Toyota bZ4X Electric Vehicle Review

Tom's Guide

Tom's Guide's John Velasco test-drove the 2024 Toyota bZ4X for a week to find out how the company’s first EV performs after perfecting the hybrid car. The Toyota bZ4X is a crossover SUV with an estimated range of 236 miles and 201hp performance, so it's the kind of thing that should get you from place to place with ease. Its futuristic look makes it a stark contrast on the road, while the driver’s seat has a unique cockpit style design.

Transcript

00:00It's like a video game, arcane machine. Toyota is legendary when it comes to

00:05reliability and they're one of the pioneers of hybrid cars but they've been

00:09noticeably absent in the EV space. They're hoping to change that with this,

00:13the BZ4X. It's their first all-electric vehicle.

00:21This is the Toyota BZ4X. It starts at 48,000, the limited version that I'm

00:26driving here but they also make a base version, the XLE which is at $41,000.

00:32They both have a 201 horsepower electric motor and they have also a 74.1

00:38kilowatt-hour battery. In comparison, the Kona has a 64.8 kilowatt-hour battery. So

00:43the XLE has a range of 252 miles versus this one which has 236. There could be a

00:49couple of reasons why that's the case because this one has larger wheels, 20

00:53inch wheels versus 18 and it's also heavier. Even though it has less range,

00:58you still get a lot more features with the limited. For example, you have the

01:02multi-LED projector headlights, you have the power liftgate with foot activation,

01:07you have powered seats with lumbar support with the driver's seat only, you

01:12also have cooling ventilation with the seats, power moonroof, 20-inch alloy wheels,

01:17heated and ventilated front seats, auto-dimming rear view mirror, and you

01:22also get a backup camera with 360-degree views.

01:33I'm headed to the charging station right now because I've been driving for most of

01:37the afternoon. I'm roughly at 15% battery left, giving me a range of 31 miles so

01:42really low. Once it gets close to 10%, it's going to notify me with a warning.

01:55Well, it's great that you could charge an EV at home with just an ordinary 120 volt

02:01outlet. That's level one charging. The more practical thing to do is invest into a

02:05level two charger because for overnight, you charge it up roughly around eight hours,

02:09you'll have a full battery by the time you wake up. We started at 15% battery and

02:14right now after 30 minutes, it's showing 67%. To put that into perspective, when I was

02:19charging this at home with level one charging, it gave back 17% battery in over

02:2410 plus hours. But here we got 52% in 30 minutes. You can probably get by with

02:30level one charging if your commute is short, but if you plan on doing a lot of

02:33long distance driving, it's not really practical. In the week I've been driving this,

02:37it's giving me an efficiency of 3.1 miles per kilowatt hour, which I think is average

02:42for an EV. Again, there are some EVs that get better efficiency like the Lucid Air

02:47Pure, which gets closer to four miles per kilowatt hour. But to me, I think it's good

02:52enough here. This efficiency is better than I expected given the larger size because

02:56it is a crossover SUV. When it comes to efficiency, three miles per kilowatt hour is

03:01the sweet spot for most EVs. If you get anything more, greater than four, that's great, but anything less,

03:07three is pretty bad. I didn't quite get the peak I got with the Kono, which got a

03:12little bit above four miles per kilowatt hour. One of the things I do like about

03:16this is the design. It has those RAV4Qs, but in a more sleeker, more futuristic look.

03:22When you see the front, it has a really nice grill, sleek lines. You have also the

03:27projector LED lights that stand out, and just the way the angles are cut. You can see

03:31how it's very angular with its design. The two-tone finish of the car also makes it pop.

03:36You can see it here near the wheels and also around the back. For being a futuristic

03:41vehicle, it has some antiquated features. For example, the handlebars, usually they're

03:46flush and hidden inside, but not here. It's a regular standard handlebar. And with

03:51the charging port, it's a manual operation. It doesn't open up by itself. I got to press

03:55it and open it like that. And on the inside, it has a tiny screen. Kind of reminds me of the

04:00original Prius, which came out over 10 plus years ago. In the week that I've been driving

04:09it, I really like the performance and handling of the BZ4X. There's only one mode here, which

04:14is Eco Mode. You could turn it on or off. Even when I have it turned on though, the acceleration

04:19is pretty responsive and zippy. I will give Toyota credit. It has one of the better implementations

04:27of smart cruise control because it's very soft with its acceleration and braking. It anticipates

04:34also what's ahead. When I had someone actually cut me off a little bit, it didn't apply to

04:39brakes really hard. It was subtle. It also comes with many of the standard safety features that

04:44I enjoy. For example, you have parking assist, you have the blindside sensors to notify someone's

04:50there, smart cruise control that I already mentioned, and lane assist. On the flip side,

04:56the cabin space could be a lot quieter. I'm disappointed that the passenger seat has manual

05:02adjustment. And for the price, I was expecting more features like blind spot cameras. Oh, and

05:08a final note, the most irritating I've had with the BZ4X is the infrared camera that's built

05:14up to the steering wheel. It's a safety feature, so I keep my eyes on the road, but it's just

05:18way too nagging. One of the really cool features it has though is self-parking. So basically it'll

05:25automatically park for me, well, whether it's parallel parking or parking lot parking. Let's try,

05:31I guess hit that one. Okay. Hit start. Okay. It's gonna do it all hands-free.

05:44There we go. In between the lines, perfect parking. Not better than me though.

06:02Toyota's first EV is in a home run. I think it's on the pricier side and it's also shorter on range.

06:08For a little bit less, there are some other EVs I've tested that have better range like the Kona,

06:13but knowing that there's always the better reliability and resale value down the road.

06:18What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments below. Make sure to watch my other

06:22videos like my Kona review and the other EVs I've tested on the channel. Follow us on social

06:27at Tom's Guide. I'm John B. And I'll see you in my next video.

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