Toyota bZ4X Review & Prices

If you’re after a no-nonsense electric SUV to ferry you and the family around in comfort, the Toyota bZ4X is worth considering. It’s around the same size as Toyota’s own RAV4 SUV, meaning it goes up against alternatives like the Skoda Enyaq, Kia EV6, Nissan Ariya and Ford Mustang Mach-E.

The bZ4X is a bit like a washing machine. It has a pretty forgettable name and it’s not particularly interesting to use, but it gets the job done.

It’s a handsome-looking thing from some angles, especially the front end where the sleek headlights look thoroughly modern. The rear end is also sporting a full-width light bar and a roof spoiler, but the chunky black cladding around the lower half looks cheap.

The interior design is smart as well. You get a nicely contoured dashboard with some funky-looking fabrics, and material quality is decent on the whole with plenty of soft-touch plastics. In typical Toyota fashion everything is well-screwed together as well.

Watch our head-to-head video: Toyota bZ4X v Kia EV6

There’s plenty of space to get comfortable up front as well, although Toyota has adopted Peugeot’s small steering wheel layout for the bZ4X. This means the digital driver’s display is set above it, and it can get blocked by the wheel rim depending on your driving position.

Rear seat passengers are treated to generous legroom to stretch their legs out, and headroom is decent as well. There’s a decent amount of shoulder space if you have three people across the bench, although the person in the middle seat may feel a bit perched.

You won’t find any storage under the bZ4X’s bonnet like you do in the Tesla Model Y, and with a fairly meagre 452 litres of boot space this car isn’t as practical as a Skoda Enyaq for carrying large loads.

Interior storage is fairly awkward as well. There’s no glove box for a start, with that space taken up by a radiant heater to warm the passenger’s knees on cold days. You get wireless Apple CarPlay as standard, but Android Auto connects using a wire which makes the neat tray for your phone difficult to use.

This leads us neatly onto the infotainment system, which is decent. Entry-level models get an 8.0-inch touchscreen, however all other versions get a much nicer 12.3-inch display. It’s bright and the graphics are crisp, and it’s responsive to your touch as well. The menus are easy to zip through, although you’ll probably end up using the standard-fit Apple CarPlay and Android Auto most of the time.

On the move the bZ4X is best described as perfectly adequate. It’s comfortable over bumps, visibility is decent - apart from out the back where there’s a pretty big over-the-shoulder blind spot - and a recent update brings improved sound insulation for a quieter experience. Long motorway slogs are no bother either thanks to standard-fit adaptive cruise control.

There are two motor options to choose from - a 204hp front-wheel drive version or an all-wheel drive car with 218hp. The former will be sufficient for most people’s needs. It’s zippy enough and you get better driving range. Official tests put the range of the bZ4X between 257 and 317 miles, and a few hours in the more efficient single-motor car saw a real-world range of around 300 miles. Not bad going really.

Charging at home is done via an 11kW AC charger, and if you’re out and about you can top up using a 150kW DC point. The latter will get you from 10-80% in around half an hour.

The Toyota bZ4X doesn’t do much to set the automotive world alight, but it’s a perfectly competent electric SUV which is comfortable and easy to live with. Alternatives such as the Skoda Enyaq are more practical though.

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The Toyota bZ4X is a touch more expensive than a lot of its alternatives, coming in at a couple of thousand pounds more than the Skoda Enyaq, Nissan Ariya and Volkswagen ID4. It does undercut the Ford Mustang Mach-E by around £5,000 though.

What helps the bZ4X stand out is the amount of standard equipment you get. All cars get adaptive cruise control, a reversing camera, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, keyless entry and LED headlights.

The bZ4X is surprisingly agile and sporty to drive, but rear visibility is poor

In town

The bZ4X majors on refinement and you’ll really notice that around town. The ride comfort — even on the optional 20-inch alloy wheels of our test car — is very good. In fact, we reckon it’s one of the more comfortable electric SUVs you can buy.

The scuttle of the windscreen, where the dashboard meets the glass, is quite low. Not as much as that of a Tesla Model Y, but low enough that there’s excellent visibility out the front, and Toyota says that it has slimmed down the windscreen pillars as much as possible to enhance that feeling. They still block your view a bit, though.

Over-the-shoulder visibility is worse, hampered by chunky C-pillars, but there’s a standard-fit reversing camera and parking sensors (and an optional ‘bird’s eye view’ 360-degree camera system) so low-speed manoeuvring is pretty easy. They’re disappointingly low quality, but you can see what you need to.

There is a ‘one-pedal’ regenerative braking system, which has two modes (on and off, essentially) but it’s quite subtle, slowing the car initially, then leaving it up to you to use the actual brakes to bring the bZ4X to a stop. The brakes are smooth and not as grabby as most EVs, though it would be preferable to have true one-pedal driving.

On the motorway

On the motorway, once again, refinement is to the fore. Wind and tyre noise are well suppressed on all but the coarsest concrete surfaces, and given the bZ4X’s decent one-charge range, long journeys should prove pretty relaxing.

It’s a very stable and sure-footed car, with no hint of being deflected by cross-winds or upset by passing HGVs. Then again, weighing 2.5 tonnes will do that for you.

On a twisty road

This impressive comfort level might leave you feeling a wee bit surprised if you decide to point the bZ4X’s nose down a twisty country road.

Its steering may not have much actual road feel coming back through it, but it’s fast and accurate, and the bZ4X seems to shrug off its hefty kerb weight to find an easy rhythm on a twisty road.

It’s not quite as exciting as the Mustang Mach-E, but it’s a remarkable performance for such a heavy car. While most owners will probably just use their bZ4X to cruise the motorway or head to the shops, be in no doubt — this electric SUV has been set up to be a bit of fun.

It’s even good when you get it off-road. Again, few — if any — owners will actually venture further than the grass car park at the local car-boot sale, but the bZ4X has been designed with help from off-road experts Subaru, and it really shows

It may not quite be a Land Rover Defender, but the bZ4X is considerably more rugged than we were expecting. It dealt easily with dry, dusty trails involving steep climbs and descents, and equally well on a course claggy with wet, viscous mud. It can wade through deep water, too — up to 500mm as standard.

There’s loads of space for passengers in the back, but the boot is quite small and the lack of glovebox is puzzling

The driving position and dashboard layout could require a short adjustment period. The high centre console hems you in a little – not in an uncomfortable way, but it’s interesting that Toyota hasn’t followed rivals like Ford, Hyundai, and Kia in making the bZ4X’s cabin feel very open and airy.

The big surprise is in the driving position. The front seats are very comfortable and supportive, but Toyota appears to have been inspired by Peugeot, giving you a relatively small steering wheel that sits low in your lap, while the digital instrument screen is mounted up high.

The position of the wheel feels natural after you’ve spent a bit of time getting used to it, while the high-set instruments are clear and positioned so that the bZ4X doesn’t really need a head-up display — they’re just where your eyeline would naturally fall. That being said, depending on your driving position, the top of the steering wheel can block your view of the display, which is annoying.

It’s generally pretty practical up front, with good-sized door bins, a deep covered bin in the armrest and cup holders that can carry a chunky bottle. Another covered area appears to be designed for phones, but large ones won’t fit, while there are a few USB slots dotted around the cabin, which is useful. There’s another storage area beneath the centre console for a bit of privacy, but it’s not as secure from prying eyes as a glovebox would have been.

Space in the back seats

Rear seat space is excellent, with loads of legroom and headroom. The floor is pretty flat and the central seat is just as comfortable as the outer ones, so coupled with the wide body it’s actually pretty easy to carry three adults in the back.

There’s an armrest with cup holders and space for your phone when the central seat isn’t in use. The door bins are a useful size too, so rear seat passengers won’t feel hard done by on longer trips.

The doors don’t open as wide as you might hope, but there’s so much space in the back that it’s still no trouble to fit a child seat, even the bulky ones. The ISOFIX points are easy to find, too.

Boot space

If boot space is important, this could be where the bZ4X loses you. At 452 litres it should be big enough for most, but it’s one of the smallest in this class. The Nissan Ariya is a bit better at 466 litres, but the Audi Q4 e-tron gets 520 litres and the Skoda Enyaq has 585 litres. Without the front boot found on some EVs, it’s slightly disappointing the Toyota can’t carry more.

Fold the seats down and there’s a gap between the main boot area and the seats, so if you’re pushing longer items through they snag here and need a wiggle to get into place. There’s no load lip though, so getting things in and out isn’t too troublesome.

Toyota’s infotainment system takes a big step forward, but it can be fiddly changing settings in the driver display

The bZ4X’s interior looks distinctive and high-tech with an interesting design and some quirky features, like the driver display above the wheel.

There’s also an excellent infotainment system. That big 12.3-inch screen is running the latest software, which is more or less the same as that used by the new Lexus NX. It has graphics that are clear and sharp, and such things as the navigation map displays look especially crisp and classy.

The easily toggled ‘Points Of Interest’ display, which can show you where to find nearby charging points, restaurants, and so on, is really neat. Some menu options and layouts are still a touch fiddly, but doubtless you’d start to find it easier with time. Wireless Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto connections are standard and there’s a new voice control setup with a range of instructions that has expanded to opening and closing windows or adjusting the cabin temperature.

Below the main screen, there’s a bank of physical buttons, which control the heating and ventilation (which is always good news, instead of being via the touchscreen) as well as taking care of functions such as switching the brake energy recuperation up and down, activating the X-Mode off-road system, changing the parking camera view, and activating the electric handbrake.

Toyota seems keen for you to change most of the functions through the driver display, though, using the steering wheel-mounted buttons. This can make it much more fiddly than using that big touchscreen.

The bZ4X comes with a choice of two powertrains, but just the one battery. It’s a 71.4kWh battery pack, which can be charged at speeds of up to 150kW from a sufficiently fast DC public charger, allowing you to charge it to 80% capacity in around 28 minutes. For home charging, early cars have a 6.6kW on-board charger, but that’s upgraded to 11kW for 2023. Unfortunately, early bZ4X customers won’t be able to upgrade to the faster charging setup.

Most bZ4Xs come with front-wheel drive and a single 204hp motor. That’s enough poke for an 7.3-second 0-60mph time. Fully charge the battery, and Toyota estimates that you’ll get up to 317 miles out of it before needing to charge again. That’s decent range, but significantly less than the 331 miles offered by the big-battery versions of the Skoda Enyaq and Volkswagen ID4, both of which have similar starting prices to the bZ4X.

Our four-wheel drive test car uses twin electric motors, one front and one rear, for a combined 218hp, 337Nm of torque, and a 0-60mph time of 6.7 seconds, though we managed 6.2 seconds. That means it’s fairly quick, but doesn’t have the rapid punch you often get from an electric car. The top speed of both cars is limited to 100mph.

That four-wheel drive system will drain the battery rather faster, though, with an official 286-mile range.

In safety terms, Toyota is introducing its third-generation active safety system on the bZ4X, which it has renamed ‘T-Mate’. There’s a combination of a forward-facing camera and radar which can detect other cars, pedestrians, and cyclists.

The active steering helps you to stay in lane, and if you need to swerve suddenly then the bZ4X will automatically adjust the car’s braking system to keep you steady. The system will also help prevent you from accidentally turning across a junction into oncoming traffic, and there’s a surround-view parking camera system too.

Toyota reckons that the whole ‘Beyond Zero’ thing (that’s what the bZ name stands for) is also about moving towards zero fatal accidents, as well as emissions, so it’s no surprise the bZ4X scored top marks in Euro NCAP safety tests. Its 88% and 87% in adult and child occupant protection respectively are impressive, and the 91% rating for safety assist is up there with the very best.

Toyota has an excellent reliability record, so if that’s important to you then the bZ4X could be a good bet, though it’s not been on sale long enough to know for sure.

Further reassurance comes from an excellent warranty. To start with, you get three years of cover, but this is followed by an additional 12 months and 10,000 miles if you get an annual approved service. This continues up to 10 years after the car was first registered.

Toyota is also guaranteeing that the bZ4X’s battery will retain at least 70 per cent of its original performance after 10 years, or 620,000 miles – yes, really – whichever comes first. You do have to regularly visit a Toyota dealer for a battery health check to keep that warranty going, but it’s a remarkable claim, nonetheless.