Toyota bZ4X review: Finally fully electric, but also good?

Toyota bZ4X, that's the name of the first purely electric Toyota. The electric SUV does a lot of things right, but in other areas they probably didn't think so far. We tested it for you in everyday life. What is the first BEV from the hybrid pioneer from Japan like? You can find out here!

The bZ4X has a very special name, just to explain it bZ stands for Toyota's BEV division, i.e. "Beyond Zero“. 4X, on the other hand, stands for the size class. So for an SUV that is also available with all-wheel drive. But we tested the front-wheel drive version for you. Not to forget: The RAV1997 EV already existed in 4, but it was based on a combustion engine platform.

tl;dr: Solid for the first attempt

After more than 20 years, Toyota is trying a purely electric platform. The bZ4X is the first result that came out of this. Viewed purely as a car or means of transport, it is really good to very good. It holds well on the road and drives well through corners without any fluctuations. You can see the very long experience that Toyota has in their field, “hybrid vehicles”. The technical data is also convincing. The bZ4X is powered by a 204 hp (150 kW) front engine. This is really enough in everyday life in all cases and is also enough to overtake. According to the speedometer, the road is closed at 165 km/h.

The interior and exterior design has been designed very idiosyncratically. You can see the modern design language that can also be found in other Toyotas, for example the new Prius. Nevertheless, it looks familiar and really isn't bad from the outside. Something completely different is reflected inside, a sufficiently large infotainment screen is in the middle above the very wide center console.

This gives you access to very good navigation (unfortunately without loading planning) and an otherwise very smooth user interface. Toyota probably shares the new OS with Subaru and Suzuki. There we found similar displays with the same software.

The bZ4X is also equipped with numerous assistance systems such as ACC and a steering assistant as well as blind spot warning and much more. The price of the bZ4X starts at 47.490,00 euros (including 19% VAT)

Interior: Lots of plastic and piano lacquer

The interior of the bZ4X doesn't really seem to be of high quality. It would most likely be compared with the Volkswagen ID.3 pre-facelift. Excessive piano lacquer in the doors and in the center console, where you reach very often. There is no creaking for this. A wool-like structure extends across the entire dashboard. The driver's cockpit doesn't just look very special at first glance. You have to get used to this “pilot cockpit”.

Since the driver display is located in such a way that you don't actually need one, there is no head-up display for the driver. The small steering wheel is very easy to grip and it's really fun to control the bZ4X with it. You feel a bit cramped when driving because the massively wide center console houses many buttons and the large gear selector. There is no classic glove compartment, but like many electric cars, with a high center console, you have a large storage space underneath.

The USB ports in the center console are Type-C. The connection for wired Android Auto is still the old USB Type A connector. During the two weeks, the connection to Android Auto on the infotainment lost several times. The USB port didn't really seem to be of high quality and was rather loose.

Infotainment: Modern & fast

This is how you can summarize the new system from Toyota, Subaru and Suzuki. Since this is probably the same system, we can keep it relatively brief. Android Auto only works via cable, Apple CarPlay works wirelessly. As stated aboveproDespite the cable connection, Android Auto often stopped running without warning during our test period and could only be started again by reconnecting it.

Otherwise the system runs smoothly and responds quickly to input. You can use facial recognition to identify different usersproload file. The navigation runs quickly and calculates even larger routes very quickly. Traffic is recognized and you receive warnings about construction sites, animals on the road and the like.

Unfortunately no charging route planning

Unfortunately, if you look for charging route planning, you won't find anything. You can look for charging stations, but you won't find much more than the range fried egg with the bZ4X. That's a shame, so you have to resort to alternatives like "A better Route Planner" via Android Auto or Apple CarPlay.

Driving behavior: Sits comfortably on the road

The bZ4X from Toyota drives as you would expect from its size class. You shouldn't steer it too sportily through the curves because it easily breaks over the front wheels when you apply power. However, the ESP intervenes relatively quickly to prevent this. Nevertheless, thanks to the easy steering, it performed well in everyday life, even on wet roads. The all-wheel drive model called “X-Mode” will also have special traction modes to make it even better in the weather.

Toyota really shows what they can do. Because overall it drives rock solid. Not exciting, but with enough power to leave everyone else standing at the lights and to be able to overtake. There's really no need to mention that anymore. Even with 150 hp, the bZ4X would have easily accomplished this. Interesting to know, although there are two electric motors in the all-wheel drive model, the horsepower/kW number does not increase significantly. Only 217 combined horsepower are put on the road.

The small steering wheel makes it really easy to steer, which is particularly practical in inner cities. The illumination of the LED headlights is also good to very good. Matrix LED headlights can also be equipped as an option.

Assistance systems: Quite solid

In addition to the assistance systems already mentioned, such as adaptive cruise control (ACC) with distance control and a collision warning system, there is even vehicle and cyclist detection, which locks the doors when parked if, for example, a cyclist is next to the door. This of course prevents collision accidents.

The steering assistant automatically brakes for sharper curves and steers well. We would say a solid level 2.

Is Toyota even trying?

In a way, you might think that Toyota (like some other Japanese companies) is half-heartedly assembling the electric models because they would rather sell their self-charging hybrids. If the bZ4X were just a little cheaper, you could overlook some of the cheap interior details. For the price quoted here, however, there are electric cars that offer a significantly better interior in terms of quality.

Other models also offer a little more in terms of other technical data. The performance is completely sufficient. However, the battery is a bit too small for the size of the vehicle. Especially when we look at consumption.

Consumption in everyday life: efficiency master?

We were very positively surprised when we saw the consumption of the bZ4X on our cross-country route for the first time: 16 – 17 kWh/100 km, i.e. around 370 possible kilometers. These are astonishing values ​​given the size of the vehicle and at an outside temperature of around 15 degrees. But on the motorway at 130 km/h a slightly different truth emerged. There the bZ4X achieves more like 21 kWh/100 km. This corresponds to around 230 to 240 kilometers in real terms on the motorway.

For some this might be enough, since you can finally recharge with up to 150 kW at peak. Nevertheless, with a little more battery you could realistically get 300 kilometers. We consider this to be a sweet spot, especially in relation to the price. But once again, the car seems a bit too big for the city.

Toyota has of course built in a generous buffer. 71 kWh are actually installed, 64 kWh can be used while driving. With, for example, 77 kWh of usable battery, a little more would be possible on the highway. Nevertheless, it should be said that Toyota is probably the only manufacturer that has 10 years or more a million kilometers There is a long warranty on the battery of the bZ4X. After this high mileage, the battery should last over 70 within the warranty Procent of its usual performance. This is a very significant achievement for the customer.

Loading speed: Quite decent after the update

We were unable to find any manual preconditioning in the bZ4X menu. After all, there is 150 kW charging power at peak. We plugged in with 10% SoC and got 140 kW. So far so good. However, the curve fell relatively quickly to 110 kW at 50 Procent SoC and then went up to 80 Procent at 90 kW charging power. This can be done better. Toyota itself claims a charging time of around 29 minutes from 10 to 80 Procent.

What is very positive, no rubber plug for type 2 or CCS. Similar to BMW, two separate flaps for AC and DC.
(Image: TechnikNews)

At least the issue of charging was taken more seriously, because when the bZ4X was just on the market, there were probably some charging aroundproproblems. That's why there were no test vehicles for some time, as Toyota worked on various improvements internally. After all, the charging performance has improved significantly compared to the old software.

Can you recommend the bZ4X?

Yes, it's definitely a good car, but just a mediocre electric car. You definitely get a lot of space in the bZ4X, both in the back and in the front. Furthermore, it offers enough power to be able to overtake in traffic. Ultimately, we would have liked slightly better infotainment with charging route planning and, for the price, less piano lacquer and hard plastic in the interior. There are also many plastics on the outside of the vehicle that are very attractive for scratches. The range should be sufficient for most people.

Nevertheless, a larger battery would be desirable, since we already have a large SUV similar to ID.5. The prices are definitely a bit too high for what is on offer, so you should also take a look at the competition. There you may get more of the usual. If you've been used to Toyota for a long time and want to drive an SUV from Japan, then you should get it Nissan ariya take a closer look. There, we think, you get a significantly higher interior quality.

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