Toyota Australia describes this as the most important car in decades for the brand, and it’s easy to see why.
The new Toyota bZ4X is the brand’s first fully electric model to be sold in Australia, and while the company has modest aspirations of just 1,500 sales per year for the EV, it is the first stepping stone before the brand jumps headfirst into its future powertrain strategy.
Already the leader for electrified hybrid models in this market – 33.5 percent of all hybrids sold here in 2023 were Toyotas, and increased supply has bumped that to almost 40 percent for January 2024 – the brand is pivoting to EV as one of an array of choices for consumers.
And the bZ4X sits in the sweet spot for the Australian market. It’s a midsize SUV, just a smidge larger than a RAV4, with a choice of two models at launch that are priced not all that much higher than what someone buying a high-grade RAV4 hybrid might have to fork out.
The entry-level version is the bZ4X FWD, at $66,000 plus on-road costs, and there’s a more highly-specced bZ4X AWD version at $74,900 plus on-roads, which is expected to appeal more to private buyers. It sits higher (212mm ground clearance vs 182mm for the FWD), and it has more standard kit.
There’s the choice of an outright purchase, or a full-service lease for three years. Pricing for that plan depends on mileage and location, but it includes use of the car for 36 months, registration, maintenance, tyres, compulsory third-party insurance and comprehensive insurance, and more. It might make sense if you do the maths and don’t want to deal with the unknown of depreciation.
Both have a 12.3-inch touchscreen media system with wired/wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, sat nav, and a decent sound system (9-speaker JBL in the top grade), plus there’s a 7.0-inch driver info screen, dual-zone climate control, heated front seats, driver’s seat electric adjustment, and a heap of storage. The AWD adds a wireless phone charger, cooled front seats, a heated steering wheel and a dual-pane sunroof.
The AWD is more powerful, too. It has dual electric motors, with a total output of 160kW and 337Nm, and it has a Subaru-developed X-Mode off-road system and a clever Grip Control hill descent management system too. It weighs 2055kg, has a claimed EV driving range of 411km (WLTP) and efficiency of 18.1kWh/100km.
The FWD has a single motor at the front, with a single-speed transaxle and 150kW/266Nm. That means it’s a smidge slower than the AWD (7.5sec vs 6.9sec), but it is lighter (1960kg). This version has a longer claimed driving range of 436km and efficiency is rated at 16.9kWh/100km.
But they both run a 71.4kWh lithium-ion battery pack, and both have 11kW AC charging, meaning a full charge should take 7 hours at max pace. If you know you’ll rely more on public fast-charge infrastructure, the bZ4X has a 150kW DC maximum charging rate, as it runs a 400V architecture (meaning it’s not, in theory, as quick to charge as the likes of the Kia EV6 or Hyundai Ioniq models). Even so, Toyota claims a 10-80 percent charge time of approximately 30 mins.
It has ample interior space, and the boot size varies between FWD (421 litres) and AWD (410L), and while those numbers look small, it’s a wide and easy-to-load area, but neither has a spare wheel – tyre repair kit only.
The launch drive of the bZ4X incorporated a mix of different driving in and around Canberra, with stints of twisty mountain roads, some urban arterial driving, stop-start in traffic jams, and even a heap of off-road and unsealed sections.
Across all of those situations, the bZ4X proved itself to be competent. It is a really well rounded EV to drive, with ample pulling power across both versions – but none of that neck-snapping acceleration that other EVs offer.
It also has a slightly less assertive regen braking system, too. There’s a single-pedal driving mode if you want to use it, and while it won’t come to a complete stop (I got down to 5km/h in traffic), it is usable, and the brake pedal feel is otherise quite natural.
The ride is on the firmer side, as you might expect of an EV riding on standard 20-inch wheels and with extra body stiffening to support the battery pack. And while it’s never uncomfortable, it’s not like you don’t feel lots of the little bumps in the surface.
It handles well in the bends, and the steering has an almost Tesla-like super fast action to it, meaning it changes direction fast but doesn’t necessarily offer much feedback to the driver.
It’s refined and relatively quiet, too, in most situations, and while there is a heap of standard technology on offer here, it’s thankfully not intrusive or annoying like some other new cars. The bZ4X has a five-star ANCAP rating from 2022, based on Euro NCAP ratings – it’s been on sale for a while in other markets.
There’s a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, and that can extend out to seven years for the powertrain if logbook servicing is maintained. If you service with Toyota and get a batteyr health check done, it has a 10-year warranty on offer. The brand also backs the battery for 70 percent state of health after eight years.
And there’s capped-price servicing ($180 per visit) every 12 months/15,000km for the first five years.
And it deserves to sell well here, too. It’s not compelling in any particular way, but it is a Toyota EV, and that’ll no doubt be enough to get buyers into dealerships.
