Toyota bZ4X Full Review: What’s It Like Driving Toyota’s First Full Modern Electric Car?
Watch DriverReviews ambassador Vicki Butler-Henderson give her verdict on the new Toyota bZ4X.
Join Vicki Butler-Henderson as she gets behind the wheel of the all-electric Toyota bZ4X – a sharply styled SUV with a name that’s more code than car, and the honour of being Toyota’s first proper EV. But with a price tag of over £50,000 and a range of just 259 miles in AWD form, does the bZ4X offer enough electric performance and practicality to justify the cost? And does it live up to Toyota’s legendary reliability in a world of modern EVs?
Specification
• Price: From £42,000 up to £51,500
• Electric Range: Up to 317 miles
• Charging Time: 10% - 80% in approx. 32 minutes
• Battery Capacity: 71.4kWh
• 0-62 mph: 6.9 seconds
Exterior
This is Toyota's first modern fully electric vehicle and the looks of the bZ4X give it away. It's worth noting that this design will pave the way for future models as Toyota has created a way to maximise cabin and luggage space and it has its own name. eTNGA or better known as Toyota's New Global Architecture (the e simply stands for electric). We can certainly expect the bZ4X to spawn cars of different sizes as Toyota looks to fill out its electric range with products of different shapes and sizes.
If you look at the car from the front, you might recognise the look. Toyota call it the 'hammerhead design', which is how they describe the design of their electric cars from the front. Characteristics of the bZ4X include slim headlights with an arrangement of square lights, large wheel arches that have been pushed out to the corners and a wide rear light at the rear that is very noticeable in the dark. The rear of the car is finished off with a split roof spoiler, giving it a sporty/aggressive look.
Opening the boot reveals 452 litres of space, which increases when the rear seats are folded down. Vicki mentions in the video that you can fit two mountain bikes in the boot in this configuration! There's also some space under the boot floor (but not a lot) where you might want to store the charging cable.
Wheels & Tyre Talk
There are two sets of alloy wheels to choose from, one is a 20-inch set and the other, the one on the model in this review, is an 18-inch set finished in black and silver with an aerodynamic design. These wheels are wrapped in Bridgestone Alenza 001 tyres, which are manufactured using a special technology designed to improve fuel efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions through lightweight construction and low rolling resistance.
They have received a rating (at time of filming) of 4.6 out of 5 stars from hundreds of drivers on DriverReviews.
Interior & Technology
The ambience of a living room is how Toyota describes the interior of the bZ4X. Vicki herself tends to agree with this statement, saying that there is a "an air of home about it", mainly thanks to the material used for the rounded edges in areas such as the dashboard. The wide centre console, according to Vicki, could be thought of as a cupboard. A notable feature is the gear stick, which you press down and rotate to select reverse, neutral or drive, which is a pretty cool mechanism. The bZ4X has clearly thought about driver assistance, as the armrest slides forward and back to suit the needs of different drivers. Flip this armrest up and you have a pair of cup holders, a stowage compartment and a place for your smartphone, which is covered by a transparent lid so you can see your phone light up when it receives a notification. This can be quite distracting, though, as you know someone is trying to contact you and you want to know what it is.
There's more storage space under the centre console, and Toyota says it can hold a pair of shoes, so Vicki puts it to the test with a pair of very small shoes (to be fair, Toyota didn't say which shoes!). This is a good point to mention that if you keep your owner's manual in the car, it will have to share space with your shoes as there is no glove compartment! In keeping with Toyota's living-room theme, the seats (much like a sofa) can be upholstered in a variety of ways. You can have them upholstered in leather (synthetic or real), a mix of fabrics or just fabric.
The cabin is also a pleasant place for your passengers, thanks to a number of things including a panoramic roof that lets in plenty of natural light. There is a lot of space in the back and plenty of legroom thanks to the flat floor that we are becoming accustomed to seeing in electric cars. You could easily fit three people on the rear bench seat or two very comfortably using the armrest with its cup holders and mobile phone holder - an unusual feature!
On the technology side, there is Apple CarPlay and all the usual connectivity, including voice activation to control a whole host of functions, including the windows. Vicki demonstrates that you can call up the voice assistant and ask it to open the windows, which may sound pointless, but if you are alone, say working in the back of the car, and want to open the front windows, you can do so without moving. A hot topic (pardon the pun) with electric cars is the increasing use of heat pumps, and the bZ4X has one. This allows you to heat the cabin without draining precious power and therefore mileage from the main battery.
Driving, Mileage, and driving modes
The model in the video is the more powerful four-wheel drive version, which has an extra engine compared to the front-wheel drive version. The power in this version is almost 220bhp and around 340nmT with 0-62mph happening in 6.9 seconds. Vicki even says that the power delivery is smooth (as you would expect from an EV). If range is what you want from your bZ4X then the entry-level front-wheel drive version is what you should consider as it has an official range of 317 miles compared to the 259 miles of the model in the video.
Despite the fact that the bZ4X weighs around two tonnes, Toyota have developed a clever set-up on the front axle to keep the steering and handling quite nimble and sharp, Vicki actually likens the handling to that of a hatchback rather than an SUV. The suspension has also been tweaked to give a smoother ride, and there's more. The bZ4X has had a helping hand from the off-road masters themselves, Subaru. X-Mode, which has its own button on the centre console, allows you to set the car to better handle different climates such as snow and dirt or deep snow and mud. There is also a traction control system for uphill or downhill driving and this is something you would normally see on a Land Rover rather than an electric car, so it is fair to say that the bZ4X is ready for some serious off-roading. For those of you considering one of these and live near a ford, it has a wading depth of up to 500mm, so it might just be able to make it!
Vicki’s Verdict
“I like the fact that this car has a few extra tools to go off the beaten track and I like the fact that its design is different… but for £51,500 I would like it to do many more miles between charges”.
It is fair to say that the bZ4X impressed Vicki in terms of everything apart from the mileage for the top of the range model. There are options available to you as Vicki points out by getting an entry level version which will do the most miles across the range. In a market where curved body panels are in abundance, it is refreshing to see this car keep sharp edges and uphold a sportier look.
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