Toyota to Provide bZ4X Customers with DC Fast Charger Access Through EVgo

 Customers to receive one year of unlimited complimentary and convenient charging at EVgo stations nationwide*

When the 2023 Toyota bZ4X battery electric SUV arrives at dealers later this year, it will come with more than just stylish looks and emissions-free utility. The all-new EV will also mark the start of a collaboration between Toyota Motor North America (Toyota) and EVgo to provide new bZ4X customers with on-the-go access to DC fast charging stations. EVgo’s high-powered chargers provide EV drivers both flexibility and convenience to quickly charge at prime locations, such as frequently visited grocery stores, shopping centers and central downtown areas, allowing drivers to travel and charge with minimal downtime and aligning with their break, shopping, eating or errand time.

Customers who purchase or lease a new 2023 Toyota bZ4X will get one year of unlimited complimentary charging at all EVgo-owned and operated public charging stations nationwide. Customers will be able to use the Toyota App on their mobile device to sign up for this offer, locate EVgo stations and initiate complimentary charging for their new bZ4X.

“The arrival of our all-electric bZ4X marks an important step in our commitment towards electrifying 70% of our fleet by 2030. We want our bZ4X customers to enjoy a high-quality ownership experience that is as seamless and worry-free as possible,” said Christopher Yang, vice president, EV Charging Solutions, Toyota Motor North America. “Collaborating with EVgo, the nation’s largest public fast charging network, will help provide bZ4X owners with access to a fast, reliable charge where and when they need it.”

With more than 800 DC fast charging locations and thousands of Level 2 charging stations, EVgo’s charging network serves over 68 metropolitan areas across 35 states. The EVgo network is powered by 100% renewable energy.

“EVgo is thrilled to collaborate with Toyota on bringing accessible and convenient fast charging to new EV drivers with the bZ4X,” said Jonathan Levy, EVgo Chief Commercial Officer. “Toyota’s scale and EVgo’s track record of leadership in clean transportation will help make it easier for even more drivers to go electric.”

When it goes on sale, the 2023 Toyota bZ4X will offer consumers a battery-electric option that combines Toyota’s legendary reputation for quality and reliability with the performance and practicality they expect in a modern SUV.

“This is just the beginning of Toyota’s next-generation battery electric vehicle products that will join our existing portfolio of electrified vehicle options and will drive our progress toward carbon neutrality,” said Yang.

Bringing Back the Bison: The Wolakota Buffalo Range Project

In the early 19th century, tens of millions of bison roamed the Great Plains of North America; however western expansion eventually pushed the species to the brink of extinction. Today, Toyota has teamed up with leaders of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to bring the bison back to their native habitat.

“The Wolakota Buffalo Range is a project that seeks justice for the Lakota people, buffalo and our planet,” says Clay Colombe, CEO of Rosebud Economic Development Corporation (REDCO). “At its core, Wolakota is a Native-led bison restoration project, but it is much more than that to the Sicangu Lakota Oyate [Rosebud Sioux Tribe].”

The Wolakota Buffalo Range project is located on the land of the Sicangu Lakota Oyate, commonly known as the Rosebud Indian Reservation, in South Dakota. Over the next few years, the project will establish a herd of over 1,200 plains bison on 27,680 acres of native grassland. When at capacity, the herd will be North America’s largest bison herd owned and managed by Native Americans. The project is being led by REDCO, the economic arm of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, with the support of WWF, Toyota, and numerous partners. Toyota has donated $300,000 toward the effort.

Photo: WWF-US/Clay Bolt

“The project is responding to a community’s desire to revitalize their relationship with their relative, the bison, after a period of forced separation,” says Dennis Jorgensen, bison program manager for World Wildlife Fund’s Northern Great Plains Program. “Restoring the bison to tribal lands provides a foundation for many things to unfold at Wolakota and for the Sicangu Lakota nation.”

Bringing the Project to Life

According to Colombe, the dream of the Wolakota Buffalo Range has been in development for generations. Through conversations with Lakota leaders, former REDCO CEO Wizipan Little Elk refined the plan to bring back the bison for several years. But finding the right site had always been a challenge.

“Our Lakota ancestors have been fighting for generations to overcome this disruption to our food system and mass extraction of wealth from our community,” Colombe says. “But ultimately, they were forced to accept agreements that forced them onto limited areas of land as part of the reservation system.”

It was also this reservation system that created a particular challenge during the development of the Wolakota Buffalo Range. Due to the federal policy of allotment of Native land, most land bases for Native nations – including Rosebud – are extremely fractionated, and thus not large enough to sustain a substantial bison herd. When Wizipan learned that a ranch known locally as Mustang Meadows — which was purchased by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe from the brother of former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor — was being offered for lease by Rosebud Tribal Land Enterprise, he contacted WWF.

Photo: WWF-US/Clay Bolt

“Once we analyzed the feasibility of the project, we jumped at the chance,” says Jorgensen. “We estimated that it would likely take about five years to stock the property with 1,200 bison, so the lease would need to be longer than five years to see some return on investment for REDCO. Ultimately, REDCO and the Tribal Land Enterprise were able to negotiate a 15-year lease.”

Included in the donation, Toyota provided $150,000 to the project to support the development of the range, specifically for the construction of 23 miles of perimeter fence in 2021. In 2020, 18.5 miles of fence was constructed. The remaining 12 miles of fencing will be completed in 2022 and will make the entire 27,680 acres accessible to bison. The first 100 bison were returned to the Wolakota Buffalo Range in October 2020, with a three-year plan to grow the herd to approximately 1,200 animals.

“It is very important to REDCO and WWF to have outside collaborators like Toyota who can provide substantial support and bring this story to a broader audience,” says Colombe. “Toyota is the largest corporate sponsor of this project and provided critical matching funds for a WWF online fundraising campaign.”

According to Kevin Butt, senior director of Environmental Sustainability for Toyota Motor North America, the automaker has worked with WWF in the past, and these kinds of projects only see success when they engage local communities.

“You’ve got to listen to the people who are on the ground and what their needs are,” says Butt. “We can’t come in as outsiders and say, ‘This is the Toyota way.’ That’s just not going to work. You have to have complete buy-in by the people that are going to own it.”

Economic and Cultural Renewal

In addition to the cultural significance of revitalizing the sacred relationship between the buffalo and the Lakota, the Wolakota Buffalo Project will have positive environmental and economic impacts for the Rosebud Reservation and surrounding areas. Colombe says that the range opens the door for economic opportunities in the region in sectors like ecotourism and meat processing.

“Wolakota is an important step toward food sovereignty, economic prosperity and cultural revitalization for the Sicangu Lakota Oyate,” Colombe says. “Wolakota will provide a healthy, culturally relevant, regeneratively raised food source for the people of Rosebud.”

When the herd was first established Wizipan Little Elk, former CEO of REDCO said “We are going to ensure the buffalo are taken care of in a way that is culturally appropriate. Part of our instructions are to treat buffalo as buffalo. Don’t treat them like cattle. That means we have to raise them differently from how a lot of people do buffalo ranching. We have to make sure they have big open spaces to use the land how they need to. It also means our buffalo will never see a feed lot. That’s a law we put down. When we harvest them, it will be done in a culturally appropriate manner where we pray with them, honor who they are in their spirit and make sure that we are not wasting anything.”

Photo: WWF-US/Clay Bolt

Additionally, returning the bison to their native habitat has environmental benefits. Before REDCO leased the land it had primarily been subject to a series of short-term cattle leases that have degraded the health of the land. The combination of Wolakota’s commitment to data-driven management and the reintroduction of bison as a keystone species, supports sustainable management and encourages recovery of the land and the biodiversity it can sustain. These environmental impacts are part of the reason Butt and other sustainability leaders at Toyota are so excited about the project. In addition to the $150,000 for fencing, Toyota is providing $150,000 in funding to conduct annual ecological monitoring to understand how bison restoration and management impacts land, soil, water, vegetation and biodiversity health.

So why is an automotive company so involved in biodiversity? “We have to be thinking about the holistic viewpoint,” says Butt. “It’s another part of what we’re trying to do to preserve and improve the ecosystems around us, not just around our manufacturing plants. With the platform that we have, I believe we have the obligation and responsibility to lead by example, and that’s why we get involved in these projects.”

Butt says projects like the Wolakota Buffalo Range are a demonstration of Toyota’s values. Environmental policies and programs go hand in hand with “Respect for People.” The project demonstrates the company’s commitment to environmental justice and ensuring that all people experience the same level of environmental benefits.

“We can’t do it on our own,” Butt says. “We don’t have that expertise. We have subject matter experts of course, but organizations like REDCO and WWF have the ability to work with their sister organizations and governments that are in the area and can get us in the door. It’s really critical that we partner with organizations like that.”

While there is still plenty of work to be done, the Wolakota Buffalo Range is already achieving major milestones and is on target to establish a herd of 1,000 bison by spring 2022.

“We consider Wolakota Buffalo Range a remarkable demonstration of what’s possible,” Jorgensen says. “We’re not sure yet whether the project will be scaled up or replicated, but WWF is exploring the potential to establish additional projects to support the desires of other Native nations in our Northern Great Plains region.”

Toyota’s All-New 2022 Tundra is ‘Born For This’

 The All-New Tundra Campaign is Toyota’s Largest U.S. Launch To Date

Born from a lineage of trucks and SUVs rooted in quality, durability and reliability, there’s no question that the all-new 2022 Toyota Tundra is an absolute powerhouse. The campaign for the all-new Tundra, “Born For This,” marks Toyota’s largest U.S. campaign to date as the third-generation vehicle looks to build on its success in the full-size truck segment.

“This campaign showcases the unstoppable independence of the all-new Tundra,” said Lisa Materazzo, group vice president, Toyota Marketing, Toyota Motor North America. “‘Born For This’ celebrates our most capable, dependable and advanced truck yet – exactly what our guests have been waiting for – and the all-new Tundra is born to deliver.”

The fully integrated Tundra campaign was developed using Toyota’s long-standing Total Toyota (T2) marketing model, fully considering the transcultural mainstream audiences across America. Toyota campaigns are integrated through one strategic brief, creative idea and media plan – and create a cohesive marketing approach inclusive of multicultural marketing and the total market model.  The T2 agency team includes Saatchi & Saatchi, Burrell Communications, Conill Advertising and Intertrend, with ZenithMedia placing TV and outdoor media buys.

The campaign showcases a unified style across all creative throughout the T2 agency broadcast spots, which are highlighted below.

In the spots created by Saatchi & Saatchi and directed by Antoine Bardou Jacquet, “Born For The Wild” features friends and families happily escaping to the outdoors for a fun off-road excursion, mountain drive and beach cruise, as they enjoy the power, presence and capability of their all-new Tundra. In “Born For Bringing It,” the all-new Tundra gives drivers the confidence and independence they need to chase any adventure. Digital spots include “Signposts,” “Mud Bath,” “No Hands,” “Rattlesnakes,” “Songs of the City,” “Yurt Feelings” and “Private Planetarium.” Additionally, a 30-second version of “The Joneses,” which debuted yesterday during the Big Game on NBC, will run throughout the campaign flight. The spot was directed by acclaimed director Bryan Buckley.

In “Cappuccino,” the television spot created by Burrell Communications and directed by The Malloys, a highly stylish group of friends meet for coffee, but one friend pulls up in the all-new Tundra Capstone and out-styles them all.  Also part of the campaign is a series of digital spots titled “Kings,” “Crosswalk,” “Stepping Out,” “Taste,” “Bling,” “Drama” and “Reveal.”

The centerpiece of the creative from Conill Advertising, “Born to Lend a Hand,” (which debuted yesterday during the Big Game on Telemundo) demonstrates how the all-new Tundra can be depended on in a variety of situations, creating a bond of trust between driver and truck. Two digital commercials, “There” and “Family Business,” highlight the all-new Tundra’s panoramic moonroof and increased towing capabilities, respectively. The spots were directed by Nicolai Fuglsig.

Intertrend created two spots directed by Paul Santana that demonstrate how the all-new Tundra symbolizes the driver’s free spirit and authentic identity. In “Born for Unswayed Confidence,” a couple use the all-new Tundra to express their true selves while not being bound by the notion of “saving face.” In “Born for Your True Self,” while a mother humbly brags about why her son is so great, the hero demonstrates each characteristic in an unexpected way with the help of the all-new Tundra. Digital spots include “Born for Defiance” and “Born for Convenience.”

‘Brothers’: How Brian and Robin McKeever Raced to Paralympic Gold

For Canadian Paralympian and Global Team Toyota Athlete Brian McKeever, a passion for cross-country skiing runs in the family. But when Brian learned he had a degenerative retinal disorder at 19 years old, he and his brother, Robin, began to chase their gold medal dreams as a team. After nine years and 10 Paralympic medals together, Brian and Robin are in the spotlight once again – this time, for Toyota’s Big Game commercial.

“To keep competing, I needed a guide,” Brian says. “At that point, there were only four or five people in the country who could have gotten the job and been an effective guide for me. One of those people was Robin.”

In partnership with Toyota, the McKeevers are telling their story in “Brothers,” which follows the brothers’ journey from childhood to the Paralympic Winter Games podium. Together, Brian and Robin competed in Para Nordic Skiing in three consecutive Paralympic Winter Games (2002, 2006 and 2010). Brian, who now competes with a new guide, is Canada’s all-time most decorated Winter Paralympian. And, with 17 Paralympic medals, 13 of which are gold, he is the most decorated Paralympic cross-country skier ever. The five-time Paralympian, who is training for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, made history in 2010 when he became the first athlete to be named to a country’s Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games team in the same year.

“We really changed the scope of vision-impaired skiing at that time,” Robin says. “But we had no idea where this was going to go in the moment. I was just focused on my training to be able to keep up with Brian.”

Learning to Move Forward

“Brothers” starts with Brian and Robin growing up in Calgary, Canada, where they spent most of their childhood outdoors with their father — hiking, mountain biking and, of course, cross-country skiing. In one scene capturing their outdoorsy lifestyles as children, the brothers are biking down a hill as Brian tries to chase down his older sibling. The two were fierce competitors with each other. Then, Brian started to lose his eyesight.

Brian, his father, and his aunt have Stargardt Macular Degeneration disease — a genetic, degenerative retinal disorder that affects the central vision. Another scene from “Brothers” tries to visualize what training looks like through Brian’s eyes: the viewer feels Brian’s loss of balance as they look ahead to an outline of Robin’s back, distorted by blurs, but peripheral vision is slightly clearer. According to the Paralympian, blindness in his family is considered normal, and being able to see how his dad handled it made it easier for him to accept his diagnosis.

“As a guy who lost his eyesight at 19, it was tough for me for sure,” Brian says. “But it could have been so much tougher if I didn’t have a role model like my dad.”

As shown in “Brothers,” when Brian received his diagnosis over the phone, his understanding of the disease didn’t make the experience any less emotional. The athlete says he initially thought that as he progressively became more blind, his life was going to change drastically.

Real-life brothers, Brian and Robin McKeever, star in Toyota’s Big Game ad titled, “Brothers.”

“Looking back, those things that maybe did change are just tiny barriers compared to the big picture,” Brian says. “I’m losing my eyesight, and that’s a big challenge. But the reality is, once you start to look at how to move forward, the things that seemed like a big deal at the start ended up being inconsequential.”

A New Beginning

By 2001, Brian’s eyesight had degenerated enough that he qualified to compete as a Paralympian. At his first World Cup, the Team Toyota athlete came in second — instantly solidifying his reputation as a competitive Para Nordic skier amongst the other racers. Brian says that two of his competitors approached him after the event to tell him that, with a guide, he probably would have won.

“It seemed odd to me at the time that another nation’s competitors would be giving me advice, but I get it now,” he says. “We want the whole sport to grow; we want the Paralympics to grow and the field to be more competitive.”

Those encounters convinced Brian to get a guide, and luckily, he knew just the one. Robin, who had qualified for the Olympic Winter Games Nagano 1998, was in a bit of a slump in his athletic career, and it didn’t look like he was going to qualify for Salt Lake 2002.

“The timing was perfect,” Robin says. “The Paralympics at that time was kind of the blessing in disguise — to go there and work with Brian was a really fun time and the start of our racing careers together.”

In 2011, Brian and Robin were inducted into the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame. The McKeevers became known for skiing extremely in sync, striding the same lengths and even favoring the same side. This synchronicity in part comes from being physically similar since, Robin jokes, the brothers do have the same parents.

“We’re as close to twins as you can be this many years apart,” Robin says. “We were within a pound of each other, which helps with the look and style. That, and I think Brian just had to get used to following what I was doing, as the younger brother.”

Though “Brothers” tells the emotional story of the McKeevers’ Paralympic journey, Brian and Robin kept up the jokes on set, poking fun at one another’s form and athleticism. The two filmed a few roller skiing scenes for the spot, bringing back the nostalgia of racing together. Things have been a little different over the years with Brian competing and Robin now coaching him and the entire Para Nordic national team for Nordiq Canada.

“They’re making us work hard,” Brian says of the production crew on-set. “Usually, Robin’s standing on the side of the road these days, just hanging out, leaning on his poles. It was fun to ski with Robin again — we don’t get to do this very often. It was great.”