BY BRIAN BYRNE
ALTHOUGH deservedly best known for developing effective petrol-hybrid powertrains, which have been rolled out in most of their passenger vehicle line-up, Toyota has nonetheless been working on alternatives.
The fuel cell Mirai is one, essentially powered by hydrogen and emissions free. But it’s still really in the pilot marketing stage, not least because in most places there’s not a supply network for the fuel.
Then there’s their sole dedicated battery electric model, the bz4x, which I have come to a little late. The bz4x has been worth my waiting for – if only because that gave me time to practice rolling out the extremely odd name more easily than it reads.
It’s a little smaller in all dimensions than the RAV4 SUV which would be its combustion engine equivalent. With a wheelbase similar to that in the larger Toyota Highlander promising — and giving — really good interior space for a C-segment crossover.
Parked outside my house it looked ... well, imposing. The style of the large wheels helped. A bird of prey look to the headlights. The sloping bonnet is shovel shaped, which sounds crude but looks good. Some impressive sculpting in the profile cleverly mixes curves and angularities.
A clean and coherent design at the back is exemplary.
Inside, the cab-forward design provides a deep dashboard space, which is used in the driver instrumentation to give an above-the-steering wheel view of essential information. The style means no need for a head-up display because the info is already very close to the eye-line of a driver doing what they should do: concentrate on the road ahead.
The centre infotainment screen is what we now expect from Toyota, with sensible graphics and menu management. There are standard and widescreen options depending on grade — needless to say my review car had the larger. My CarPlay preference for navigation Bluetoothed seamlessly. I do miss the rotary knob for radio volume control which Toyota seems to have abandoned in favour of pressing + or - buttons.
The bz4x did surprise me in a couple of ways. Having driven its Subaru twin earlier in the year, I was pleased to find a full-charge range of 418km when I picked up the car.
The Subaru’s predicted and actual range had been disappointingly less, possibly because the battery was feeding two motors in their AWD car. Toyota advertises the WLTP rating of 505km for the bx4x, but in my time with it the original 400-odd kilometres estimation proved to be close to real. It’s worth saying here that the WLTP system used in Europe is really not fit for purpose for electric vehicles, while the more restrictive US EPA rating is actually pretty close to real world.
The other surprise was the drive experience. This EV SUV has perhaps the best balance of any in its class that I’ve driven to date. The weight effect of the low battery, usually trumpeted as good for handling but in reality offering sometimes a lumbering feel, didn’t do that latter in the bz4x. It was a most pleasant and comfortable car in all the time I drove it.
Toyota may have come late to the full-BEV car business, but typically they used that extra time to get it pretty right. They have a number of other EVs promised in short order under the bz label, so I’m keeping an eye on them with anticipation.
