2023 Toyota bZ4X
2023 Toyota bZ4X – The BZ4X is about the same size as the hugely popular RAV4 Hybrid, which is still waiting six months on the waiting list, and premiered in the form of an almost production-ready concept earlier this week in Shanghai.
It will compete with Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, Mercedes-Benz EQB, Nissan Ariya, Tesla Model Y, Volvo XC40 Recharge.
2023 Toyota bZ4X
Toyota’s first battery-electric vehicle (BEV), the bZ4X midsize SUV, could arrive in Australia before the end of 2022 – just months after going on sale in Japan and China.
“We will introduce the bZ4X as soon as possible after the global launch, which is targeted around mid-2022,” Toyota Australia sales and marketing boss Sean Hanley said this week.
“[Our dealer] is actually pleased with this opportunity and certainly welcomes this… they’re just as excited as we were about the recent announcement.”
The company’s product planning manager, Rod Ferguson, added: “… I don’t want this to turn into years. We’re targeting the moon”.
“Prices will be announced close to introduction, but this car will be expensive, like the original Prius we launched in October 2001,” Hanley said bluntly.
“This is due to the significant cost recovery of research and development. As hybrids, the adoption and affordability of battery-electric vehicles will take time, but certainly not 20 years. They will eventually become a sustainable mobility tool. “
Toyota has more than 20 percent market share in Australia and is the largest dealer network of all car brands. Therefore, it seems well placed to increase the general adoption of EV.
2023 Toyota bZ4X Engine
Toyota has not released much information about the bZ4X powertrain, except that it will offer all-wheel drive as standard.
That could mean a dual electric motor with one drive on each axle, or it could also refer to a kind of all-wheel-drive system that directs power from one electric motor to both axles.
We’ll know more about the bZ4X powertrain nearing the SUV sales date.
2023 Toyota bZ4X Interior
From the photos, the bZ4X will offer a more futuristic dashboard design than other Toyota models, with a digital gauge display, a large infotainment touchscreen, and a wide center console between the two front seats.
The cabin looks spacious and similar in size to the RAV4, but we won’t know how much accommodation it is until we get a chance to try a test drive.
The ‘bZ’ (‘Beyond Zero’) moniker will be applied to no fewer than seven lines of fully electric cars on a bespoke platform to launch globally by 2025 – meaning the launch rhythm is about two dedicated bZ-branded EVs per year.
The seven-strong ‘bZ’ range will be the backbone of Toyota’s broader group plans for 15 BEV products, available in various regions, by 2025.
Some of these other electric vehicles will be “ultra-compact BEVs” of small short-range capacity for major cities and public transport.
The Shanghai-based Toyota bZ4x was developed in conjunction with Subaru and used a custom-built EV ‘e-TNGA’ architecture.
It promised to offer legroom equivalent to the D-segment sedan, an all-wheel-drive developed by Subaru “with impressive off-road performance,” a steering system with cables and wheels such as a crate, stationary solar charging, and “cruising power. range that ensures customers [will] not be bothered in winter”.
While its first EV is still to be launched, Toyota is a dominant player in hybrid cars. Last year sales in Australia reached 54,000, 26 percent of the total.
Toyota is just one part of the brand’s strategy to have 70 electric options in its lineup by 2030, up from the current 55 options.
When will bZ4X arrive? Toyota is offering little additional information, other than what it wants in Australia “as soon as possible” after its international introduction, which is currently scheduled for “mid-2022”.
“We want it in a few months. We don’t want it to protract for years,” explains the brand’s general manager of product planning, Rod Ferguson.
The brand also warned that the bZ4X is not necessarily a price leader in battery power, nor has it always been towards widespread popularity, at least initially.
