Test drive Toyota bZ4X: The future is simple

The Toyota bZ4X is the first electric passenger car from our friends in Japan. They previously brought us the electric Proace, but of course it’s just an electrified truck. But the future of Toyota electric vehicles is here with the Toyota bZ4X. The easiest electric car on the market.

What is Toyota bZ4X?

As we briefly mentioned, the Toyota bZ4X is Toyota’s first true electric passenger car. It is a car developed in collaboration with Subaru. Surprisingly, Toyota’s first electric car is a rather large SUV with an interesting design, which we like. It’s a little smaller than the RAV4 but much larger than the Corolla Cross. This is absolutely true.

The design is bold and fresh, but typical of Toyota. This is great, because Toyota has a credo of “no more boring cars,” but that’s not always the case. In the case of the Toyota bZ4X, definitely yes. In addition to the exterior, the interior is also imaginatively designed. Is it too expensive or too luxurious? no. Is it really unique and cool? certainly.

Our test model is the Toyota bZ4X Dynamic. The Dynamic is not the top version, but it is a fully loaded model. For example, this less powerful engine has 150 kilowatts or 208 hp. The battery capacity is 71 kWh. This provides a range of approximately 350-400 kilometers in real life. The car handles its power well which is always a good thing for an electric car.

How does he drive?

The Toyota bZ4X is easy to drive. The car had absolutely nothing on it that we didn’t understand or that was in a strange place. The interior is very nice but still very tidy. The tools are a bit far away, but you get used to it quickly. The rotary knob doubles as a gear lever too quickly and works well. So in terms of ease of use it is good.

We drove the car largely in B mode, where the throttle response is a little less but charges more while driving. This is beneficial for consumption, as the car then charges a small amount through regenerative braking. Steering is light and braking is easy. There is enough view out there and because the car drives right on the side you always know exactly where you are. We had the mini rims, which may not be the prettiest, but they are wonderfully comfortable. Acceleration in the Toyota bZ4X is smooth but not quick, hitting 100 in about 8 seconds.

strength point

One of the amazing points of the Toyota bZ4X is the space inside the car. It is a very large container, which is of course very useful in terms of space. But passenger space is also exceptional. There is no glove compartment, leaving enough room for both people up front. The front seats can also remain up front, creating more space for people sitting in the back. But where should I put my worn-out ANWB roadmap if I don’t have a glove compartment? Don’t worry, it can be in the large center console, or in another large center console. There’s plenty of room!

The interior of the Toyota bZ4X is very nice. It’s not about luxury, expensive materials or huge screens. No, the design is very distinctive. The steering wheel looks like it was inspired by a concept car from the 90s, and the dashboard resembles that of a spaceship. The materials are interesting and the basic plastic buttons we are used to from Toyota are in this case a great addition to this special interior.

Range is also very good on this car. Let’s be honest, it’s not an exotic range. Between 350 and 400 kilometers is not necessarily very good. But for this type of car in this price range, it’s certainly not surprising. Especially since you are often heading towards those 400 kilometers and sometimes beyond that. Toyota bZ4X is a very efficient car.

Weaknesses

One of the strange things we experienced while driving the Toyota bZ4X is that sometimes the car would not lock at all. This is a bit annoying, of course. Sometimes it has to be opened for a while and then it can be locked again. We couldn’t find anything about this issue online, so it was probably a one-time issue. But it wasn’t comfortable.

In addition, we have the following two little points, and funnily enough, we also have an explanation for them. The first is that it is almost impossible to change radio stations while driving. This is a very specific problem, but in the end it’s just a problem. The system reorganizes the entire DAB+ list when a new channel becomes available or when an old channel disappears. This means it wants to do this about three billion times per second while driving, resulting in an impossible task. Scrolling that list is no longer possible for more than a few seconds. Then the whole gang reorganizes itself again and you start at the top again. This issue has been disclosed to the manufacturer, so this issue may be resolved.

The second is the quality of the rear camera. This one is terrible. Not only is the image blurry and oddly cropped, but the button numeric icons are also very grainy. The strange thing is that this is not the case with the premium version, even though the cameras are the same. So it is a software issue, this is also known to the manufacturer and hopefully it will be changed.

equipment

The Toyota bZ4X has all the safety systems one would need. Think adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, and all sorts of other gadgets you find in most new cars. Annoyingly, it also has a driver’s display that beeps if you look at a beautiful tree for a moment. This is very annoying but fortunately it can be solved. An interesting feature is the automatic climate control mode. Seat heating and steering wheel heating are automatically turned on at high heating temperature. This is of course also possible.

It also has a nice ice function, which you can also use in clay. You will just need it.

Conclusion of the Toyota bZ4X test drive

The Toyota bZ4X is an easy, spacious and very nice electric SUV from Toyota. The interior design is very successful and also very spacious. This is very nice. The range is also quite good, not too large but just perfect for this type of car. Unfortunately, two things about the screen are a bit of a shame. The quality of the reversing camera is not good due to a software issue, and the DAB+ menu updates very quickly, meaning you cannot scroll while driving. In general, it is a beautiful and very simple car. We dare to say that this is definitely one of the best cars for the “my first electric car” category.

Toyota bZ4X is available From 47.090 euros. Our test model was the Toyota bZ4X Dynamic, the mid-range version with a lot of options. In total it costs 57,985 euros.

All photos in this article were taken by Sam Berger.