2024 Toyota bZ4X XLE
Good Side > Bad Side > Inside
Good: Even though the bZ4X is Toyota’s first widely available EV (shoutout to the OG RAV4 EV), it still retains Toyota’s legendary build quality. During our week of driving, we were unable to find a single issue with the vehicle’s fit or finish. Leading to a lower than expected amount of noise and vibrations while driving even when going all out. While the vehicle didn’t blow our minds in terms of acceleration, we never ran into a situation that had us wanting more power, especially in a vehicle of this size. Sure, all the other EVs in this segment are quicker, which is something that every other car blogger, YouTuber, and reviewer has talked about ad nauseam. However, a sub-seven-second 0-60 when compared to the rest of the Toyota lineup is really good and also means the bZ4X is quicker than every other Toyota SUV on the market right now. Which, for us, is good enough, and it should be more than enough for most buyers. However, we can’t say the same about the range of this vehicle.
Bad: Starting at an estimated 252 miles of range for the Front-Wheel Drive model and only going down from there when selecting higher-end models or AWD. This barely acceptable amount of range and slower charging rate is a huge disadvantage when comparing the bZ4X to its competition. You will find a number of vehicles within this category that come with either more range or faster charging for the same price or less. That’s not even taking into account the visual design of this vehicle when comparing it to others. As seen in the pictures above, this vehicle is absolutely covered in seemingly random black plastic cladding. Which we would be okay with if it actually served a greater purpose other than simple styling elements. The only reason we can think of why Toyota put the cladding there in the first place is to protect the bodywork from off-road debris. However, it doesn’t encompass all of the vehicle and has multiple breaks in between the cladding, leaving major parts of the painted bodywork exposed. It’s a truly baffling design decision to us because they obviously had plenty of piano black material left and weren’t afraid to use it, as shown within the vehicle’s interior design.
Inside: Upon entering the vehicle, one of the first things that catches the eye is the large center console, which divides the two front seats and appears as a vast expanse of piano black. While it certainly looks futuristic and stands out from other cars on the market, the combination of the highly reflective piano black material and the aggressively raked front windshield leads to one major flaw. The roofline’s position relative to the windshield base allows sunlight to enter at the perfect angle, to cause excessive glare for those in the front seats. However, rear seat passengers are relatively unaffected, and Toyota made the most of the vehicle’s electric architecture to provide ample space for them. In fact, one of our taller staff members (6’3”) could comfortably fit behind a driver’s seat set to their preferred position with plenty of room to spare. They even went the extra mile when designing the air-conditioning system to make sure the rear air vents only turned on when the rear seats detected people sitting in them. Toyota also experimented on this vehicle by incorporating a cloth-like material into the dashboard and door cards that actually worked great under direct sunlight. Despite these improvements and impressive tech, the interior’s piano black center console is just too big to ignore.
📷Interior
📷Exterior
📸/📷Powertrain (Enough power / Not enough range = .5)
📸Technology
📸Build quality
P.S. Special thanks to Turo for providing us with the vehicle you see in the pictures above.