Toyota South Africa’s first electric car, the bZ4X made an appearance at its recent annual Women in Auto event.

Toyota bZ4X

Recharged was in attendance and had a unique opportunity to get behind the wheel of the bZ4X. The bZ branding on the EV refers to Toyota’s EV brand, Beyond Zero.

At this overnight event in the Western Cape, Toyota had a fleet of its new energy vehicles (NEVs) for media to sample. The vehicles tied into focus of the event – Toyota’s Road to Carbon Neutrality.

Its multi-pathway approach has been a topic for a while now, where it will not only focus on internal combustion engines (ICE), but also carbon reducing vehicles like hybrids and plug-in hybrids; and carbon neutral vehicles like battery electric and fuel cell EV; and in the future, hydrogen ICE and CN fuel vehicles.

Out of the six NEVs available at the event, from the Corolla Cross Hybrid, 48V Fortuner, 48V Hilux, bZ4X EV, Mirai hydrogen (FCEV) and the RAV4 plugin hybrid (PHEV), I managed to drive three new ones.

Incidentally, the three I drove are firsts for Toyota: first EV, hydrogen and PHEV. The bZ4X will be launching in Q1 of 2025; the RAV4 PHEV will launch later this year, coming in at R980 000 (the first PHEV under R1m currently); and the hydrogen is still in a pilot phase.

This article is just a quick, first impressions of my first drive in the bZ4X.

Toyota bZ4X Quick Look

  • Dual motor AWD
  • 160kW output and 337Nm of torque
  • 71.4kWh Lithium ion battery 104 cell 6A
  • Approx 470km range (400km average)
  • Dedicated BEV platform eTNGA

The above specs were shared to us by Toyota South Africa. I can only confirm other specs once the model launches in South Africa next year. However, according to EV database, this model has a top speed of 160km/h and can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 6.9 seconds.

Toyota bZ4X design and interior

The bZ4X is an interesting looking car. It has striking looks, lots of angles and really stands out in this shade of red. It’s not a car you can ignore. There were lots of looks when we drove it in the Western Cape.

I like the sloped roof, and tail lights, however the plastic bits around the wheels are more visible in this contrasting shade.

Inside is roomy, with electronic seat adjustments. There is a large 12.3-inch infotainment screen in the middle, with both buttons and touch interaction. I liked that there are buttons still.

In terms of the steering wheel and visibility, I found that it blocked the instrument cluster behind the wheel and I had to keep moving my head to see properly. That said I didn’t get a chance to adjust the steering wheel, either.

All the relevant info you’d need to see is on the display by default. It also gives you a total time and distance in real-time, along with speed limits.

We were three drivers covering 75km, so it was a really short drive of about 25km each.

Toyota bZ4X drive

The bZ4X has an eco and standard driving mode, unlike other EVs; there is no sport mode. I drove it primarily in eco mode and eventually switched to normal, there’s a big difference in that, but that’s all the options you have.

Naturally, in eco mode, it won’t take off as fast as you’d expect an EV to, but when you switch to normal mode, you will appreciate that power, especially when you need to over take. We drove in traffic with trucks everywhere.

When we got into the car from the CT airport, the range was about 400km, which is what was indicated as average. It’s really up to you as a driver to then prolong that range by driving efficiently.

As I’ve mentioned in previous EV articles, I don’t really like wasting range, so didn’t mind that there was no sport mode as such, but noticed its absence when looking at what options it has.

There appears to be one mode for regenerative braking, you cannot change its intensity. But, it was too short a drive to get into the options.

The infotainment system was basic, and the graphics, as above, not very visual. It reminded me of an Excel spreadsheet; I think it could have been executed a bit better to be visually appealing.

bZ4X charging

The bZ4X has a charging flap in the front on the left of the car. I prefer charging ports on the front of the vehicle, which is just closer to the cable if you’re a driving straight into a charging bay.

According to the EV database, it lists this particular AWD model with 71.4kWh battery as having a maximum DC charging speed of 147kW, which seems a bit low. And the max AC charging is 6.6kW. For reference, AC charging goes up to 11kW.

And then Toyota says, “to help maintain long-term battery health, DC Fast Charging should be limited to two cycles of charging Low Light to 80%) per day throughout the year.”

Based on my previous experiences with EVs, I wonder if a short charge before a charger going offline or needing a reboot would count as “one charge”. If I understand correctly, if this happens twice, you may not be able to charge it again for the day.

Overall, I had a pleasant, yet very short drive in the bZ4X and would love to spend more time in it to get a proper feel. According to Toyota, the bZ4X it should launch in the first quarter of 2025, if there are no delays.