While Toyota undoubtedly helped to popularize hybrid vehicles with the Prius, it’s been comparatively hesitant to pull the trigger on all-electric vehicles sold in its name. But things have a habit of changing and the automaker has officially revealed its first production EV.
The bZ4X crossover is Toyota’s first official attempt at a battery-electric production car and seems to check all the necessary boxes without straying too far from the brand’s modus operandi. For example, the 71.4 kWh battery yielding an estimated 285 to 310 miles of range isn’t groundbreaking. But it’s competitive and Toyota says it focused on delivering undertaxed power cells aided by water cooling to help prolong its lifespan.
Granted, it’s not the first automaker to come to the conclusion that it’s smart not to let the battery overheat. Plenty of manufacturers have their own ways of cooling the battery during periods of sustained use and charging. Toyota simply elected to go with what it thought was the most trouble-free, stating that it believed batteries equipped to the bZ4X would see maximum charge degrading by no more than 10 percent over 150,000 miles or 10 years of ownership — whichever comes first.
Charging times are similarly mid-pack with the model offering up to 150kW DC. This is again designed to help keep cells fresher over time, though is reportedly capable of restoring a drained vehicle to 80 percent of its maximum charge in half an hour. Additionally, an available solar array is supposed to help the bZ4X — the first in its planned bZ vehicle lineup — recoup a bit of energy whenever it’s outdoors. Toyota said this would be helpful in emergency situations where the power grid has failed by delivering an estimated 1,800 km worth of energy per year.
We’re inclined to believe those figures aren’t wholly representative of reality, more likely embodying an idealized scenario where the crossover has been left in the sunniest part of your lawn for 365 days. But even recouping a few dozen miles during an extended power outage would result in this being more than a useless gimmick designed to help Toyota sell premium features. Just don’t expect it to be saving you a bundle on electricity or being sufficient for more than the worst kind of emergencies.
That 310-mile maximum range is also in the European WLTP cycle, meaning the EPA numbers would be lower if Toyota plans on selling the bZ4X here. For now, it’s exclusive to Japan with a European debut planned for early in December.
Customers will be able to select between a single 150kW motor offering 201 bhp at the front wheels or an all-wheel-drive unit using two 80kW hubs on each axle for a combined output of 215 bhp. The AWD bZ4X has been clocked at hitting 60 mph in 7.7 seconds, whereas front-drive examples take 8.4 seconds. Both versions are electronically limited at just 100 miles per hour.
However single motor cars are the only model capable of achieving the 310-mile range. Dual motor crossovers will see their Euro WLTP estimated range shrink to 285 miles.
Expect the now ubiquitous array of oversized screens with just enough physical controls to keep you from becoming totally furious. The car also features a yoke-type steering wheel in certain configurations to help maximize driver legroom and give you a better view of the already large instrumentation. But Toyota has said a traditional wheel will be available and included photographs of both. Dial shifters will be standard, along with Apple CarPlay, voice command, over-the-air (OTA) updates, and Toyota Safety Sense.
The rest is about what you’d expect to find on any modern EV, with the manufacturer taking time to point out the amount of recycled materials it used in the construction. Toyota also spent some time praising just how much engineering went into making sure the bZ4X was lightweight, though the absolute lightest variant does still weigh a whopping 4,233 lbs.
[Images: Toyota]
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Just when I thought VW owned the future of
EVs, Toyota introduces a flexible platform too.
I don’t care for the “lower roof”. The 0-60 times
are in line with real world needs and good battery life.
No need for 0-60 in three seconds! A hell of a way to
save the earth, wasting as much energy as possible. I am
looking at you, Tesla.
“Just when I thought VW owned the future of EVs”
Did you really believe that?
“A hell of a way to save the earth”
Um in no way does the EV “save the Earth”. Earth will go on just fine until the Sun turns into a Red Giant and consumes it. If you’re concerned with improving Earth, it requires a lot of dirty work I doubt you’d be inclined to do or support.
I have to disagree. I think it’s a mistake for companies to cede 0-60 performance to Tesla.
The Lexus variants of the bZ/eTNGA series will probably have faster acceleration and range.
Toyota got by OK, despite similarly ceding it to Detroit, and Munich, V8s back in the day…
They even got by, despite ceding even more practically important tail fin heights, to some of them…
I clearly was being sarcastic; I do not believe,
like you, that EVs will not save the earth. I particularly
single out ones that emphasize acceleration over range.
You seem to know a lot about what I support or my inclinations.
Are you a spy?
The Earth will be saved by developing advanced weapon systems and good luck.* **
* H. G. Wells “The War of the Worlds”
** R. Emmerich “Independence Day”
I heard rumors that this was based on BYD’s EA1 Dolphin EV. Is this true, Best and Brightest?
No, the bZ4x and the Solterra are the first cars based on Toyota’s eTNGA platform. There are 15 more models coming based on eTNGA.
Yes, BYD and Toyota will make a EV for China.
Thanks Norm,
It appears this car will be a niche product. If it were to be a mass market car, where exactly are all the batteries going to come from? BYD makes LFP batteries but as far as I know they are already committed to selling them to Tesla and to the Chinese built Ford Mach-E.
On a side note, I don’t understand the saber rattling with China if Ford is going to build the Mach-E there and ship them to Europe. On this subject I have to agree with Bernie Sanders of all people. He said, “If China is a threat to the United States, why are so many U.S. corporations investing there?”
“If China is a threat to the United States, why are so many U.S. corporations investing there?”
yes, China is currently the biggest threat to the US, and corporations want to make money while they can.
@NormSV360: Just to be clear, the EA1 Dolphin uses BYD’s e-platform 3.0. The bZ4X and Solterra use Toyota’s new e-TNGA BEV-dedicated platform.
The Dolphin is using BYD’s LFP blade battery pack.
I don’t know if bZ4x is supposed to be the name of a car or a part for a broken laser printer…
They must have stayed up late trying to come up with bZ4x.
Someone described it as “better than Zero” aka “better than nothing”.
Beyond Zero…. I assumed 4x wold be just the 4wd version, but…..
Looks like a RAV-4 without ICE. I presume this is on some variant of the TNGA platform, which would make sense. (I don’t recall if the JDM gets their own RAV-4 variant, either, though I thought Europe does.)
What in the world is compelling the use of yokes instead of steering wheels? I wonder if they have to have the airbags vented differently to prevent burning the driver’s hands during a deployment on a yoke versus a wheel? I can’t imagine any automakers would accept that kind of cost!
“I presume this is on some variant of the TNGA platform,”
It’s based on the eTNGA platform announced 2 1/2 years ago. There are A,B, and C variants of eTNGA. I’m not sure if it actually has anything in common with TNGA. It could, but looks completely different to me.
– Merkur XR4Ti was a dumb name (thank you Bob Lutz).
– bZ4X is a dumb name.
– ID.4 is a dumb name.
This Toyota is probably awesome, but its looks are… unfortunate.
Toyota seems to struggle with its messaging. Let me help:
Toyota: Reliable but Ugly™.
A BEV Mirai would be cool.
Or a BEV this:
youtube.com/watch?v=7Hh5EvP4cJk
I also applaud Toyota for managing the battery
conservatively. I believe that part of Tesla’s
increased range is from charging the batteries
higher and running them down lower.
This platform signals, (to me), a switch from hydrogen
to electricity. I think they saw, (in my opinion), VW gaining a
foothold and woke up and smelled the Yuban.
It looks like a Subaru to me. I think they have
been hanging out with Subaru too long. I, cannot for the life of me,
understand why Toyota, with such a good reputation, would
be anxious to bed up with Subaru. Again, just my opinion.
Flamers, have at it.
bZ4x? A name that nobody will be able to pronounce? When “RAV4 Electric,” leveraging massive brand equity and accurately describing the car at the same time, was available?
I’d pronounce it “bzzzzz”.
I would buy only if it had a triangular steering (wheel) thing.
Right. Hopefully acute. Scalene could be interesting. But you just know they will go for Obtuse.
It does not impress me. Why no one comes with joystick in instead of steering wheel? Computer aided joystick would be the best way to steer the car. And you free your second hand to press various buttons or handle mobile phone.
It should have been named BR-549.
Did nobody notice they used the crash test vehicle for the photos?
There can be no other reason for it to look so flattened on the nose.