Toyota bZ4X review: range, battery & charging
The Toyota bZ4X offers accurate, if a tad underwhelming range figures
|
Model |
Range |
Wallbox charge time |
Rapid charge time |
|
FWD |
271 miles |
12hrs 45mins (0-100%, 7.4kW) |
32mins (10-80%, 150kW) |
|
AWD |
255 |
12hrs 45mins (0-100%, 7.4kW) |
32mins (10-80%, 150kW) |
If you’re looking for a cross country cruiser in the form of an electric SUV, you’re not going to find it here. The Toyota bZ4X lags behind rivals when it comes to range, although its rapid charging ability is rather more competitive. All cars come with a heat pump to aid efficiency during the winter months, but as you’ll see, this isn’t all that effective.
Toyota bZ4X range
At launch, Toyota quoted the bZ4X a range of over 300 miles which put it in-line with rivals such as the Volkswagen ID.4 and Skoda Enyaq. Nowadays, however, the Japanese maker quotes a much more conservative figure of 271 miles for the front-wheel-drive car and 255 miles for the four-wheel-drive model, which is far behind the 331 miles promised by the Tesla Model Y.
What we will say, though, is that in the warmer months, these figures seem to be pretty accurate. During our time with the front-wheel drive bZ4X, we were easily able to achieve 3.7 miles per kWh in mixed motorway, country and town driving, resulting in a real-world range of just over 260 miles. The four-wheel drive model did just as well, returning around 240 miles on a charge,
The bZ4X’s standard-fit heat pump, on the other hand, seems to be as much use as an inflatable dartboard as we’ve seen much less impressive figures when the weather gets cold. During our time with the front-wheel drive car in the winter, bZ4X registered only 2.7 miles per kWh, which translates to a range of just under 200 miles.
Charge time
Making up for the bZ4X’s rather lacklustre range, all cars come as standard with the ability to charge at DC speeds of up to 150kW. Find yourself a compatible public charger and this will be able to top the car up from 10-80% in just over half-an-hour – enough time for you to pop to the facilities and feed your insatiable caffeine addiction.
Most of the time, however, you’ll likely be plugging the bZ4X into a standard 7.4kW home wallbox, which will provide a full charge in just under 13 hours. In a pinch you can use a standard three-pin plug, but this will take considerably longer.
