2024 Toyota bZ4X Limited

As we soldier on into a hybridized and electric vehicle future, many automakers are throwing in their chips to appease the fuel economy gods and public alike. Toyota is one of the latest manufacturers to pony up a bid with the bZ4X, which came out last year. If you have never heard of it, the Toyota bZ4X is an affordable EV hatchback that has everything you need, but one thing you don’t -- low range. 

The bZ4X starts at around $45,000 and has all the tech and safety features anyone could want, in addition to plenty of power and decent amount of space. However, I found that it’s range is annoyingly low, especially considering its price range. Also, in case you’re wondering, the bZ4X nameplate is an acronym. The bZ stands for “beyond Zero” emissions, the 4 refers to the car’s size (like RAV4), and the X stands for “compact crossover.” Regardless, the name still confuses me and is cumbersome to say out loud.

Interior

The bZ4X has a spacious interior that can easily fit five adults. The front seats are comfortable, power-adjustable, and covered in a SofTex trim. The rear seat area is airy and there’s no hump in the floor, making the middle seat useful. The passengers even have their own climate controls back there.

There is also a large 12.3-inch screen that takes up most of the dash board, as well as a digital gauge display, which looks sharp, but is hard to see. The steering wheel blocks the view of driver and cuts off more than half of the display, which makes it hard to see the speedometer. Imagine saying, “I’m sorry, officer. I didn’t know how fast I was going because I can’t see my speed. No, seriously.” That probably wouldn’t get you out of a ticket, but maybe Toyota hopes it will.

The bZ4X’s cargo space is ample as well, with its 28 cubic foot trunk area. Just don’t look for a frunk like in other EVs because there isn’t one. My tester was also equipped with a panoramic moonroof with a fixed pane for a greenhouse effect, but without the ability to open it. I’m not sure what the point of that is, but if you want to be extra eco-friendly, you can grow plants in the bZ4X. 

Powertrain and Range

The Toyota bZ4X has a standard front-wheel-drive, single-motor setup that produces 201 horsepower, which is on par with rivals like the Kia Niro EV and the Volkswagen ID.4. An all-wheel-drive version is available across all trim levels and produces 215 horsepower. My tester for the week was a top-trim Limited model with all-wheel-drive.

It produced perky acceleration off the line and pulled strong when passing other cars on the highway. The car’s steering also felt nicely weighted and direct, and the brake pedal feel was semi-linear, which took a little getting used to. 

The bZ4X does have regenerative braking as well, but it’s light compared to other EVs in the market. If you like one-pedal driving, the Toyota bZ4X is not for you. Otherwise, the car’s ride is compliant and supple over speed bumps, giving it a composed feel at every speed.

Now, as for the range, Toyota says the top-trim bZ4X can achieve up to 222 miles on a single charge, but that wasn’t the case in my real-world experience. I spent an hour charging the car up 100 percent from 60 percent on a “fast” charger, that wasn’t very fast (around 35 kWh). When completely topped up, the digital instrument panel read 202 miles, which is supposed to be the car’s true range, given that I was running the heated seats and steering wheel and climate control while driving. 

That range may sound like a lot, but I found that it quickly diminished when I would drive for even 10 minutes. As the miles slipped by, the range dropped quickly, leading me to plan out my trips and do the basic math to ensure I wouldn’t have to charge again in the next couple days. This range anxiety can be stressful if you don’t have access to a home charger, so I would suggest buying a hybrid if you can’t adequately charge this car at home or at work.

Technology

The Toyota bZ4X shines in the technology department, especially if you choose the highest trim level. My test car was fitted with a large touchscreen infotainment system connected to nine JBL speakers and outfitted with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. There were also four USB-C charging ports, a wireless charging dock, and a USB-A media port to juice up a variety of phones, in addition to heated and ventilated front seats.

My test car even came with a park assist features which helps in parallel parking and backing-in situations. Other extra features included heated rear seats and rear leg heater function.

Exterior 

 The Toyota bZ4X has a lot of the same design language as its stablemates, which includes a sleek front end with slim LED headlights and an air dam front bumper, since airflow to a radiator isn’t necessary. From the side, the bZ has a muscular look with bold, black fenders and a slightly elevated stance that makes it looks more like an SUV than a tiny grocery getter. That stance leads to an impressive 8.1 inches of ground clearance.

Additionally, its rear end has a sharp drop to it, which gives it a boxy look that’s accentuated by the slanted rear window. The angular LED tail lights complete the car’s sharp exterior appeal.

Safety

In terms of safety, the Toyota bZ4X is outfitted with all the safety features you could want, thanks to Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 suite. The Safety Sense roster of driver-assist features include adaptive cruise control, a lane-departure alert, a pre-collision warning with pedestrian detection, auto high beams, and a proactive driving assist.

Other safety features include eight airbags, a 360-degree camera, traffic-jam assist, and blind-spot detection. In real-word driving, most of the systems are passive, so they kick in when an accident could occur. However, I found that the adaptive cruise control function did a great job in keeping the distance from the car in front of me and the lane-assist kept the car in between the lines without any ping-pong action.

Summary

The 2024 Toyota bZ4X starts at around $37,000 for the lowest trim level and $41,800 for the limited trim. My tester, which was equipped with a few packages rang in at $53,883 including the destination charge. This price range is on par with the Volkswagen ID.4, but a little more than the Kia Niro EV.

But the question is: Is the Toyota bZ4X worth its price? When considering the technology and safety features, as well as the car’s overall comfort and driving dynamics, I would say yes. However, when taking the car’s range into account, which is lower than its competitors, I would advise to look elsewhere if 200 miles of real-world range doesn’t work for you. Otherwise, Toyota’s first attempt at an all-electric car is a mild success in my book.