We think we know what happened here. The team tasked with naming Toyota’s new electric car—its first production electric car, believe it or not—caved under the pressure. They procrastinated, played Solitaire, went online shopping...and then involuntarily blurted out the online captcha code staring them in the face at 5pm when the boss came in and demanded to hear the fruits of their day’s labor.
It’s the only explanation we can summon for the Toyota bZ4X. The forerunner to the ‘Toyota Click All The Boxes Showing Traffic Lights,’ possibly.
The car itself is right on the money, though. Little has changed from its preview concept: It’s a fully-electric SUV that’ll be sold in front- and all-wheel-drive guise. The former will mop up urban duties nicely—201hp, 264Nm, 0-100kph in 8.4sec, and the potential for 450km of range.
The latter has been co-developed with Subaru and has proper off-road gumption. An 80kW motor operates at each axle, and power shifts according to surface with snow, mud, and proper crawler modes. It boasts 214hp and 336Nm peaks while slicing the 0-100kph time to 7.7sec. Both versions top out at 160kph.
Wondering why it’s taken Toyota—the pioneer of electrification in mainstream cars thanks to several decades of hybrids—so long to make a pure EV? Well, it just wanted to bide its time and get things bang on.
“Toyota has brought to bear almost 25 years’ experience in high-capacity battery development to ensure that not only does the bZ4X offer peace of mind in terms of the distance it can cover, but also reassurance that this capability can be maintained year after year,” we’re told. The 71kWh battery will apparently suffer 10% of degradation in 10 years or around 241,400km of use. There’s 150kW fast-charging on offer, which can top you up to 80% in half an hour.
Naturally, there’s a whole heap of active safety tech, the steering is by wire rather than a physical connection, and the multimedia system is open to over-the-air updates.
Size wise, you’re looking at something roughly equivalent to Toyota’s own RAV4, only with shorter overhangs and a longer wheelbase for better handling and space. Rear cargo space is decent, too, at 452 liters with the back seats still in place. Strong for an EV. The looks are RAV4-esque as well, only with a whiff of “base level ’90s hatchback” to its rubberized details that we really quite dig.
But do you dig the bZ4X? Or have the Kona Electric, the e-2008, the MX-30, and their abundant rivals all stolen a march thanks to Toyota’s lateness to the part?
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
