Toyota has released some of the specifications of its long-awaited all-electric bZ4X SUV which will finally make it to Australian shores in early 2024, and has talked up its improved battery efficiency.
The Japanese car giant will not release pricing and full specifications of the bZ4X until they are ready to arrive in local dealerships in February, but is talking up improvements in its battery performance and range, mostly through the optimisation of climate controls.
The new model will be offered in a single-motor front-wheel-drive configuration and a dual-motor all-wheel-drive variant. The single-motor variant will have peak power of 150 kW and 266 Nm of torque meanwhile the dual-motor variant has 160 kW of power and 337 Nm of torque.
Both versions of the bZ4X are fed by a 71.4 kWh battery pack which has 11 kW AC charging. Along with that 150 kW of DC fast charging is also on offer.
The all-wheel-drive powertrain and the battery size are shared with the recently launched Subaru Solterra.
According to the company, it will offer “lower power consumption designed to extend real-world driving range”. This is done by enhancements to the battery pack which lower power consumption, and in turn will improve the real-world range, and new software that will control the car’s “dependance on the climate control system”.
The company does not recommend regular DC fast charging, saying it should be kept to a minimum
On the inside, a 12.3-inch infotainment screen is included which features Apple Carplay and Android Auto. Along with that, there is a suite of Toyota safety-sense driver assistance features.
There is also a 7-inch screen behind the steering wheel that the company says shows the driver additional information about the battery’s state of charge. Here the driver can also see the estimated time needed to charge the battery up to 80% along with seeing if the the climate control is activated.
Standard features on the bZ4X include:
- LED lights
- 20-inch alloy wheels
- Sports seats with premium fabric and synthetic leather trim
- Heated front seats with power adjustment for the driver
The AWD version increases the feature set including:
- Roof rails and spoiler
- Fixed panoramic roof
- Heated steering wheel and ventilated front seats
- Full synthetic leather trim
- Wireless phone charger
- JBL premium audio system
- X-Mode off-tarmac drive system with Snow/Dirt, Deep Snow/Mud, and Grip Control modes
According to the company, it will offer “lower power consumption designed to extend real-world driving range”. This is done by enhancements to the battery pack which lower power consumption and in turn will improve the real-world range.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.