5 things to love about the all-electric Toyota bZ4X
From the school run to a cross-country adventure, the Toyota bZ4X and bZ4X Touring make every journey feel effortless – and there’s a great deal to love about both.....
Toyota’s commitment to electrification goes back further than most brands – all the way to the original Prius hybrid. The Toyota bZ4X is its first fully electric SUV, and the recently updated model is a genuinely accomplished machine that’s now more powerful, longer-ranged and better-equipped than ever.
Then there’s the Toyota bZ4X Touring, a new estate-bodied sibling that extends the family with 140mm of extra length dedicated entirely to boot space, a more rugged stance and, in AWD form, the most powerful non-GR Toyota you can buy.
What Car? senior reviewer Dan Jones called the Toyota bZ4X’s 10-year warranty “class-leading and a really attractive bonus on top of the brand’s great reliability record.” That’s one great reason to consider either car. Here are five more…
#1 Surprising rear legroom
The bZ4X’s party trick – one that catches first-time passengers completely off guard – is the sheer amount of space in the back seats. Dan Jones puts it plainly: the bZ4X has “frankly ridiculous” rear leg room, “and in a good way.” The reason is the 2,850mm wheelbase – 160mm longer than that of the current Toyota RAV4 – which translates directly into rear knee room that rivals significantly larger vehicles. Even two tall adults, one sitting directly behind the other, will find the back seat comfortable.
The bZ4X Touring takes this further still. Because it shares the same wheelbase as the standard car, rear leg room is equally impressive, but there’s also a taller roofline above the boot area, more shoulder room for three adults sitting abreast, and reclining rear seatbacks that can be adjusted to suit different journeys. The flat floor and wide interior mean the middle rear seat is a proper place to sit, rather than a punishment. On longer trips, rear passengers can also make use of two 60W USB-C charging ports in the rear console – powerful enough to top up a laptop mid-motorway journey.
Neither car has a front ‘frunk’ storage compartment – but with 452 litres of boot space in the bZ4X and a class-leading 669 litres in the Touring (more than the VW ID 7 Tourer and both the more expensive Audi A6 Avant e-tron and BMW i5 Touring), the family holiday luggage equation looks very positive.
#2 Performance from relaxed to rapid
The updated bZ4X range offers three distinct powertrain configurations, so buyers can match their choice to how they actually drive. The entry Icon grade with the 57.7kWh battery and 165bhp front motor covers the 0-62mph sprint in 8.6 seconds – brisk enough for everyday driving. Step up to the 73.1kWh battery with its 221bhp motor and that time drops to 7.4 seconds, quicker than the Kia EV6 RWD according to What Car?’s testing.
But it’s the AWD model that really shows what Toyota’s electric engineering can deliver. Two motors combining for 338bhp dispatch 0-62mph in 5.1 seconds, making it one of the most powerful Toyotas on sale outside the GR performance range. The bZ4X Touring AWD goes further still, with a revised rear eAxle pushing the combined output to 376bhp and cutting 0-62mph to 4.5 seconds – faster than the Mercedes CLA 350 4matic Shooting Brake. Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor, put it well: “The AWD version of the bZ4X Touring is quite good fun on a loose gravel surface.
You can sense it has a rear-biased power delivery that gives this rather sensible-looking family car a more playful side when powering out of corners.”
Day-to-day, though, it’s the smooth, linear power delivery of all versions that impresses most. No drama, no jerk off the line – just quiet, immediate forward progress that suits the bZ4X’s relaxed character. Four levels of regenerative braking, selected via steering wheel paddles, allow drivers to dial in their preferred balance between coasting and one-pedal driving.
#3 Genuine off-road and adventure credentials
Many electric SUVs are SUVs in name only. The bZ4X and bZ4X Touring are different.
The AWD versions bring the X-Mode terrain control system to the electric space for the first time. X-Mode offers selectable settings for mud and snow, deep mud and snow at speeds below 12.5mph, and tougher conditions using Grip Control at speeds under 6mph. The system feeds torque between the front and rear axles based on real-time conditions, while an enhanced control system on the Touring also accounts for the speed difference between left and right wheels – improving composure over uneven surfaces and increasing traction on snow. Both models have a wading depth of 500mm and Downhill Assist Control, so even challenging terrain is manageable.
What Car?’s own testing on a challenging off-road course found the AWD bZ4X’s “ability to find grip in the muckiest of situations was truly impressive.” When things get rough, the four-wheel drive system senses slip and adjusts power distribution to each wheel continuously. Ground clearance is 177mm on the standard bZ4X and 212mm on the Touring, which handles the vast majority of real-world off-road scenarios comfortably.
The bZ4X Touring adds further practicality in the form of standard black roof rails rated to carry 80kg, a towing capacity of 1,500kg in AWD form (750kg for FWD), and the Multi-Terrain Monitor on the Excel AWD, which uses four cameras to provide a real-time all-round and under-vehicle view when navigating challenging ground. For families who take their cars beyond the school run and motorway, this is a truly capable machine.
#4 A comfortable, refined drive for the every day
Capability and comfort don’t always coexist, but the bZ4X and Touring work hard to deliver both. What Car?’s verdict on the standard car’s ride is that it’s “noticeably softer than the Model Y,” with comfort “roughly on a par with the EV6” and suspension that “feels slightly more controlled than these rivals over undulating terrain.” For a car capable of tackling a muddy field or towing a caravan, that’s an impressive balance.
Toyota’s engineers have put serious work into making the cabin a pleasant place to spend time. Acoustic glass in the front side windows, foam material at key points in the body frame, a rear motor silencer and sound-absorbing materials in the rear wing liners all contribute to a cabin that’s hushed even as the speed picks up. Wind noise is low, road noise is well managed, and the electric motor itself is barely audible. The bZ4X Touring is judged by Lawrence Cheung to be “a comfortable car to cruise in on the motorway” – high praise for a car that doubles as an adventure vehicle.
Physical controls are another area that received praise. Dan Jones singled out the bZ4X’s “physical shortcut buttons for the air-conditioning system and proper buttons on the steering wheel” as “a welcome addition” – a meaningful point in an era when too many essential controls are buried in touchscreen menus. The temperature dials, heated seat shortcuts and well-laid-out steering wheel controls mean that adjusting the car while driving is easy, instead of causing a distraction.
#5 Toyota’s reliability and warranty: unmatched in class
Buying or leasing any new car is a significant commitment. Buying a new EV requires an extra layer of confidence in the technology – and this is where Toyota’s track record is hard to beat. The brand finished fourth out of 30 manufacturers in What Car?’s 2025 Reliability Survey, ahead of Kia, Hyundai and Skoda. That ranking reflects decades of engineering discipline and a culture of quality that runs through every Toyota, from the Yaris Cross to the bZ4X.
The warranty that backs the bZ4X is equally impressive. Every new Toyota qualifies for up to 10 years or 100,000 miles of cover, provided the car is serviced at an authorised dealer from year four onwards. As Dan Jones notes, that’s “class-leading”: Kia covers its cars for seven years, while most European rivals offer just three.
Toyota’s Battery Care Programme adds a further guarantee that the battery will retain at least 70% of its original capacity for up to 10 years or 650,000 miles (bZ4X) or one million miles (bZ4X Touring), subject to an annual health check. That kind of assurance is particularly valuable for first-time EV buyers who want certainty over the long term.
Dan Jones sums up the overall bZ4X proposition neatly: it is “a fine all-round electric SUV” that is “good to drive, roomy in the back and reasonably priced by electric-car standards.” The bZ4X Touring, meanwhile, takes that solid foundation and adds genuine estate versatility and adventure-ready capability – at a price that Lawrence Cheung judges to be “very tempting” given how close it is to the standard car. Together, they cover the full range of what a family should want from an electric Toyota: practicality, performance, dependability and the confidence to go anywhere.
