Is The 2023 Toyota bZ4X The Ultimate Driving Utensil? 2023 bZ4X Full Review

bZ4X = Busy Forks = utensil? Anyway, that's the way my brain works. Silly name aside, as long as you can get past the styling, Toyota's first "long range" EV stacks up better than most people give it credit for. It's not sexy, it's not a 300-mile EV, it's not the ultimate road trip car, but it's not trying to be either. If you want a solid EV backed by Toyota's reputation with decent ground clearance and solid (but not exciting) specifications, then this is the EV for you. For most shoppers? Yeah, you might want to shop elsewhere.

0:00 - Introduction
2:19 - It's not as bad as you heard
3:12 - Base models compared
4:49 - How big is it?
6:49 - Tons of safety tech
7:37 - Motors and battery
9:03 - Charging
10:22 - Big cargo area
12:13 - Seats
14:15 - Funky interior
20:28 - How does it drive?
26:12 - Pricing and comparisons

[dansanger]

Interesting. Most reviewers dismissed the BZ4X out of hand, but you gave it a fair shake.

[hisken]

Totally fair review. Since June, I am driving the Premium FWD model in Europe and more than happy with the qualities that it has. It is a true allrounder, for business and family use. I can definitely recommend this car.

[avdp]

Nice car, good bev. Nothing wrong with. 450km range, good, 10 years warranty battery, excellent.

[samatwesu]

Thank you for fair review. Many outlets say it sucks. With new $119 lease pricing. I took my wife out to see it in person and she loves it.

[Erigion]

Co-worker has one and I'm in it once or twice a week for lunch runs. It's perfectly fine as a car. There are some things I like about it more than my EV6, like the heated/ventilated seats can be controlled automatically by the climate system while in Auto mode. The brand-new Toyota/Lexus infotainment system is much better than the very long-in-the-tooth HMG software (though feature customization is pretty limited). I like the radiant leg warmers for the front row though that removes the glove box.

I do hate that the instrument panel and infotainment system look like they were designed by two different teams, which they probably were. it's also got much EV-specific data as in the EV6/Ioniq 5, which is not much.

He also reports efficiency almost as good as my EV6, while having a more usable cargo area and rear seat headroom and foot room. The useable battery is almost 20kwh smaller than in my car which makes the total range much smaller.

Obviously, the DCFC limitations make it basically unusable as a long road trip (400+mi) car except for the most patient of people.

[BTC]

Seems like Toyota should trade that panoroof for a power seat, ventilated seat, and ...

[oceanNmotoWoman]

Thanks for the time on a model a lot of people are discounting, it’s great to get all of the information so consumers can make an informed decision

[strongbutgentle]

I have to tell you, I got myself a BZ4X (white with black trim) and it looks fantastic. I get a lot of head rolls with Tesla drivers trying to figure out what it is. With the new software update that just came out I'm getting about 40 extra miles per charge (likely transferred from the other side of the empty dash marks) but it is a psychological edge. I'm also finding that it charges a lot faster now. There is also now a percentage meter under the remaining miles display to allow you to get a better read on how many miles you have before empty. All in all, being a Toyota guy that just came from a RAV4 Prime XSE, I'm very happy.

[chibbyylol]

Toyota's stop gap 'okay here's an EV so we don't get fined now shut up' attempt before the big guns come out once they get solid state batteries going

[mrgurulittle]

Fair video of this car finally. Kudos to ya!

[pcr]

Thank you for reviewing the base model.

[rightlanehog]

Alex, Toyota is so far ahead of the competition in the Hybrid sphere that it makes little sense to spend this much on a beginner's effort in the BEV space.🤨 The dubious exterior and wretched interior make me wonder if Toyota contracted out bZ4X design work to the firm of Holus and Bolus. 🤔

[goinwitdaflow]

I actually seen one of these a few weeks ago on the road, so there’s a least a few customers who seem to like this car…

That being said I think a RAV4 Prime SE (if one can their hands on one) is a better option if you consider the MRSP between them is only a-little over $1, 000 difference.

Great video as always though!

[tonyroe]

Have A Toyota. B Z 4X. Brilliant car. Look at all the rest before Buying one great Boot Space. A quick charge for over 530 kM best guaranteed Last Toyota I had for. Over 16 years brilliant car space age. Five of my Friends have bought one. We do a lot of mileage no complaints

[easternyellowjacket]

This is the best and most fair review I've seen on this car. Well done!

[BRKistler]

Here me out. They built it for Toyota. They built a low demand vehicle that would give their production teams experience in building them without the worry that there would be so much demand that they would disappoint customers with long waits and quality issues. Similar to the Crown being released to gain production experience and customer feedback on the new hybrid max driveline.

[DeepFriarShow]

I’ve had some hands on with a solterra and I honestly love it. It drives like a baby Rivian. ( I work for Rivian)

[arnegerhardsen]

Hello Alex, Thanks for all your honest and true car reniews. I don't know if you have the last updated model of Toyota bz4x for 2024 in your test in June 2023. Some of the updates will only come on new cars orderer for spring delivery. According to Toyota we have got the same battery-type on both the FWD and AWD models with sinificantly faster charging curve than earlier models both in summer and winter conditionjsj with max 150 Kw charging speed, and they also have significantly better efficiency and real life range on the new road tests with among others the Norwegian El-Car Assosiation which got a consumsion of 1, 3 Kw per 10 km which gave a range at aprox 500 km. This road test have no highway but a is the normal road test for the El-Car Assosiation with an average speed of 80 km/h, and was driven along with a Nissan Ariya e-4orce with some higher consumsion. In Norway we can pay extra to have 11 Kw charger at home, but in the new way to calculate the el-prices, we will get a higher price for the electricity based on the highest peaks and max total electric load we will have from the charging, and if possible its therefore better economy to charge at max 6 Kw or at 3-4 Kw that normally is enough if the battery isn't completly empty. There some people don't find a reason to pay extra for 11 Kw charging even then it's now possible. The bz4x also was the best car in two winter test by El-Car24 competing with some of the other best selling electric family cars at the Norwegian market. In the second half of 2023 and in January 2024 Toyota bz4x have been among the best selling cars in Norway. Best regards from Norway

[alwaysawn]

whenI look at the front it reminds me of a taller prius with the hammerhead headlights and the grill opening at the bottom and the way the hood comes to a sharp edge just above the bumper.

[tjs]

Something I've noticed in reviews, they talk about the onboard charger speed in kWh, but don't explain about the EVSE charging speeds which are usually marketed by AMPS. So for this example, the Toyota has a 6.6kWh on board charger-- what EVSE would it max out?

Breaker: 15amps, Output: 12amps, kWh: 2.8
Breaker: 20amps, Output: 16amps, kWh: 3.8
Breaker: 30amps, Output: 24amps, kWh: 5.7
Breaker: 40amps, Output: 32amps, kWh: 7.6
Breaker: 50amps, Output: 40amps, kWh: 9.6
Breaker: 60amps, Output: 48amps, kWh: 11.5
Breaker: 100amps, Output: 80amps, kWh: 19.2

So, a common 40amp circuit which is used by most EVSE installations would actually exceed the maximum draw of the Toyota. And honestly, how many people have enough overhead available in their breaker boxes to support additional 50, 60 or 100amp circuits?