Indeed, Toyota seems to have been working on this small electric SUV project for months now. Back on Dec 7, 2020 we saw this headline:
An electric crossover is being primed for Europe first, with a U.S. model coming soon.
www.caranddriver.com
Chances are, Toyota has been partnering with Tesla to develop this product for months, as yesterday's News article suggested. This adds more credibility to the story, IMO.
Cheers!