The Toyota BZ4X electric SUV has had a troubled start to life. It was launched to much fanfare in May 2022 – yet just a month later, production of Toyota’s first EV had halted, and a global recall was issued.
The problem? The wheels could come loose. Toyota also discovered a second issue, regarding the car’s airbags. Around 2,700 customer cars were taken off the road while a fix was developed – something that took four months to arrive.
When deliveries finally started again, press car loans could also recommence. As a juror for World Car Awards, the largest automotive awards initiative on the planet, I was eager to drive the new BZ4X, as it is one of the cars on the 2023 longlist.
Toyota BZ4X delivered at last
The car duly arrived on 21 November. The driver kindly delivered it with around 80 percent charge showing – but I was puzzled to read this meant a range of only around 140 miles.
This, remember, is an EV with a large 71.4kWh battery. The usable capacity will be less, but surely it’s still carrying enough charge to serve up a better range than that?
Indeed, my test car, a Toyota BZ4X Vision AWD, should do 260 miles between charges, according to the official WLTP test cycle. Now, nobody gets close to the WLTP figures, as it’s still on the lenient side – particularly for those of us in chilly Britain (the test is conducted at 23 deg C) – but surely the total mileage must be better than this?
I didn’t think too much of it, as the car had just been delivered, and maybe the range was factoring in things I wasn’t aware of. I vowed to fully charge it and see if that helped.
Alas, a troublesome long-term Volvo XC40 Recharge test car – also an EV – was blocking my driveway. It had broken down for the third time over the weekend, and the recovery truck brought it back with zero percent charge. So, as that was trickling on the home charger to try and breathe some life back into it, I went to the local Morrisons instead.
Oddly, this public charger refused to work with the Toyota BZ4X, despite numerous attempts. This wasn’t going well. And I had a jaunt to Heathrow planned for early the next day. There was only one thing for it: use my own petrol-powered BMW 330i and review the Toyota situation on my return.
When I eventually got back home, it was Friday. I had an important event to attend, and the car was still showing a meagre charge, so I decided to leave early and charge it en route at Rugby motorway services. And try to work out what was going on.
After waiting 15 minutes for a Gridserve charger to become free, I zipped into a gap and prepared to plug in. “That one’s broken, mate,” said the person who’d been there previously, and was now plugging into the only other free charger. “It might work for you. It didn’t for us.”
It didn’t for me, either.
I was now at risk of being late, so had to depart with no charge. Of course, this wasn’t the car’s fault. I made it to the event, but couldn’t then continue to the other event I was due to attend, because of the risk of running out of charge.
There was only one thing for it: go back to Rugby services with crossed fingers. I got there in power-saving mode, with 15 miles of range remaining.
I charged up to 89 percent. Which gave me… 147 miles of range. That’s around 160-165 miles on a full charge. Somewhat below the claimed 260 miles the BZ4X is meant to do. Remember, this is a £52,000 EV.
I was then reminded of the funny little fan symbol next to the range indicator. ‘A ha!’, I thought and turned off the climate control. As if by magic, 40 miles of range was added. I flicked it back on, then it instantly dropped right back down.
So, you have to drive the Toyota BZ4X around with the air-con turned off in order to get anything like a usable range? Crazy.
It’s not just me
When I got back home, I did some reading around it. Turns out some testers in Norway have discovered the same thing. Their feature is headlined: ‘Toyota BZ4X range disappoints’.
“I can reveal that this is the first time we’ve had to run our tests multiple times, as we were scarcely able to believe the first results we got,” the writer said.
Their front-wheel drive car was meant to return 292 miles, according to the WLTP test. They were promised just 184 miles, with the climate control turned on. They tested it from a full battery to, literally, zero percent charge. Total range: 190 miles.
Toyota makes brilliant hybrids. They have globally cut an incredible amount of CO2 emissions. But its move into the world of electric cars is proving decidedly lumpy so far.
The real-world range of my test Toyota BZ4X was little short of appalling, and way off the standards expected. My Volvo may have broken down multiple times, but it is still able to consistently serve up a real-world range of 230 miles from a 78kWh battery (and other cars do much better even than this).
I can also use the climate control when doing so.
I’ve asked Toyota to check if there’s a problem with my test BZ4X. I’ll report back when they respond, and let you know if the troubled story of the Toyota BZ4X continues.
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My Toyota BZ4x has this issue!! It currently has 170 miles on the clock and its costing a fortune in electric. The charge rate is great and thats a good thing as the range is despicable. Furthermore you mentioned broken chargers. On the pay chargers they make you pay a deposit up to £25 from my experience, then connect it to the car. Mostly the chargers are broken and they keep your money for up to 14 days. My first EV car this and I’m not impressed!! With new carbon laws someone needs to stop the greed and create more of a demand for using EV vehicles.