Toyota bZ4X SUV - Electric motor, drive & performance
Toyota's GR sports cars seem to be rubbing off on the bZ4X as it's one of the better SUVs to drive
The Toyota bZ4X is surprisingly good to drive. It has nicely weighted steering that’s enjoyable to use, plus the car stays relatively flat in corners, so you aren’t thrown around on twisty roads. In many ways, it feels like an electric Toyota RAV4, which is a good thing.
Toyota has also worked with Subaru to make the bZ4X competent off-road, too. Four-wheel-drive models get special off-road settings, although ground clearance isn’t the best – and we don’t expect anyone who actually needs an off-roader to choose one of these.
The bZ4X is also really comfortable, especially when you factor in that it has large alloy wheels and it’s a heavy car. That usually results in a car with a bouncy and harsh ride over bumps, but the bZ4X is smooth and relaxing to drive, beating the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Volkswagen ID.4 in this area.
This is true on the motorway as well. Wind and road noise is hushed, which is impressive given the size of the tyres, and the stereo in our test car produced high-quality audio.
Toyota bZ4X electric motor
There is one battery in the bZ4X, and it powers both versions. The entry-level model is front-wheel drive (FWD) only, and then there’s a four-wheel-drive version (or all-wheel drive, AWD) which adds traction but is also around 85kg heavier.
The FWD model has 201bhp and 266NM of torque, while the AWD version has 215bhp and 337Nm of torque. It’s the latter that makes the biggest difference to the way the car drives, because it provides extra shove from low speed – alongside the extra traction from it being four-wheel drive.
This means the FWD version gets from 0-62mph in 7.5 seconds while the AWD model isn’t hugely faster, taking 6.9 seconds to cover the same benchmark. The bZ4X is slightly lower than the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Volkswagen ID.4, but all three models feel very quick as you pull away, before acceleration tails off as speeds increase.
