Toyota’s crossover EV the BZ4X boasts 500km range, excellent resale value, has futuristic style and a huge interior screen, likely due in Singapore in 2022

---

Tokyo, Japan – Japanese car giant Toyota has revealed details and photos of the full-production form of its first global EV, the BZ4X. 

Impressively, the production version cleaves close to the concept car presented in August this year, as reported on CarBuyer. 

There has been no official statement on when the BZ4X will come to Singapore, but given the car’s European market launch takes place next year, and Singapore’s EV rebates aren’t going anywhere, a 2022 debut for the BZ4X seems logical if the chip shortage doesn’t short circuit things.

The BZ4X is the first car of a new range of Toyotas. Like ‘GR’ for its sports models, ‘BZ’ (which stands for ‘beyond zero’) will denote Toyota’s electric cars, and it’s expected to produce seven BZ models in the next four years. 

• 

• 

Versions, range, performance

According to the modern EV playbook, the BZ4X will come in two flavours: A front-wheel drive model with less performance, and an all-wheel drive version with more performance. 

The 71.4kWh battery pack is probably sourced from longtime supplier Panasonic, and uses liquid cooling. Toyota claims 460km for the AWD model and 500km for the FWD on WLTP standards, which is what we should expect from modern EVs.

Toyota’s long experience in batteries and electrical power management pays off as it expects better-than-average battery life. Another Toyota hallmark? It’s producing its EVs with a view to helping owners preserve resale value. The company claims the BZ4X will retain 90 percent of original battery performance after 10 years/240,000km.While many carmakers give multi-year battery warranties, none have made as impressive a claim for long-term ownership.

The fastest charge is 150kW DC fast charging (via CCS2) which delivers 80 percent in half an hour, and standard AC charging is 6.6kW (charge time around 11 hours) or three-phase 11kW (less than seven hours). 

The FWD version has a single 201hp motor, while the AWD version has a motor on each axle, each with 107hp. There will be selectable modes for different conditions – snow/mud, deep snow/mud, and ‘Grip Control’ for slow off-road driving. 

Interestingly, the BZ4X will be the first production Toyota with a complete steer-by-wire system, with no mechanical connection between the wheels and steering wheel. It introduces what Toyota dubs ‘One Motion Grip’ where you can achieve full lock-to-lock steering with just 150-degrees of rotation, dispensing with the need to ‘hand-over-hand’ when turning. Toyota also says the cars 5.7-metre turning circle is ‘class leading’, though it does match the Harrier Hybrid’s turning circle. 

Design

The car’s design is recognisably Toyota – it looks like a C-HR crossed with a Yaris Cross, with electric vehicle cues thrown into the mix: A mostly closed off grille section, high-mounted lights that also extend into lightbars (see Mercedes-EQ EQA for example).

Being a Toyota, the company’s spindle-motif is implied (rather than loudly stated like on a Lexus) and the rest of the features are that of a modern crossover: contrast fenders, blacked out roof and lower body sections to present a streamlined appearance, coupe-inspired styling. 

Page 2 : Futuristic cockpit and huge interior screen

Pages: 1 2