Toyota bZ4X underwhelms

The Toyota bZ4X, a joint venture with Subaru, features a single electric motor with 201 total system horsepower. The XLE model comes with a six-speaker audio system and Qi wireless charging.

When you’re going into a brave new era of vehicles, asking your die-hard buyers what you should build is probably not the right move.

I’m not saying that's what Toyota did with its first mass-production all-electric vehicle, the bZ4X. I have no evidence to back up such a claim – and besides, in some ways it feels like they didn't ask anyone at all.

But at the exact same critical moment for EV adoption that sees Hyundai producing the world-beating IONIQ 5 (On the Road, May 2022) and corporate cousin Kia using the same platform to produce the stunning EV6 (On the Road, August 2022), why would Toyota choose to simply meet its – admittedly high – established standards?

The best I can come up with is a very cynical attitude on Toyota's part: "This will sell to people who will only buy Toyota products. That's enough. We really don't want to do more than that here, anyway."

Facts that are in evidence: Toyota's recently departed CEO, Akio Toyoda, has never been onboard with the EV revolution.

Hybrids? Absolutely. Let's face it, the Toyota Prius (On the Road, May 2020) put hybrids on the map, and the company has done an excellent job of spreading that technology through its lineup – right on up to its biggest SUVs.

Hydrogen? At times, it felt like "Akio Toyoda" must be Japanese for "Don Quixote." The company dumped billions into two generations of the Toyota Mirai (On the Road, February 2022), a fuel-cell vehicle that comes with its own real-life multiplayer game: find the working hydrogen station.

But EVs? It's taken Toyota 12 years to answer the Nissan Leaf (On the Road, November 2011), much less every EV that has come since – most of which have pushed the Leaf to very near the back of the pack.

The 2023 Toyota bZ4X is a joint venture with Subaru, which produces a mechanically identical version, the Solterra. It has a single electric motor, with 201 total system horsepower. Sixty mph from a standing start takes 7.1 seconds, which is competitive with the IONIQ5 and EV6 base models, which do it in 6.2.

But range is an issue, even if it doesn't appear so at first glance. The Environmental Protection Agency estimate for range on a single charge is 252 miles. That's solid. Toyota discourages charging to 100% on DC fast-chargers, and charging speed drops considerably after 80%, so a more realistic range figure is 202, which puts it nearly 50 miles shy of the Hyundai or Kia with 80% charge.

Inside, the instrumentation is in a pod above the steering wheel (which, no matter how the wheel is set, is never completely out of the way). I’ve been told the initial design had a yoke in place of the steering wheel. I can only imagine first-time EV buyers’ reaction to that.

Unlike every other EV, the bZ4X does not give you a percentage of charge remaining. Similar to a gasoline car, it shows you a gauge like a fuel tank and the number of estimated miles remaining. To get the battery percentage requires a smartphone app.

This car feels like Toyoda decided that the best way out of building EVs was to just build one that resisted being understood, much less loved, and then declare the failure of a noble experiment.

Our test vehicle was a bZ4X FWD XLE. Base price is $43,215 including destination, and to its credit, it does come well-equipped, with Toyota's comprehensive Safety Sense 3.0 active safety suite standard, as well as 18-inch alloy wheels, bi-LED projector headlights, rain-sensing wipers, six-speaker audio system with Qi wireless charging and panoramic fixed glass roof with power sunshade.

Our test vehicle also had some extra-cost options, including the Supersonic Red paint ($425), the XLE Weather Package with heated steering wheel and heated front seats ($500), carpeted floor mats and cargo mat ($269) and mud guard ($149). As-tested price: $44,558.

In January, Toyoda announced he was stepping down as CEO, effective April 1. In an interview with Financial Times, Toyoda said, "Because of my strong passion for cars, I am an old-fashioned person in regards to digitalization (sic), electric vehicles, and connected cars. I cannot go beyond being a car guy, and that is my limitation."

As if somehow, they were mutually exclusive. They’re not.

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