2024 BZ4X: A longtime Toyota owner’s take on their much maligned EV
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 พ.ค. 2024
- Hey y’all! Well guess what, we are finally getting too take the BZ4X out for a spin on the channel and I’m so excited to share this quick drive with you after getting a solid few days with Toyota’s first-and much maligned-mass market EV. Is the hate deserved? Does it feel like a Toyota? What about range? Let’s find out!
WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE BZ4X? Or just want to shoot me something directly? I’ve set up an email just for you! Write to me at joshscarsofjapan@gmail.com!
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:23 Feels like a Toyota
04:17 Interior quality & materials
08:28 On the road driving impressions
15:38 Range limitations
17:09 Final thoughts & would I buy one? - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
Thanks for the video, i was looking into getting one and this was a great start.
It’s a good car all around just be sure you get at least $10K of incentives on it (or lease it at a really good rate) so that you don’t take a massive depreciation hit. These are selling for $30K used after a year and maybe 5K miles. Or you can always buy one at those super low used prices!
Good video.
It is indeed a Toyota from bumper to bumper, it's a great Car, also a great BEV.
I do agree if you come from a Toyota Hybrid, it's a familiar experiens.
I moved from a Corolla 2L Hybrid a month ago to a fully loaded AWD.
Range and speed is just fine for me.
I do appreciat other People have a need for a longer range.
Terrific! Glad you’re loving it so far!
Not seen your videos before, my interest in this car got you recommended. Exactly the kind of review I wanted! Subscribed, thanks.
So glad I could help! And welcome aboard!
Excellent video. Thank you!
Lol! That key fob rear truly is an abomination. Thanks as always for the review! 😂
Truly tacky for a vehicle of that caliber!!!
So glad someone else thinks it’s appalling!!! Like seriously!
Thanks Josh. I could see the speed and instruments quite easily. The BZ4X I drove had electrically adjustable driver seat height. I am 5'5" tall. Cheers
A key like that would honestly piss me off too lol
Thanks for the review. I don't think I would be interested in one of these vehicles in the immediate future. However, the Toyota and Lexus vehicles are looking so much a like it's hard to distinguish from a distance with the exception of the emblem.
I agree! I’m giving EVs a few more years before we decide to jump in. Plug ins are the best of both worlds, IMO, and I love ours. And we probably wouldn’t get an EV until we’re ready to replace it which won’t be for a long while.
Some people love rain, like I, so it’s not disgusting at all. Lol
I do as well, just not on days when I’m trying to film a video! 😅
good video
Great in depth video as always…. I’m interested in EV’s, not ready for one yet….good looking on the outside. Always interested in the interiors since that’s where I live - the drivers seat! Agree on the piano black plastic - ugh. Does it make a noise when you back up? Guess that’s a safety feature, but it’s annoying when cars build that noise in.
Thank you! And likewise. I’m really happy with our plug in hybrid Rav that can do the same thing the BZ4X does but also still has a great hybrid system for longer commutes without having to worry about range! And yes, all hybrids and EVs do make some kind of noise as it is a safety feature for everyone but especially the blind who may not otherwise be able to detect that there’s a vehicle reversing around them.
Good point about waiting - maybe in 5 years they will come up with a satisfactory key fob!
Literally!!! 😂
One thing about coasting/creeping vs immediate regen brake. As much as I hate regen brakes on Tesla, from battery power stand point of view the charging from the regen would provide higher mileage yield. As for how much more? An engineer may help comment. Always wondered that strange feeling of immediate braking from regen is worth the trouble.
Here’s the thing about that-it’s all dependent on the physics of any given scenario, so I think that what more EVs should do is use all their intelligence to determine when there’s more to gain by coasting and when there’s more to gain by regening. So say you’re coming down a mountain pass. Free rolling can by itself charge the battery and I could roll down the entire pass without using any energy at all. Keeping my foot on the accelerator while rolling downhill is using energy. But if I’m in city traffic, then maybe it makes sense to deploy the heavy regenerative braking.
Heavy regen is not that efficient, energy is lost in the form of heat. Like with heavy acceleration. Better to coast with a bit of regen, it’s more intuitive as well. Porsche made the same choice for their Taycan EV.
I love Josh
You are always so kind, Jeffrey!!!
It's not just that they brought over things to make it more comfortable for a Toyota driver. I have driven my friends Tesla cars and I don't like their opinion on how driving should be done.
I drive a Toyota because of the opinion that Toyota has.
My wife and I just bought the 24 XLE AWD, and Im telling you, it’s a SUPER nice car. Only worth it with the crazy lease deals they just had. 17k off the msrp
Congrats! At $17K off it’s absolutely worth it!
I currently drive 2022 Rav4 Hybrid XSE, and thinking about BZ4X, because it drives like a normal car, but range is really might be an issue for me. I do about 130-150miles per day, 5 days a week. I would love to have a Rav4 Prime, but they are very hard to get here in the Midwest! (By any chance are you selling your Prime?😅)
Haha I am not, sadly! I would just keep that Rav Hybrid XSE, it’s a great car even if it’s not the Prime!
Did you buy your Prime SE or XSE and did you paid .MSRP?
We bought ours in 2021, it’s an SE. We paid MSRP and then got another $10K off in tax credits and state rebates which brought the final out of pocket cost to $31K.
Wow, that is a great deal!!! Unfortunately in 2024 there are absolutely no tax rebates on Prime....it is very said!! But the car is great, enjoy! I am also looking at 2023-24, Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV those cars are usually available and they have $6,500 tax rebate if you are leasing the car
@ 15:21 Teslas have a creep function that you can turn on in the menu. It’s optional which is nice. I don’t rarely ever touch the brake so my foot is always on the accelerator and that’s also how I manage coasting and slowing to a stop.
I’ve tried it but it doesn’t coast, or at least not the last time I used it. I’m sure I’d get used to it if I had to own one but having to have your foot on the accelerator even to come to a smooth stop is just counterintuitive to me.
We just got a BZ4X - it only came with 1 Keyfob for now due to keyfob shortage, the quality of the keyfob might be due to this issue. I think they're just trying to catch up to demand, they say we won't get our 2nd fob until 3-4 months.
Congrats on the new car! And yes, sounds about right. I’ve heard that timeframe is sometimes shorter than they say it will be too.
Yes I picked up the FWD xle heavy metal and was told the same
hey josh, what is that color?
This I believe was Heavy Metal. Which is quite similar to Lexus’ atomic silver in that it looks really dark in in some situations and really light in others.
I am waiting for the bz4x with new superfast charging catl lfp battery. I prefer to charge 100% on daily and have longer charging cycles for battery life time.
You might be waiting a bit for that, but I agree it would be best to wait for Toyota to either improve their charging software programming or include a better battery.
Toyota says that battery life longevity is more important than fast charging. Degradation OF battery life while fast charging is too much says Toyota
Now in my 80's, I feel my next car will be the last & I want an electric one. Here in the UK, insurance is at least double that of my plug-in and that is a deciding factor.
Yes, EVs are very costly to repair and can also get written off as a total loss much more easily than a gas car, hence the higher insurance premiums. In the UK, however, you have the infrastructure and geography to make an EV work really well for you and the BZ4X is the best choice if you want something that’s going to last you for the rest of your driving life!
I own both the BZ4X Limited FWD and the 2021 Venza XLE. In hindsight, I wouldn't choose the BZ4X again. Despite common complaints about its range and charging speed, those weren't my main concerns. Since I use the Venza for long-distance drives, the BZ4X is primarily for in-town driving, as I didn't want two Venzas in my garage. Highlanders and RAV4s were scarce during the car shortage.
Although the BZ4X felt good during the test drive, extended time with it made me feel it wasn't worth the $50K I spent. The interior seemed too cheap for the price, lacking expected features in a vehicle of this cost. The absence of a memory driver seat, power folding mirrors, and a power-adjustable steering wheel, coupled with a manually operated front passenger seat on a $50K vehicle, left me disappointed. Realistically, the BZ4X is worth around $38K to me at best, or about what I paid for the Venza XLE. The only redeeming quality is its electric so it has smooth and quiet acceleration with instant torque, but all EVs can do that.
Those are/were my exact thoughts coming away from it as well! These are being heavily discounted, however, so I actually think your $38K figure is about what most people are paying for a Limited, so maybe that’s okay given what you get. The depreciation on them is also much worse than normal for a Toyota, but that’s also largely in part because of the fact that people are getting them for so little to begin with.
@@joshjamescarsyes I got 16k Toyota incentive off of mine which is unusual but I grabbed it because It was better for my situation. When I’m ready to return it, it will be 20k if I decided to buy it or lease it in only 1 year
What changes can we expect for 2025?
I would doubt we’ll see many; I think at this point all of Toyota’s EV R&D resources are going into developing their next generation of EVs which had better be more competitive.
There is a big set of software updates coming in a few months.
Looks like it needs Lexus badge. Classy and luxurious colours. Mostly reminds me of UX lines .
Hence the RZ! :) Same car underneath but with the Lexus looks and interior.
what bothers me is the 53 thousand dollar price tag…i just dont see how they even came up with that number 53 thousand dollar
All legacy automakers sell EVs at a loss (relative to the cost per unit in materials plus R&D) so they try to recoup as much of the cost as they can in the sales price. However, these usually have $15-20K of incentives on them so most people don’t pay more than $30-35K for one! Or, I believe right now you can lease one for $199/month with very little down.
I just wished it has a backup engine ( from GR-Corolla ),
thus making it a hybrid with over 150-Mile electric range 😊
Think you should be in the market for a Rav Prime!
I like the lower, wider stance of BZ4x
( front end looks like cyber truck )
This was a nice review, ty so much, hope you had a fantastic Christmas.
This Toyota looks like C-HR on steroids
Toyota should developed this car when Tesla released their first model, but nooo they waited last minute to release BZ4X and was a failure, the sells are so bad. Even KIA/Hyundai are beating them with their EV's, lets see how Honda will perform with their new EV.
This was filmed before you guys changed Prius for Camry right?
Hello! And thank you, hope you had a wonderful Christmas as well! And I never thought of it as a CHR on steroids but now that’s all I see!!! 😅😂 And Honda’s I don’t have high hopes for since GM’s Ultium EVs like the Lyric and Blazer having SO many issues and it’s built on the same platform… And nope! Filmed this actually just a couple weeks ago, about a month after the Camry. :)
I had no Idea Honda was using Lyric and Blazer platform@@joshjamescars ,Maybe they will put a Japanese touch to avoid to become a failure like Toyota
The new C-HR looks to European for US.
I’ve owned a chr in 2020 and yes it was my first thought too. The first bzx4 was in 2023 and the newest is 2024.
Love your real world reviews but with the Toyota badge this vehicle needs to be much better.A Toyota shouldn't have a list of cons.Think about it this vehicle takes a long time to charge when it doesn't even have good range and feels heavy.How did this happen at Toyota.It seems like the put this vehicle out last minute just because they had to.
It seems like that because that’s exactly what it is! Toyota has always been anti-EV and so this was likely just to satisfy shareholders who ousted Akio Toyota over his anti-EV stance. All of which for me is why I would never buy one of these.
It takes a long time to charge after 80% which is where I stop for the sake of the battery. It took 30 mins from 92 miles to 224 miles.wasn’t bad for me