Reviews
Gallery27
After myriad delays (including that issue of wheel nuts coming loose) Toyota has finally confirmed that its first electric vehicle, the BZ4x, will hit Australian shores in February 2024.
It will do so in a mildly updated guise, with ‘BEV’ badging and improved cold-weather charging prowess.
When we were invited to Japan for a preview of Toyota’s electric future – or, rather, the battery-electric vehicles it believes will form just one part of a multi-powertrain future involving plug-in and series-parallel hybrids, sustainable fuels, and hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles – a BZ4x was provided for us to sample around a technical off-road course.
It’s the same loop of Nagoya’s Sanage Adventure Field (bar two particularly technical sections) used for the Japanese launch of the 300 Series LandCruiser in August 2021, so it ought to tell us something about the BZ4x… even if it isn’t entirely relevant to your typical family SUV buyer.
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JUMP AHEAD
- How much is the BZ4x going to cost, and will it offer good value?
- What’s the interior like?
- Driving range, charging and efficiency stats
- Driving the BZ4x off-road
- VERDICT
How much is the BZ4x going to cost, and will it offer good value?
Subaru has finally laid down the gauntlet for Toyota to follow. If Toyota’s BZ4x comes in above $77,990 before on-road costs, there’ll be precious few buyers opting for the dearer, near-identical sibling.
Toyota might bring a single-motor front-drive variant to Australia, unlike Subaru, as The Big T isn’t as synonymous with all-wheel drive performance locally.
However, spec-for-spec, a front-drive BZ4x is still unlikely to start below $70K – meaning the Tesla Model Y ($65,500) will remain the value king in this segment.
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What’s the interior like?
Before we got to sit at the BZ4x’s helm, we were chauffeured around by course marshals, which proved a good time to evaluate the rear quarters.
The bench is very broad and, thanks to a mostly flat floor, the BZ4x would comfortably fit three across. It feels meaningfully larger than a RAV4’s back seat, with excellent vision out of the large side and front windows.
Material quality is generally high and there are amenities to make family life easy. Two adjustable air vents, two USB charge points, a 12-volt socket, and a fold-down armrest are all nice – if expected – features.
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The boot is typical Toyota fare, being generous in size if lacking in features. For example, there’s no space for a spare tyre and only one shopping-bag hook.
However, for those who like to take their car camping, Japanese outdoor gear specialist Snowpeak offers a host of well-integrated accessories such as a wooden table that doubles as a parcel shelf and a canopy that can easily fit in the under-floor storage compartment.
Up front, the seats are accommodating and soft. The driver gets six-way power adjustment, though the driving position – with steering wheel set below digital binnacle like in a Peugeot – does take a little getting used to.
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The BZ4x’s 12.3-inch touchscreen has much-improved graphics compared to Toyota’s current systems.
Unfortunately, because this car’s all in Japanese, I can’t evaluate how well it works. Its 7.0-inch digital driver’s display gives enough information, but isn’t anything special.
Generous interior storage can all be covered to hide valuables and the materials used – especially that yarnlike fabric on the dashboard – are interesting and warmer to the touch than we’re used to from Toyota. In fact, they feel a whole lot more Subaru. Guess that makes sense, given the BZ4x’s close relation to Subaru’s Solterra.
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Driving range, charging and efficiency stats
The BZ4x is equipped with a 64kWh (71.4kWh gross) lithium-ion battery pack made by a mix of Toyota’s joint venture operation with Panasonic (Prime Planet & Energy Solution) and CATL.
With two motors onboard, the BZ4x’s driving range is rated at 461km in the combined WLTP cycle. That’s about average for medium SUVs, falling ahead of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 but behind the Kia EV6 and Tesla Model Y.
Its 400-volt architecture allows it to take on DC electricity at a rate of 147kW for a 10-80 per cent (46-320km range) rapid-charge time of 28 minutes. Charging at home, the Type 2 port (located at the front left) takes AC power at 7kW for a full recharge in around 11 and a half hours.
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Driving the BZ4x off-road
Instead of doubling the number of 150kW motors for 300kW-or-so as most rivals seem to do, Toyota decided to pack a pair of 80kW motors in the all-wheel drive BZ4x for total outputs of 160kW and 337Nm.
It may be off trend, but this solution suits your typical family SUV buyer type. After all, when does the average family SUV need to hit 100km/h in less than 7.7 seconds? That said, it would be nice if trading in some of that power had made the BZ4x a class leader in range.
The hushed operation of an EV is always a pleasure, though as brands reinvent starting processes and gear selector configurations each car becomes a little bit of a puzzle to start. The BZ4x’s shifter, for example, requires you to push down and twist after pressing a physical start button.
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As we start trundling along the off-road course, it’s clear Toyota did not attempt a one-pedal driving mode.
Instead, the small amount of regenerative braking on throttle lift is likely to feel natural to current combustion-engined car owners, but those who are used to EVs will probably want more bite.
With plenty of input from rough-road specialists Subaru, the BZ4x has various off-road functions. X-Mode tweaks traction control and throttle response from normal to ‘snow/mud’ or ‘deep snow and mud’ and does a solid job in tricky situations.
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For steep descents, Grip Control functions as a mix of hill-descent control and an off-road cruise control system. It limits the car’s speed down hills and lets you coast along the flats at up to 10km/h.
Grip Control came in handy on a scree-covered decline as the vocal brake pump channeled pressure to the corners with the most grip to keep the BZ4x descending in a controlled and safe manner. It worked excellently.
Then, we encountered a steep climb with man-mode moguls that had us lifting the front left and rear right wheels. The BZ4x doesn’t have diff locks, so had to rely on its brakes and traction control to direct torque to the right place. With some patience, the electric SUV convincingly winched itself out of a tricky spot.
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Thanks to the instant torque delivery at any RPM, the BZ4x was much calmer than a RAV4 would have been in a similar situation.
Where the RAV would have been revving its 2.5-litre four-banger to clamber up tricky sections, the BZ4x breezed up inclines with easygoing confidence.
Ground clearance is an issue compared to true off-roaders, the BZ4x only has 205mm and approach/departure angles of 17.4 and 25.6 degrees… but then this is a road-focused family SUV. For reference, a Subaru Forester manages 213mm of clearance and 20º/24.6º approach/departure angles.
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Beyond clearance issues, it was ultimately the BZ4x’s 235/50 R20 Dunlop road tyres that held it back in off-road capability.
When the suspension wasn’t bottoming out on the bump-stops, the low-speed ride is promising, the dampers rounding off sharp edges quite impressively, all boding well for the BZ4x’s local introduction.
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VERDICT
With this dirt experience to follow up publishing director Mike Stevens’s brief on-road steer, we’re slowly getting a picture of what Toyota’s first electric car will offer.
The BZ4x is not the first, the fastest, the most full of technology, or the cheapest electric vehicle.
But it is a Toyota, and it proudly wears a badge that has been able to do no wrong in Australia for the last 30 years.
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The question remains as to whether the brand will retain its crown in a decade.
Perhaps it's telling that, at the Japan Mobility Show, Toyota was showing a concept with very similar dimensions packing new battery tech that will launch after 2026 – in other words, Toyota’s already looking to replace the BZ4x.
We’ll wait to adjudicate a verdict and star rating until we’ve sampled the BZ4x holistically on home soil, but the conventional medium SUV will be hard-pressed to outdo the Model Y at its own game.
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