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By Jonathan Crouch

Toyota's first EV, the bZ4x mid-sized SUV, is a strong contender. Jonathan Crouch drives it.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 52

To date, Toyota has sold over 70 million electrified vehicles, but they've virtually all been hybrids. This bZ4X mid-sized SUV was the brand's first purpose-built EV. Since its engineering draws on over two decades of electrified automotive experience, you'd expect it to be a very complete product indeed. You shouldn't be disappointed.

Backgroundword count: 150

What kind of purpose-built EV might the world's biggest car maker bring us? Here's the answer - the bZ4X. Silly name perhaps, but this car has a very serious remit. At launch, it was Toyota's first all-new Battery Electric Vehicle. The less-than-catchy name references the size of car ('4' designates the brand's mid-sized models) - and the vehicle type (in this case 'X' for Crossover/SUV). We certainly waited long enough for this contender. Given that Toyota's been making electrified vehicles for over a quarter of a century and experimented with a full-electric concept version of the RAV4 as long ago as 1997, it was surprising that this bZ4X took so long to arrive. It didn't actually go on sale here until the end of 2022, the launch delayed by a detaching wheel hub scandal that the brand took months to fix. A Touring estate version was announced in Spring 2025.

Driving Experienceword count: 298

There are various powertrains available. For the SUV body shape, things kick off with an entry-level front-driven variant, which has a single motor with 201hp and which gets to 62mph in 8.4s. This variant now uses a 73.1kWh battery pack and offers up to 318 miles of EV range. The SUV model Toyota wants to talk about though, is the dual motor derivative with the four-wheel-drive system the brand has developed with Subaru. That set-up is called X-MODE and is supposed to give the bZ4X what the brand calls 'class leading off roading driving capability'; which is presumably what Subaru felt they needed for their version of this car, the Solterra. Having motors driving each axle boosts the power output of the AWD version of this bZ4X, but not by as much as you'd think. Total output rises to 218hp, which takes seven tenths of a second off the 0-62mph sprint time. The Touring model has a slightly different powertrain set-up, with a choice of two variants using a slightly larger 74.4kWh battery pack. A 224hp single motor version will suit most. Or there's the option of a 381hp dual motor AWD model - the most powerful EV Toyota has yet offered. With either body shape, the dual motor versions have 'X-MODE' branded 'Snow/Dirt' or 'Deep Snow/Mud' drive settings that give this EV an unusual level of capability on the slippery stuff. Possibly a more useful selectable drive setting for all bZ4X models though, is that for 'Regeneration Boost', which slows your off-throttle progress by up to 0.15g, in the process harvesting more energy to recharge the battery as you drive. This Toyota needs that, given that its mileage range figures are hardly class-leading, but in terms of refinement and ride quality, it's up with the class leaders.

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