Keep up the great work with the fine details on heat pumps etc. I feel like this is definitely important to a lot of people. It's not something anyone ever had to think about with ICE vehicles. Maine gets cold. I need my heat pumps!
Though Brian needs to stop frowning as Alex talks. No nodding, either, as those actions attract the eye. It helps when one takes the lead (Alex here), and the other only contributes answers to questions. I do really like Brian's sensible contributions and find him an asset to the videos (and he's cute, too!)
Didn't like the design when I first saw it.. but its growing on me. stil dont love the dash cluster design. But it seems that the stats on this car are better than we thought... and under the hood looks pretty easy to service if needed. 150KW is plenty fast for DC charging... but we will need to see what the charging curve is... that's more important than the actual peak number,.
I hope it sells well. I hope it's a top seller. Not because I think it's great. But it helps EV adoption. Toyota is the biggest car company in the world.
They are the biggest car company, which is why it is so shocking that they would release a vehicle that pales in comparison to every other car in the class. I have no clue why anyone would buy this over the Hyundai/Kia twins, the Mach E, the ID.4 (which I hate), the XC40 Recharge.... I could keep going, naming every other EV and they all are better than this.
I appreciate your car reviews and in fact when I wanted to dip my toes in the EV experience I liked your review of the Chevy Spark EV I bought a 2016 model and love it. I was curious how much Toyota vs Subaru went into these new models and was surprised it's mostly Toyota. It seems like if your needing more AWD capability the Solterra might be the better choice but knowing Subaru did the software for both AWD models may make the decision between to 2 down to price and standard features. For myself and 95+% of my vehicle needs the bZ4X and Solterra make a good replacement for our Subaru Outback. It will all come down to $$$ and availability but at this point these 2 EVs are at the top of my list but I am waiting to see what the Chevy Equinox brings to the party and if it will offer AWD. Great review and great info looking forward to the full review(s).
I like the practical choices in the bZ4X, like how the 12 volt battery is easily accessible/serviceable, unlike in the Mach-E. The comparison chart was very helpful for comparing different models. Does anyone know if the bZ4X will support bidirectional charging so the car's battery can power your home in case of a power outage?
This is not currently a built in option. Although, if you look up this type of services using a Prius, you'll see how its a possibility to power a few items in your home. Currently I have an inverter setup in my garage which can connect directly to the 12 volt battery in the car and then a plug goes from the inverter to my Furnace and a Fridge and will power both for MANY hours.
Really good, honest review with the numbers to match, unlike so many other reviewers who clearly hate Toyota. Thanks for your honesty. Congratulations Toyota on the he best all rounded BEV so far.
You can use the brake hold function after you stop to keep it from creeping. I wish the Rav4 Prime had a stronger regen mode like the BZ4X. I have to use the sport mode to increase regen or force it to downshift.
I've been driving a Tesla with one pedal driving for 1 year now. It took some getting used to, but now it's my favorite way to drive. And when I borrow a gas car the creep feels like a flaw and not a feature.
I sat in the Solterra at an auto show recently and I don’t think they succeeded at the “open and spacious” interior. The seats felt narrow because of the super wide (piano black!) center console. I don’t get it, it’s unnecessary for an EV with no transmission tunnel. Just use a column shift and give that space back to the passengers.
Consumers are too dumb for column shifters. They see it as old fashioned like grandpa's Buick. Confusing shift buttons and motorized levers are the future!
@@patricklinkous nailed it! EV shifters can be literally anything since its all digital anyway. So what do autmakers do? make literally the worst shifter "thing" they can think of.
Lots of dumb packaging in modern vehicles. The 3rd gen Prius was peak packaging (except the cupholders), ever since Toyota has been wasting tons of storage and the auto journalists praise then for "premium dash materials" and other stupid stuff you don't notice 10 seconds after you drive off the lot.
@@Anthony-ys4lp Technically all cars are electronic shifting anyhow, except for manual transmissions. We've had push button transmission controls before, and buses had them in the 90s. Heck even big rigs "manual" transmissions are electrically shifted, with an actual clutch.
Alex thanks for a real review based on facts and logic. You can tell theres comments that didn't even watch the video. It's the best equipped car at it's price and people are telling you it's over priced.
It is overpriced. Other evs that are similarly priced offer more. They did phone it in. The reason he thinks it’s not phoned in is because he’s afraid to piss off Toyota since he’s not talking about how mediocre the ev really is
Best equipped car at its price? 🤣 Name another car that you need to pay 60K to get powered driver seat and even then no powered passenger seat?? Toyota is stealing money 💰 like no other manufacturer
@@kizo172 The market decides what they’re willing to pay for a product. Toyota is the number manufacturer right now, so the market has overwhelmingly decided that it’s an acceptable price.
Thanks for the video, very informative. Hope to test drive it someday. I wonder if there is a trailer hitch available, I will need to install a bike rack.
I’m addicted to my Toyota Sienna Hybrid that get 36 mpg and 600 miles plus range. EVs have the weirdest disposable appliance look. Toyota gas and hybrid vehicles last for decades without having spending too much on maintenance and repair free owners from making payments for decades.
Great review guys! Thanks :-) I'd love to see battery pack size (or what's available to the car) and some sense of efficiency data. I'm guessing you'll do that at some point in some vehicle review.
good review. covering battery type, motors, regen method, range, ground clearance, comparison, (turning circle?). glad to see toyota does engineering for ev's too.
If I buy an EV this year, I'm seriously looking at this one (if they are available). The Tesla 3 and Y do nothing for me. I test drove both and it's just not me or my style. The ID4 was fine on the test drive but I didn't feel compelled to buy it. I had zeroed in on the Mach E but sounds like it will take awhile to get those so this seems like the best option. I may check out the Ioniq 5 or EV6 just to see what they offer but I'm leaning towards Toyota right now.
I was very much on team “Toyota phoned it in” before some of the reviews I saw today. After seeing all this I think that the FWD Limited BZ4X has comfortably put itself at the top of my list for options to replace my 2017 Bolt EV. Hopefully unlike the Ioniq and EV6 it isn’t complete unobtainium
I'm betting it will be even harder to find than Hyundai and Kia options. Toyota has minimal interest in selling any more EVs than it is forced to by market forces and fuel economy standards.
I'm getting "electric crossover Prius" vibes. Not impressive in any one area, but highly functional for daily use at a competitive price. I'm hoping the Lexus version will be more of a technology showcase.
They could have called it the Rav4 EV and nobody would have batted an eye, but Toyota's ambitions for their BEV lineup clearly extends further than that. Not that it would cull the detractors who claim Toyota can't engineer an EV of course. Nothing about this car seems to break any new ground, but the fact Toyota is offering a 90% capacity guarantee for 10 years is unheard of in the industry at this time. This is why people will buy Toyota - they do stand behind their products and have excellent reliability track record. Also, their history with hybrids & HV components is not new. This car will sell and the lineup would be just as long as the Rav4 Prime.
The 90% capacity is all a faux claim. It’s not real. Like come on. You don’t see that advertisement for phones or tablets which are already expensive enough
These EV's are pushing the average car prices beyond the $45k mark . So in real world there won't be any savings for shoppers in the $28 to $35 k price segments .
Alex and Brian, Obviously, it is pretty massive news when the world's largest auto brand launches their first mainstream EV. Interestingly, Toyota just registered a patent for a 'manual shifter' for an electric vehicle. Will this option be available on the bZ4X? BTW whose musical tastes are reflected at 9:06 ?
Being very late to the game, Toyota (and Subaru) have a lot to prove with these vehicles. There's no doubt that the quality will be there though. And honestly, zero to sixty in 6 seconds is faster than about 90% of all cars on the road today. Probably closer to 95%.
What exactly do they need to prove? Better build quality than a Tesla which they've been doing forever and Toyota is king in electrification of cars with hybrid and hydrogen tech. All that's missing in this car is the hydrogen or ICE aspect of your average Toyota hybrid but motor and battery has been upsized.
It’s basically a “fair” EV, but late and really great. Not much impact on the industry either; last I heard at least, they’re only planning to make around 20K of them per year for the entire US market.
@@CACressida lol king of electrification? The last company to bring an EV to market is the king of electrification? Toyota must have hired Mary Barra for marketing.
@Zero no, it has a goal of 90% retained after 10 years. Not only are the cars brand new but Toyota has already said they are not going to warranty the battery to 90% for 10 years.
At 23:30 in the video, you have the EV6 (Which I own) as having 232/274 range for FWD/AWD when it is actually 310/274 range. The light version will be very scarce and should not be included. Also Heatpump is standard in AWD and not available in RWD models. It isn't an option. Great video otherwise! Excited to see the Toyota on the road.
Yeah, though arguably AWD and the heat pump are optional. His chart didn't have space for more than two variants, so the EV6 standard AWD got omitted, which I guess wasn't too serious, as the Hyundai was included. Those two, with their much faster charge times, are still the class of the field. I do wish they had made the heat pump optional on the FWD models, for those of us who live in milder climates, but would still like the greater efficiency of a heat pump.
• No ability to power 120V electronics or appliances • No battery percentage meter • Slow level 3 charging • No OTA updates They should've called this car "Swing and a Miss from Toyota."
You can count on Alex to overlook the “journalists shitting on the BZ4X” hype and actually properly review the car. Only this channel and Motormouth will give you the actual facts instead of going for the easy click bait.
I think I would take an ID.4 over the bZ4X, but I think Toyota people would absolutely choose this over any other option. It’s the most no-frills and least daring option that feels like the safe choice. I’d take the Korean cars over the Toyota or VW though
I came over from Honda. I put in a deposit for both id4 and bzx4. The one thing i dont like on the id4 are the crazy touch buttons rather than the physical buttons. No glove box on bz4x!. Now that is new
@@rkovvur the ID.4 doesn’t even have dashboard controls that light up at night. Like the climate control red/blue slider doesn’t even light up. And the rear window controls requires a touch button. The controls are by far the worst part about that car.
Many vehicle designers forget how to integrate the front plate to the vehicle. It would seem on this vehicle, it would look like the front plate would disrupt the front.
I can remember the name by sayin' "Breezy 4x" . . . weird, but it works for me. I am liking the 'two man' reviews . . . Ryan comes up with different points of view but the specifics for information that Alex has always brought is the same. Hmmm the profile is certainly RAV4ish, lower with a longer tail . . . looks good. I have issues with the looks of the RAV4 . . . it is not attractive to me. Heat Pumps are a must for an EV . . . for so long the sales are primarily Cali-AR, some up her in WA and OR and seeming sporadic elsewhere. If they want to sell more EVs in the northern areas and the middle of the country, they'd better put those heat pumps in a base levels. Toyota is playing it right there.
Alex - your timeline on one pedal driving is off - Tesla actually didn’t have it as a feature until quite recently. The cars prior to the November 2019 actually would just roll at slow speeds - freely, like a clutch was depressed on a manual if you didn’t have creep on. As a former manual driver I prefer my pedals to operate just one system - and prefer to have all regen available on the accelerator if desired. I’ve never driven a blended system that is predictable in low traction situations commonly encountered in the Midwest - they all tend to dump inelegantly to grabby friction brakes as soon as traction control kicks in.
I saw a video recently on why Toyota chose to not do a Full Break with the one-pedal driving. They wanted the extra safety feature of forcing you to put your foot on the break.
Meh. My Rav4 Prime is a far more useful vehicle. After 1 year I'm averaging 73.4 mpge and in-town is almost 100% electric. I get better acceleration, no range anxiety and my vehicle is cheaper. True you get 1 year of electricity free - that IS nice but thereafter? Where I live the average supercharger outlet runs between 42c and 52c per kwHr. This makes the BZ4X a liability on cross-country driving. So it doesn't beat the Rav4 Prime in out-of-town driving and in my experience, living in Phoenix, Arizona, it doesn't beat the the Rav4 Prime in city driving. This vehicle is totally underwhelming. In four, maybe five years, the problems with batteries (range, charge time and cost) will be resolved and we'll all buy electric, but this vehicle? I don't think so.
Would definitely go for the Ariya over the bz4x all or front wheel drive. Not deep in the snow belt so front wheel drive is better, cheaper, less complicated then all wheel drive, more epa ev miles. Ariya front drive gives over 50 more miles over the Toyota front drive, not sure why Toyota would bring out to market all wheel drive with such a low epa number….but it’s Toyota and they really don’t care if you don’t buy it. They prefer selling gasoline hybrids…
It's a case of form over function. Toyota must have believed that they must make the instrument cluster look weird since EVs are "futuristic alien technology" and everyone else's EV looks "concept car". I bet it was a design by committee decision from sales and management put against engineering decisions.
What happened to the “solar roof” or is it still there just not talked about? I heard the roof had solar panels and could trickle charge the battery when it sat out on a sunny day?
I find it odd how many of the auto makers have what is basically a large air dam flat from bumper and grill. I am sure they could redesign the front end to be much more aerodynamic which would improve highway range.
As usual, excellent info! Thanks. There’s a lot of mediocrity here: Decent-but-not-great range, fair-but-not-great performance, mediocre charging rate. More importantly though, I doubt if they’ll make more than 10-20K of them per year. Not exactly a huge splash.
Not that it's a bad thing, but that's kind of what Toyota is all about. Making mediocre transportation that lasts a very long time. Nobody ever really buys a Camry or Corolla because they want something that performs better than the competition. They're affordable and reliable.
@@TheAdventureAuto, I’d say that’s a reasonable assessment, yes. I drive a Prius Prime because I’m a 61-year-old Electrical/Computer Engineer, and thus more fascinated with efficiency than acceleration.
@@mr88cet I'm not an engineer but fascinated with both performance and efficiency. I use my EV to hypermile at times and can get my efficiency to about 175wh/mi which is fun. When I'm not driving the EV I have an ebike and electric scooter to commute on. Electric transportation is just more fun in my opinion. I commuted on an ebike 13 years ago but didn't know much about battery tech back then so the battery didn't last long. Now it's much different.
The fact that Toyota has a pure EV is a game changer. Take Toyota reliability and dependability and add it to an EV. Having owned an i3, I know EV’s are already reliable, but this adds a whole new player to the game. Toyota never releases anything new unless they KNOW it’ll last and operate for a while.
You should try to do a direct comparison between this and the ID.4 as they seem to be the most similar competition. Personally I’d get the ID.4, more range, faster charging on AWD, a bit cheaper, 11kW level 2 charging vs 6.6kW on the BZ4X which is odd. I also like how the ID.4 looks better.
Odd choice with your motor graphic at 3:35. It depicts an internal combustion engine [ICE] cross section with pistons. Old habits die hard...apparently. More ho-hum is the range; needs 300-mile range to get attention now.
BZ4x and Solterra are really growing on me. But I have a thing for fog lights and I don’t see any on the BZ4x 🙂 but otherwise, I rather like the hammerhead shark front fascia. I hope Solterra has some options for interior colour though 🤔
hmm since they are basically the same vehicle I guess if you want either of these it’ll just come down to preference of brand. Both make long lasting quality vehicles.
I love the look of it! (Maybe some reservations about the black-cladding fender trim .) Always disappointed that manufacturers "cheap out" on passenger comfort auto-adjust seats -- do we not care about our passengers? Spouse, child, significant other?? This is a good first effort, but I wish it had "one pedal driving" more like my Model 3 rather than regen braking. Here in Texas, a 300 mile range would be appreciated. I'm looking forward to that new Lexus EV.
All these new options are great for consumers. Last week be bought a 2022 Nissan Leaf sv plus as our second around town car. After WA state incentives, federal tax credits and registration, cost was $32 K. Our road trip car is a 2014 Subaru Legacy. Had to shop hard to get MSRP. The leaf was half the price of a Tesla Y, with normal door handles, normal metal roof and surround view camera. I live in the cool Seattle area, so battery longevity doesn’t bother me too much. Sorry, I hate all glass roofs that have no cover. I never use the sunroof on my Legacy either. After a google search I found only one Leaf fire in 2015. The Leaf is not new or sexy, but tried and true with known limitation.
If you know the charging limitations and can live with that, the Leaf drives great and has amazingly smooth one-pedal driving. I can apply a very light touch to braking, but struggle to come to a stop as gracefully as my Leaf on e-pedal.
I got the 2022 SV as around town/go to work car. 21K after federal and Oregon state credits, this car is a great value and fun to drive, ePedal is the best. We also have a 2022 Kia Niro EV for longer trips and a 2007 Suzuki Grand Vitara just in case...
@@reuveng1960 I bought in 2018 after watching tons of RUclips videos so I knew all about “Rapidgate” and the lack of thermal management. I live in FL and it hasn’t been an issue, but I also don’t road trip the car long distances. I’ll drive up to 60 miles away without worrying about charging to get home. The farthest it’s gone has been a couple of 150 to 160 mile day trips with Level 2 charging while I was parked. My other car is a turbo CR-V that gets 36 to 37 mpg on interstate trips and nearly 40 mpg staying on back roads in Florida.
@@reuveng1960 thanks. You help make my point. The car we traded to get the leaf was a 22 year old Subaru. Since we keep cars a long time we got the leaf plus battery.
And the dealer network... Every small town has a Toyota dealer. Tesla is great, but not everyone lives close to a service center. For some ppl this will be a decision factor.
@@naarealy But like most other manufacturer's, not all dealership are able to service pure EVs. Chevy and Hyundai both have limited dealers that can service their EVs.
@@naarealy It will change, but I would not expect it to be quick. Chevy has produced the Bolt since 2017, and they still have not come close to converting their entire dealer network to be EV serviceable. The cost to install chargers, as well as forklifts capable to moving batteries around is not small, and many smaller market dealers have baulked at the cost and refused to get EV certified.
@@IBIScnc I think electric trucks will be the tipping point. A rural dealer doesn't have much incentive to spend on infrastructure upgrades to support a smallish city car like a Bolt. But when commercial customers start purchasing trucks, that will change.
I think it's a competitive car. Most people charge at home 99% of the time. So this 100kw will not be a big deal breaker. I love that it has standard heat pump. Works for us Chicagoans. I guess as with anything else now, they are not going to be able to make enough of them. Btw, this or the Solterra?
I wonder why they have two slightly different sized packs made by two different manufacturers and with different charging rates. I’m guessing it is to do with the Subaru tie up where they both can sell the AWD version but Toyota went away to make a more value proposition exclusively for themselves and thus they can work with their Panasonic team (where I suspect Subaru do not have a working relationship with Panasonic). Maybe? Or maybe it’s just down to supply chain constraints?
I'm disappointed that Toyota took away two tech options, that the Solterra appears to have, ONE, the Advanced Parking option/button is missing next to the Birds Eye view button, I'm sad about this because it was a great feature in my Prius Prime! TWO, the Display rearview mirror, found in the RAV4 Prime XSE (and RAV4 higher trims) AND the Solterra. Was looking forward this feature!
added note: these TECH items are Toyota tech, yet the Subaru Solterra has it! odd!... although, more i think about it, I think Toyota did this on purpose, so they can add them as feature updates to future year/versions of the car. sad to tease us and then take them away though! ha ha.
Get one with Panasonic Batteries. Batteries are engines for EVs. It's Chinese Engine Vs. Made in Japan Engine. . It will last lot longer and highly reliable. The power behind Tesla' is Panasonic.
The Mach E AWD's base price is wrong, sorry about that. We kept fixing it and somehow it kept coming back. The base AWD Mach E for 2022 is $46,595.
How does the Bz4x compare to the Nissan Ariya?
Odd question but I love your shirt.. who makes it .. shirt manufacturer not badging company.
I love the comparison chart, it's incredibly useful for me as a shopper! Please continue doing them when time allows!
Alex is a master at comparing cars and charts you don't get from others
Toyota will sell all they can make. Of course in today's sales environment, that's true of almost anything that can be built. It's a nice vehicle.
Pricing is insane. You can't get them at dealers anyway. Japan is experiencing horrible supplier and chip issues.
Yeah, all twelve of them.
Keep up the great work with the fine details on heat pumps etc. I feel like this is definitely important to a lot of people. It's not something anyone ever had to think about with ICE vehicles. Maine gets cold. I need my heat pumps!
Saw like 6 reviews, so far I'm liking yours the best. Very straight forward spec explanation and real world demo.
Good to see you two getting better at the back & forth talk...not so much talking over each other this time...keep it up
Though Brian needs to stop frowning as Alex talks. No nodding, either, as those actions attract the eye. It helps when one takes the lead (Alex here), and the other only contributes answers to questions. I do really like Brian's sensible contributions and find him an asset to the videos (and he's cute, too!)
@@markmiller3279 now if someone could talk to Alex about tucking in his shirts.. we'd be Golden ;)
don't forgot about the glare coming from the glossy paneling that hits you on a bright sunny day.
Great video, Alex-thanks for your thoughtfulness in analyzing the bZ4X against the competition!
Didn't like the design when I first saw it.. but its growing on me. stil dont love the dash cluster design.
But it seems that the stats on this car are better than we thought... and under the hood looks pretty easy to service if needed. 150KW is plenty fast for DC charging... but we will need to see what the charging curve is... that's more important than the actual peak number,.
Great review! It will be interesting to see what dealer markups will be.
Dealer markup? Walk away folks!
Finally EVs are getting ground clearance for snow. Minnesotans rejoice!
I hope it sells well. I hope it's a top seller. Not because I think it's great. But it helps EV adoption. Toyota is the biggest car company in the world.
They are the biggest car company, which is why it is so shocking that they would release a vehicle that pales in comparison to every other car in the class. I have no clue why anyone would buy this over the Hyundai/Kia twins, the Mach E, the ID.4 (which I hate), the XC40 Recharge.... I could keep going, naming every other EV and they all are better than this.
@@treads2595 Reliability
@Zero How can you say that? The car hasn’t even been released yet.
I appreciate your car reviews and in fact when I wanted to dip my toes in the EV experience I liked your review of the Chevy Spark EV I bought a 2016 model and love it. I was curious how much Toyota vs Subaru went into these new models and was surprised it's mostly Toyota. It seems like if your needing more AWD capability the Solterra might be the better choice but knowing Subaru did the software for both AWD models may make the decision between to 2 down to price and standard features. For myself and 95+% of my vehicle needs the bZ4X and Solterra make a good replacement for our Subaru Outback. It will all come down to $$$ and availability but at this point these 2 EVs are at the top of my list but I am waiting to see what the Chevy Equinox brings to the party and if it will offer AWD. Great review and great info looking forward to the full review(s).
I like the practical choices in the bZ4X, like how the 12 volt battery is easily accessible/serviceable, unlike in the Mach-E. The comparison chart was very helpful for comparing different models. Does anyone know if the bZ4X will support bidirectional charging so the car's battery can power your home in case of a power outage?
This is not currently a built in option. Although, if you look up this type of services using a Prius, you'll see how its a possibility to power a few items in your home. Currently I have an inverter setup in my garage which can connect directly to the 12 volt battery in the car and then a plug goes from the inverter to my Furnace and a Fridge and will power both for MANY hours.
Really good, honest review with the numbers to match, unlike so many other reviewers who clearly hate Toyota. Thanks for your honesty. Congratulations Toyota on the he best all rounded BEV so far.
You can use the brake hold function after you stop to keep it from creeping. I wish the Rav4 Prime had a stronger regen mode like the BZ4X. I have to use the sport mode to increase regen or force it to downshift.
I've been driving a Tesla with one pedal driving for 1 year now. It took some getting used to, but now it's my favorite way to drive. And when I borrow a gas car the creep feels like a flaw and not a feature.
I sat in the Solterra at an auto show recently and I don’t think they succeeded at the “open and spacious” interior. The seats felt narrow because of the super wide (piano black!) center console.
I don’t get it, it’s unnecessary for an EV with no transmission tunnel. Just use a column shift and give that space back to the passengers.
Consumers are too dumb for column shifters. They see it as old fashioned like grandpa's Buick. Confusing shift buttons and motorized levers are the future!
@@patricklinkous nailed it! EV shifters can be literally anything since its all digital anyway. So what do autmakers do? make literally the worst shifter "thing" they can think of.
Couldn't agree more- same experience at the Chicago Auto Show. Plus lower range and slower charging than direct competitors.
Lots of dumb packaging in modern vehicles. The 3rd gen Prius was peak packaging (except the cupholders), ever since Toyota has been wasting tons of storage and the auto journalists praise then for "premium dash materials" and other stupid stuff you don't notice 10 seconds after you drive off the lot.
@@Anthony-ys4lp Technically all cars are electronic shifting anyhow, except for manual transmissions. We've had push button transmission controls before, and buses had them in the 90s. Heck even big rigs "manual" transmissions are electrically shifted, with an actual clutch.
Alex runs on a lithium ion as well...that never seems to run down! Thanks, Alex, for another great review!
Alex thanks for a real review based on facts and logic. You can tell theres comments that didn't even watch the video. It's the best equipped car at it's price and people are telling you it's over priced.
It is overpriced. Other evs that are similarly priced offer more. They did phone it in. The reason he thinks it’s not phoned in is because he’s afraid to piss off Toyota since he’s not talking about how mediocre the ev really is
@@naveenthemachine cringe
Best equipped car at its price? 🤣 Name another car that you need to pay 60K to get powered driver seat and even then no powered passenger seat?? Toyota is stealing money 💰 like no other manufacturer
@@kizo172 The market decides what they’re willing to pay for a product. Toyota is the number manufacturer right now, so the market has overwhelmingly decided that it’s an acceptable price.
@@moloono1 McDonald's is number one restaurant too lol marketing doesnt have anything to do with price and quality
If you’re in sunny states where cold weather isn’t a thing, the heat pump is not a big deal and I’d rather go with the Ioniq5
Reminds me of the Rav4 which is strangely the #1 selling SUV in the world.
I think it looks more like a Venza, with the front end and the rear-end has the sloped window more like the Venza.
Thanks for the video, very informative. Hope to test drive it someday. I wonder if there is a trailer hitch available, I will need to install a bike rack.
Looks like a really appealing car, to me, except for the limited front headroom/windshield height. Thanks for another excellent, and balanced, review.
I won’t Jump into the fully electronic bandwagon until they have at least a range of 400 miles and go down in price.
I’m addicted to my Toyota Sienna Hybrid that get 36 mpg and 600 miles plus range. EVs have the weirdest disposable appliance look.
Toyota gas and hybrid vehicles last for decades without having spending too much on maintenance and repair free owners from making payments for decades.
Great review guys! Thanks :-) I'd love to see battery pack size (or what's available to the car) and some sense of efficiency data. I'm guessing you'll do that at some point in some vehicle review.
im pretty sure I have seen a couple of these around recently , this month . I saw the side profile as it drove by, it was eye catching .
Thanks for the video. Did the referenced "Full Review" every come out? I can't find it when I search RUclips, but maybe I just missed it.
good review. covering battery type, motors, regen method, range, ground clearance, comparison, (turning circle?). glad to see toyota does engineering for ev's too.
If I buy an EV this year, I'm seriously looking at this one (if they are available). The Tesla 3 and Y do nothing for me. I test drove both and it's just not me or my style. The ID4 was fine on the test drive but I didn't feel compelled to buy it. I had zeroed in on the Mach E but sounds like it will take awhile to get those so this seems like the best option. I may check out the Ioniq 5 or EV6 just to see what they offer but I'm leaning towards Toyota right now.
Great review, thank you! The ID.4 in Canada comes standard with a heat pump making it a pretty good deal
I think the ID.4 is better overall, more range, power and shorter charging time
@@OmarAmroussy how much is it ya Omar?
@@heshamos the fully loaded AWD ID4 is around 58k in Canada, 4 to 5k less.. both qualify for the rebates
@@OmarAmroussy great car but can't get one
@@forestshi yeah, they stopped taking reservations unfortunately
I was very much on team “Toyota phoned it in” before some of the reviews I saw today. After seeing all this I think that the FWD Limited BZ4X has comfortably put itself at the top of my list for options to replace my 2017 Bolt EV. Hopefully unlike the Ioniq and EV6 it isn’t complete unobtainium
I'm betting it will be even harder to find than Hyundai and Kia options. Toyota has minimal interest in selling any more EVs than it is forced to by market forces and fuel economy standards.
If you think they didn’t phone it in you need to look at all other evs 😂
From what I've heard in Ontario and Quebec the waiting list is already 2 years 🤪
@@naveenthemachine trolling again?
@@naveenthemachine Alex knows what he is talking about
I'm getting "electric crossover Prius" vibes. Not impressive in any one area, but highly functional for daily use at a competitive price. I'm hoping the Lexus version will be more of a technology showcase.
Yes I'm Siskel..Yes I'm Ebert and your getting two thumbs up...
They could have called it the Rav4 EV and nobody would have batted an eye, but Toyota's ambitions for their BEV lineup clearly extends further than that. Not that it would cull the detractors who claim Toyota can't engineer an EV of course.
Nothing about this car seems to break any new ground, but the fact Toyota is offering a 90% capacity guarantee for 10 years is unheard of in the industry at this time. This is why people will buy Toyota - they do stand behind their products and have excellent reliability track record. Also, their history with hybrids & HV components is not new.
This car will sell and the lineup would be just as long as the Rav4 Prime.
The 90% capacity is all a faux claim. It’s not real. Like come on. You don’t see that advertisement for phones or tablets which are already expensive enough
I caught bZ4X one time. I was sick for a week! 🤒
These EV's are pushing the average car prices beyond the $45k mark . So in real world there won't be any savings for shoppers in the $28 to $35 k price segments .
Not just EVs. But high-end “crossovers” and pickups in general.
Alex and Brian, Obviously, it is pretty massive news when the world's largest auto brand launches their first mainstream EV. Interestingly, Toyota just registered a patent for a 'manual shifter' for an electric vehicle. Will this option be available on the bZ4X? BTW whose musical tastes are reflected at 9:06 ?
Being very late to the game, Toyota (and Subaru) have a lot to prove with these vehicles. There's no doubt that the quality will be there though. And honestly, zero to sixty in 6 seconds is faster than about 90% of all cars on the road today. Probably closer to 95%.
What exactly do they need to prove? Better build quality than a Tesla which they've been doing forever and Toyota is king in electrification of cars with hybrid and hydrogen tech. All that's missing in this car is the hydrogen or ICE aspect of your average Toyota hybrid but motor and battery has been upsized.
It’s basically a “fair” EV, but late and really great. Not much impact on the industry either; last I heard at least, they’re only planning to make around 20K of them per year for the entire US market.
6.5 for the AWD. It's faster than 90% of ICE cars but slower than 90% of EVs.
@@CACressida lol king of electrification? The last company to bring an EV to market is the king of electrification? Toyota must have hired Mary Barra for marketing.
@Zero no, it has a goal of 90% retained after 10 years. Not only are the cars brand new but Toyota has already said they are not going to warranty the battery to 90% for 10 years.
At 23:30 in the video, you have the EV6 (Which I own) as having 232/274 range for FWD/AWD when it is actually 310/274 range. The light version will be very scarce and should not be included. Also Heatpump is standard in AWD and not available in RWD models. It isn't an option. Great video otherwise! Excited to see the Toyota on the road.
Yeah, though arguably AWD and the heat pump are optional. His chart didn't have space for more than two variants, so the EV6 standard AWD got omitted, which I guess wasn't too serious, as the Hyundai was included. Those two, with their much faster charge times, are still the class of the field. I do wish they had made the heat pump optional on the FWD models, for those of us who live in milder climates, but would still like the greater efficiency of a heat pump.
EV6 232 miles range is with the 58kWh battery.
• No ability to power 120V electronics or appliances
• No battery percentage meter
• Slow level 3 charging
• No OTA updates
They should've called this car "Swing and a Miss from Toyota."
See my original comment. You may also have been one of the many people who shut me down for saying the bz4x is a fail before anyones even driven it
Alex, my AWD XLE has heated seats and wheel. The limited gets you radiant heating and ventilated seats.
Get it in bright yellow and it will be the BeeZee 🐝X🐝X🐝X🐝X
I think the cat walked across the keyboard and thats how they got the name.
You can count on Alex to overlook the “journalists shitting on the BZ4X” hype and actually properly review the car. Only this channel and Motormouth will give you the actual facts instead of going for the easy click bait.
Seriously considering this now.
I think I would take an ID.4 over the bZ4X, but I think Toyota people would absolutely choose this over any other option. It’s the most no-frills and least daring option that feels like the safe choice. I’d take the Korean cars over the Toyota or VW though
I came over from Honda. I put in a deposit for both id4 and bzx4. The one thing i dont like on the id4 are the crazy touch buttons rather than the physical buttons. No glove box on bz4x!. Now that is new
@@rkovvur the ID.4 doesn’t even have dashboard controls that light up at night. Like the climate control red/blue slider doesn’t even light up. And the rear window controls requires a touch button. The controls are by far the worst part about that car.
Many vehicle designers forget how to integrate the front plate to the vehicle. It would seem on this vehicle, it would look like the front plate would disrupt the front.
Great review Alex. In your next review will you discuss child seat space in the back for grand parents of America? Thanks Alex!
I can remember the name by sayin' "Breezy 4x" . . . weird, but it works for me.
I am liking the 'two man' reviews . . . Ryan comes up with different points of view but the specifics for information that Alex has always brought is the same.
Hmmm the profile is certainly RAV4ish, lower with a longer tail . . . looks good. I have issues with the looks of the RAV4 . . . it is not attractive to me.
Heat Pumps are a must for an EV . . . for so long the sales are primarily Cali-AR, some up her in WA and OR and seeming sporadic elsewhere. If they want to sell more EVs in the northern areas and the middle of the country, they'd better put those heat pumps in a base levels. Toyota is playing it right there.
“busy forks”
You promised no bromance!
23:35 ground clearance 1st-bz4x 8.1", 6th-teslaY 5.5"
Alex - your timeline on one pedal driving is off - Tesla actually didn’t have it as a feature until quite recently. The cars prior to the November 2019 actually would just roll at slow speeds - freely, like a clutch was depressed on a manual if you didn’t have creep on. As a former manual driver I prefer my pedals to operate just one system - and prefer to have all regen available on the accelerator if desired. I’ve never driven a blended system that is predictable in low traction situations commonly encountered in the Midwest - they all tend to dump inelegantly to grabby friction brakes as soon as traction control kicks in.
Ut's a laudable no-nonsense EV
Why they didn’t offer the shade in the roof. They should know how hot it gets Texas considering they have corporate headquarters in Plano, TX
I saw a video recently on why Toyota chose to not do a Full Break with the one-pedal driving. They wanted the extra safety feature of forcing you to put your foot on the break.
Thanks Alex,I really like the radiant heat feature.
Meh. My Rav4 Prime is a far more useful vehicle. After 1 year I'm averaging 73.4 mpge and in-town is almost 100% electric. I get better acceleration, no range anxiety and my vehicle is cheaper. True you get 1 year of electricity free - that IS nice but thereafter? Where I live the average supercharger outlet runs between 42c and 52c per kwHr. This makes the BZ4X a liability on cross-country driving. So it doesn't beat the Rav4 Prime in out-of-town driving and in my experience, living in Phoenix, Arizona, it doesn't beat the the Rav4 Prime in city driving. This vehicle is totally underwhelming. In four, maybe five years, the problems with batteries (range, charge time and cost) will be resolved and we'll all buy electric, but this vehicle? I don't think so.
I agree with you 100%, David. The RAV 4 Prime is the superior vehicle! I love my Prime!
Would definitely go for the Ariya over the bz4x all or front wheel drive. Not deep in the snow belt so front wheel drive is better, cheaper, less complicated then all wheel drive, more epa ev miles.
Ariya front drive gives over 50 more miles over the Toyota front drive, not sure why Toyota would bring out to market all wheel drive with such a low epa number….but it’s Toyota and they really don’t care if you don’t buy it. They prefer selling gasoline hybrids…
It seems to me that the steering wheel is always blocking the view of the display, no matter how you adjust it. That is a design flaw. What a shame.
Totally agree. They should have just removed the display and install a heads up display instead.
It's a case of form over function. Toyota must have believed that they must make the instrument cluster look weird since EVs are "futuristic alien technology" and everyone else's EV looks "concept car". I bet it was a design by committee decision from sales and management put against engineering decisions.
Subbed! Can you tell me if a larger phone like the 13 pro max would fit in the wireless charging area?
What happened to the “solar roof” or is it still there just not talked about? I heard the roof had solar panels and could trickle charge the battery when it sat out on a sunny day?
I find it odd how many of the auto makers have what is basically a large air dam flat from bumper and grill. I am sure they could redesign the front end to be much more aerodynamic which would improve highway range.
As usual, excellent info! Thanks.
There’s a lot of mediocrity here: Decent-but-not-great range, fair-but-not-great performance, mediocre charging rate.
More importantly though, I doubt if they’ll make more than 10-20K of them per year. Not exactly a huge splash.
Not that it's a bad thing, but that's kind of what Toyota is all about. Making mediocre transportation that lasts a very long time. Nobody ever really buys a Camry or Corolla because they want something that performs better than the competition. They're affordable and reliable.
@@TheAdventureAuto, I’d say that’s a reasonable assessment, yes. I drive a Prius Prime because I’m a 61-year-old Electrical/Computer Engineer, and thus more fascinated with efficiency than acceleration.
@@mr88cet I'm not an engineer but fascinated with both performance and efficiency. I use my EV to hypermile at times and can get my efficiency to about 175wh/mi which is fun. When I'm not driving the EV I have an ebike and electric scooter to commute on. Electric transportation is just more fun in my opinion. I commuted on an ebike 13 years ago but didn't know much about battery tech back then so the battery didn't last long. Now it's much different.
@@TheAdventureAuto, cool! Efficiency is where it’s at going forward!
The fact that Toyota has a pure EV is a game changer. Take Toyota reliability and dependability and add it to an EV. Having owned an i3, I know EV’s are already reliable, but this adds a whole new player to the game. Toyota never releases anything new unless they KNOW it’ll last and operate for a while.
You should try to do a direct comparison between this and the ID.4 as they seem to be the most similar competition. Personally I’d get the ID.4, more range, faster charging on AWD, a bit cheaper, 11kW level 2 charging vs 6.6kW on the BZ4X which is odd. I also like how the ID.4 looks better.
To compete; Honda should bring the E to America as a direct competitor, city run about that’s a lot more fun and happy.
Honda is licensing GM Ultium platform to bring a couple “affordable” EVs to the US.
Alex... On your comparison chart at the, I think the Ioniq and EV6 stats were backwards. Wanted to clarify.
But the review was great and very interesting on how Toyota positioned this new EV.
Odd choice with your motor graphic at 3:35. It depicts an internal combustion engine [ICE] cross section with pistons. Old habits die hard...apparently. More ho-hum is the range; needs 300-mile range to get attention now.
No one pedal drive and no way to disable creep mode means no purchase from me. Sad.
Very interesting video! The Toyota bZ4X looks great. It appears to have been well thought out in terms of practicality and space. 🚗 ⚡️
CATL LFP battery for the win.
Can't wait to see the version with solar roof. Sadly, if I am not mistaken, they are only intended for EU and Japan market.
What is the deal with the dark Piano Black cladding which will collect dust, dirt and finger prints like crazy!!
6.5 /6.0 to 60 is the is what's really going to sell this!
BZ4x and Solterra are really growing on me. But I have a thing for fog lights and I don’t see any on the BZ4x 🙂 but otherwise, I rather like the hammerhead shark front fascia. I hope Solterra has some options for interior colour though 🤔
hmm since they are basically the same vehicle I guess if you want either of these it’ll just come down to preference of brand. Both make long lasting quality vehicles.
I love the look of it! (Maybe some reservations about the black-cladding fender trim .) Always disappointed that manufacturers "cheap out" on passenger comfort auto-adjust seats -- do we not care about our passengers? Spouse, child, significant other?? This is a good first effort, but I wish it had "one pedal driving" more like my Model 3 rather than regen braking. Here in Texas, a 300 mile range would be appreciated. I'm looking forward to that new Lexus EV.
Thank you for the detailed review. Very appreciated.
All these new options are great for consumers. Last week be bought a 2022 Nissan Leaf sv plus as our second around town car. After WA state incentives, federal tax credits and registration, cost was $32 K. Our road trip car is a 2014 Subaru Legacy. Had to shop hard to get MSRP.
The leaf was half the price of a Tesla Y, with normal door handles, normal metal roof and surround view camera. I live in the cool Seattle area, so battery longevity doesn’t bother me too much. Sorry, I hate all glass roofs that have no cover. I never use the sunroof on my Legacy either.
After a google search I found only one Leaf fire in 2015. The Leaf is not new or sexy, but tried and true with known limitation.
If you know the charging limitations and can live with that, the Leaf drives great and has amazingly smooth one-pedal driving. I can apply a very light touch to braking, but struggle to come to a stop as gracefully as my Leaf on e-pedal.
I got the 2022 SV as around town/go to work car. 21K after federal and Oregon state credits, this car is a great value and fun to drive, ePedal is the best. We also have a 2022 Kia Niro EV for longer trips and a 2007 Suzuki Grand Vitara just in case...
@@reuveng1960 I bought in 2018 after watching tons of RUclips videos so I knew all about “Rapidgate” and the lack of thermal management. I live in FL and it hasn’t been an issue, but I also don’t road trip the car long distances. I’ll drive up to 60 miles away without worrying about charging to get home. The farthest it’s gone has been a couple of 150 to 160 mile day trips with Level 2 charging while I was parked. My other car is a turbo CR-V that gets 36 to 37 mpg on interstate trips and nearly 40 mpg staying on back roads in Florida.
@@reuveng1960 thanks. You help make my point. The car we traded to get the leaf was a 22 year old Subaru. Since we keep cars a long time we got the leaf plus battery.
I'm surprised that you didn't mention about the missing review digital camera and the memory seat options.
That song at 9:12 had me rolling.
The selling point will be Toyota/Subaru quality control/reliability for this vehicle.
And the dealer network... Every small town has a Toyota dealer. Tesla is great, but not everyone lives close to a service center. For some ppl this will be a decision factor.
@@naarealy But like most other manufacturer's, not all dealership are able to service pure EVs. Chevy and Hyundai both have limited dealers that can service their EVs.
@@IBIScnc True, but that will change. Eventually all the OEMs will require dealers to service EVs.
@@naarealy It will change, but I would not expect it to be quick. Chevy has produced the Bolt since 2017, and they still have not come close to converting their entire dealer network to be EV serviceable. The cost to install chargers, as well as forklifts capable to moving batteries around is not small, and many smaller market dealers have baulked at the cost and refused to get EV certified.
@@IBIScnc I think electric trucks will be the tipping point. A rural dealer doesn't have much incentive to spend on infrastructure upgrades to support a smallish city car like a Bolt. But when commercial customers start purchasing trucks, that will change.
I think it's a competitive car. Most people charge at home 99% of the time. So this 100kw will not be a big deal breaker. I love that it has standard heat pump. Works for us Chicagoans. I guess as with anything else now, they are not going to be able to make enough of them. Btw, this or the Solterra?
“It’s a competitive car” said no one ever
I wonder why they have two slightly different sized packs made by two different manufacturers and with different charging rates. I’m guessing it is to do with the Subaru tie up where they both can sell the AWD version but Toyota went away to make a more value proposition exclusively for themselves and thus they can work with their Panasonic team (where I suspect Subaru do not have a working relationship with Panasonic). Maybe?
Or maybe it’s just down to supply chain constraints?
Isn't the legs/knee radiant heat coming from a special vent low on the central hump, just below the area where the shifter is?
Would love to see some real world charging times for both FWD and AWD.
For the price of the limited , one would rather go with rav4 prime. Great mpg along with 300+ hp on a plug in hybrid ⚡️
Any miles to be had by putting the 18" rims on the Limited AWD instead of the 20" that come with it?
I'm disappointed that Toyota took away two tech options, that the Solterra appears to have, ONE, the Advanced Parking option/button is missing next to the Birds Eye view button, I'm sad about this because it was a great feature in my Prius Prime! TWO, the Display rearview mirror, found in the RAV4 Prime XSE (and RAV4 higher trims) AND the Solterra. Was looking forward this feature!
added note: these TECH items are Toyota tech, yet the Subaru Solterra has it! odd!... although, more i think about it, I think Toyota did this on purpose, so they can add them as feature updates to future year/versions of the car. sad to tease us and then take them away though! ha ha.
For the FWD models, do they also come with the brake-based torque vectoring? Or is that feature limited to the AWD bZ4X and Subaru Solterra? Thanks!
Will Toyota be making an EV Camry?
Great comparisons, thanks
Would still get the Ioniq 5
Is the safety recall on the wheels a big concern or will that be a rather easy fix?
Is bz4x equipped with solid batteries? I mean dry battery?
Not only do we have to wait for the deluge of electric crossovers to be over before we get anything else: but now 2 of them are clones
Get one with Panasonic Batteries. Batteries are engines for EVs. It's Chinese Engine Vs. Made in Japan Engine. . It will last lot longer and highly reliable. The power behind Tesla' is Panasonic.
that name is like...... toyota needs to do something fast
The back end is similar to the Gen 4 Prius.