cup and Corolla Touring Car programs, brings the stopping power needed for repeated hot laps.

Aerodynamics and stance are the headline makers. The car sits a full 6 inches lower than stock and adds roughly 6 inches of track width. A fully integrated package—rear wing, side skirts, front splitter, and rear diffuser—works with wide 19 by 11 inch BBS Unlimited wheels wrapped in 305/30ZR19 Continental ExtremeContact Sport 02 tires to deliver serious grip. Inside, a Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile-spec 4130 chromoly safety cage stiffens the shell, and OMP HTE-R seats with OMP harnesses hold the driver in place when the g-loads build.

What makes this build feel different is how it was created. Toyota research and development, Toyota Racing Development, and outside partners blended laser scanning, computer-aided design, and large-scale additive manufacturing to move from idea to track-ready parts fast. Fender arches were digitally modeled, printed at full scale, and hand-finished for strength and precision. Toyota’s Add Lab in Georgetown, Kentucky—led by Senior Engineering Manager Greg Stewart and Additive Manufacturing Engineer Dallas Martin—enabled rapid iterations under tight deadlines. The bodywork wears a custom PPG tri-color finish in pearl and metallic white, metallic black, and red, showing how modern fabrication and traditional race-car craftsmanship can meet in the middle.

Toyota also hints at a broader electric push. An all-new bZ model is coming for the 2026 model year with more range, more power, and better charging. Two additional battery electric vehicles—the bZ Woodland and the C-HR—are slated for 2026 as well. The bZ Time Attack Concept, then, is more than a one-off; it is a rolling test bed for the next wave of Toyota electric performance.