BZ4X First drive

[Skincue]

Hi all,

just back from the dealership today after a service on my Rav, they had a nice shiny BZ4X sitting outside, so asked if I could have a drive , sorry they said not type approved yet even though it was registered after a bit of back and forth they let go with trade plates fitted!

So of I went on my own after about 20 miles good drive, well impressed with the car, drove nice and smooth hardly any road noise from the tyres, the regeneration system will take a bit of getting used to, very strong at low speeds around town but on the open road at higher speeds less pronounced. Graphics were crisp with no lag, loads of room front and back plenty of adjustment on the drivers seat no problem getting into a nice position for driving. All in all a very nice car, the only gripe and a minor one at that is the alloys with plastic inserts to ‘ help the air flow over the tyres’

Any else drove one yet? and what are your impressions ?

[Cyker]

Just think of them as kerbing protectors  

[Harters]

I have got a test drive on Saturday which is my Dealers first day of test drives. They said they are hoping to have the Vision as the test drive car which is good. 
 

Not ready to change yet, but will be interesting to have a go. 

[HSDish]

Made a short 20 min. test drive in a top trim level Pearl white bZ4x, today. (while updating ECU on my RAV 4 PHEV

Verry nice car. A bit lower inside than our RAV 4 PHEV, but totaly ok. Could even load our daughters wheelchair in the boot when drop 60% reubikat (whe are never more than 3 pers, so one reubikat left is all we need. 

bZ4x are able to pre heat all heated seats and stearing wheel from the phone/app.

Passenger seat was manually adjustable in hight to

[Cyker]

5 minutes ago, HSDish said:

Could even load our daughters wheelchair in the boot when drop 60% reubikat (whe are never more than 3 pers, so one reubikat left is all we need. 

"rear seat" for those of you wondering  

[HSDish]

6 minutes ago, Cyker said:

"rear seat" for those of you wondering  

English is obviously not my native language 🙂

(Edited former post)

[Cyker]

No no it's not you, the forum's swearword filter will substitute the word ubik when it sees a certain sequence of letters that you get when e.g. you put the words "rear" and "seat" together  

This has led to some annoying, but occasionally hilarious results

[HSDish]

IMO bZ4x had a bit to much black highgloss plastic interior details and a bit to less real buttons at the screen. A bit like Prius PHV gen 2 (2017- )

[Spo2]

On 6/14/2022 at 4:26 PM, Skincue said:

Hi all,

just back from the dealership today after a service on my Rav, they had a nice shiny BZ4X sitting outside, so asked if I could have a drive , sorry they said not type approved yet even though it was registered after a bit of back and forth they let go with trade plates fitted!

So of I went on my own after about 20 miles good drive, well impressed with the car, drove nice and smooth hardly any road noise from the tyres, the regeneration system will take a bit of getting used to, very strong at low speeds around town but on the open road at higher speeds less pronounced. Graphics were crisp with no lag, loads of room front and back plenty of adjustment on the drivers seat no problem getting into a nice position for driving. All in all a very nice car, the only gripe and a minor one at that is the alloys with plastic inserts to ‘ help the air flow over the tyres’

Any else drove one yet? and what are your impressions ?

Did you find steering wheel obstructing the dashboard information display? The set up is like Peugeot, so was wondering about this. Have heard that Toyota will introduce yolk style steer by wire system which won't need crossing the arms while using. 

[HSDish]

My first and foremost impression of bZ4x is that its a very "lagom" (Swedish word for something like - not to much not to little / in the middle) electric car with over average qality and ability.

Couldent find any "glove box"

[Malop]

Picture of the passenger seat for those interested. 

[swoop5511]

10 hours ago, Spo2 said:

Did you find steering wheel obstructing the dashboard information display? The set up is like Peugeot, so was wondering about this. Have heard that Toyota will introduce yolk style steer by wire system which won't need crossing the arms while using. 

Quick note, from conversation with the dealer and also mentioned in a lot of the US youtube reviews. The dash is moved to act in place of a heads up display and/or negate the need or option of one. You're supposed to look over the wheel rather than through it as you would in a normal car. Obviously will depend on set up and how "you" fit, for me it was no problem. Most of the US reviewers also all stated it takes some getting used too, but quickly feels natural and comfortable. 

[ernieb]

I’ve not sat in the Toyota version but I have in the Subaru Solterra (same design essentially) with a standard steering wheel and at my height 1.78m (5’ 10”+) and the wheel and seating adjusted I could not comfortably see the MID display. The bottom half was blanked.

[Malop]

Just back from my test drive. Only got 30 minutes as the car is booked solid. Did A road and urban areas so max I got it up to was 50. Model was Motion FWD. Dealer had a Premier in the showroom for looking around. 

Really enjoyed it, no problem with positioning the seat and wheel to see the driver display comfortably and the ride was up to the usual Toyota standard. 
The driver monitor was interesting, doesn’t like your hands at the top of the wheel so I’ll need to get rid of some bad habits.

Acceleration was good. Got 3.8 miles per KwH out of it but really needs a motorway test to get real world results from it. 

[Cyker]

3.8miles/kWh is okay; At least it isn't dropping into the 2/2.5s like some of the giant barges! I would like to see more work to get back into the 4 and 5 mile/kWh range we saw on earlier EVs like the Zoe and Kona...

2 hours ago, swoop5511 said:

The dash is moved to act in place of a heads up display and/or negate the need or option of one. You're supposed to look over the wheel rather than through it as you would in a normal car. 

So is the steering wheel really low or, is the dash obstructing the forward view...? I've noticed this on a lot of modern cars - The amount of dashboard in my forward view is much higher than it really should be; The viewport of the Mk4 Yaris is a good example compared to virtually all previous Yarisusuesuis. The instruments aren't even mounted very high (They're so low I can't really see them without looking down!) but the dash is so big and deep and the roofline so low my forward view is much more restricted than previous models. The way it's boxed in by the A-pillars doesn't help either...

 

 

[Harters]

Back from my non-test drive, due to me not noticing that the dealer who phoned to arrange the test drive was not my usual one 🥴

Like others have said there was a Premium in the showroom and my initial thoughts were wow, its massive and looks good, but when I sat inside I was surprised at how small it felt compared to my Prius.  Very nice, but felt much more enclosed and nowhere near the amount of headroom as I am used to.  Also the plastic door handles felt very cheap, not the nice chrome metal ones I have now.  Masses of rear leg room, but no room under the front seats to enable you to stretch out.  Boot was bigger than I was expecting.

The steering wheel/display setup was not as bad as I thought, but not ideal.  I could get the steering wheel to not obscure the display, but it was virtually in my lap which I was not a fan off and that is with the driver's seat at its lowest setting.

Their test vehicle is a Motion and that came back from test drive just as we were leaving and on the smaller wheels it looked pretty unremarkable in my opinion, it needs the big wheels to make it look good.

We are going to have a test drive in a few weeks when they will start letting the car go unaccompanied. 

[Malop]

50 minutes ago, Harters said:

inside I was surprised at how small it felt compared to my Prius.

I agree with that. Not sure if it’s because the Pano Roof was shut or whether it was partially in my mind because of the dark interior.

Driving the Motion felt more “cocooned” than “enclosed” but still a feeling of less room. 
 

I did get used to the lower driving wheel position quite quickly so I’m not too concerned about that. 

[Broadway One]

On 5/14/2022 at 6:14 PM, Cyker said:

The biggest current problem is the charging infrastructure is just awful - Even EV enthusiasts agree there, which is why they keep harping on about home charging, which the majority of people in a city are unlikely to have access to.

Hi all......great posting. 

EV's are a great driving experience, but a close 2nd is convenience.

Without home or workplace charging it's got to be PHEV for the foreseeable IMO.

I'm retired living in an apartment, had our excellent indoor parking spaces had charging points or even the option to install one I would be looking to owning a bZ4X pronto.

As I intimate convenience is the main driver which totally excludes using the public network on all counts.

Barry Wright, Morecambe.

 

[Skincue]

Hi, 

when I first got in the car the seat was in the lowest position with the steering wheel obscuring the dash, with a bit of adjusting of the seat found a nice driving position with a unobstructed view of the dash, I guess how tall you are, I’m 5ft 10 will make a difference to some people.

[Nicolai]

On 6/17/2022 at 10:30 PM, HSDish said:

 A bit lower inside than our RAV 4 PHEV, but totaly ok. Could even load our daughters wheelchair in the boot when drop 60% reubikat (whe are never more than 3 pers, so one reubikat left is all we need. 

bZ4x are able to pre heat all heated seats and stearing wheel from the phone/app.

Passenger seat was manually adjustable in hight to

May I ask how old your daughter is or, more importantly: what is the size of the wheelchair? I need to BE ABLE to have a full size (adult) wheelchair in the boot along with crutches and weekend packaging although the wheelchair will hopefully be seldom as I am not dependent on one. But as a car for disabled driver, I must keep the car for eight years.

Coming from and Auris TS with a 520 liter boot, I'm vary whether or not the 450 liters in the BZ4X will be enough for holidays (don't want to fold rear seats accept in very rare cases.

I haven't driven it yet due the "wheel recall". But I noticed just turning on the AC reduces the predicted range by 100 ks or 60 miles. I originally wanted the AWD for extra safety during rainy and snowy days. But the range of the AWD (officially 450 Ks) with AV (320 Ks). Is low and that's before you press the accelerator. The main reason for me to consider the Toyota is the 240,000 ks and 90 percent efficiency of the Battery claim.

The EV6 goes further on a charge, has more power as AWD and more equipment as standard, but the warranty of the Battery is only 7 years and 70 percent efficiency for 150,000 ks.

Also, I really hated the LKA on the one I drove - constantly making adjustments. The LKA of the RAV4 PHEV is leagues better. Hoping the same will be true for the BZ4X.

 

[TonyHSD]

5 hours ago, Nicolai said:

May I ask how old your daughter is or, more importantly: what is the size of the wheelchair? I need to BE ABLE to have a full size (adult) wheelchair in the boot along with crutches and weekend packaging although the wheelchair will hopefully be seldom as I am not dependent on one. But as a car for disabled driver, I must keep the car for eight years.

Coming from and Auris TS with a 520 liter boot, I'm vary whether or not the 450 liters in the BZ4X will be enough for holidays (don't want to fold rear seats accept in very rare cases.

I haven't driven it yet due the "wheel recall". But I noticed just turning on the AC reduces the predicted range by 100 ks or 60 miles. I originally wanted the AWD for extra safety during rainy and snowy days. But the range of the AWD (officially 450 Ks) with AV (320 Ks). Is low and that's before you press the accelerator. The main reason for me to consider the Toyota is the 240,000 ks and 90 percent efficiency of the battery claim.

The EV6 goes further on a charge, has more power as AWD and more equipment as standard, but the warranty of the battery is only 7 years and 70 percent efficiency for 150,000 ks.

Also, I really hated the LKA on the one I drove - constantly making adjustments. The LKA of the RAV4 PHEV is leagues better. Hoping the same will be true for the BZ4X.

 

I haven’t been any close to bz4x yet but I am sure that turning ac ON won’t reduce range by 60 miles, it may reduce by 6 miles as it was my recent experience in a different ev with heat pump. These cars are not as bad. The boot space is plenty , ok little but less depth in comparison with estate Auris but overall not so small. My biggest issue will be with the steering wheel, what a horrible idea. I really gonna look elsewhere just because of this. , perhaps Hyundai or Lexus, depending on the budget. 

[Nicolai]

I have sat in a BZ4Z and pressing the AC button switching it on, the "range estimate in the driver's display did indeed drop by 60 miles. I saw this with my own eyes. When I had the seat and wheel as I wanted it, only the very lowest part of the driver's display was obscured. Hoping the info screen will all be above that line when driving.

[TonyHSD]

14 minutes ago, Nicolai said:

I have sat in a BZ4Z and pressing the AC button switching it on, the "range estimate in the driver's display did indeed drop by 60 miles. I saw this with my own eyes. When I had the seat and wheel as I wanted it, only the very lowest part of the driver's display was obscured. Hoping the info screen will all be above that line when driving.

Like this one, just taken these. 👌

[fourbanks]

 

[Cyker]

That and the Corvette are what started my obsessions with getting a digital dash!  

It does irk me a bit that in a lot of new cars they are putting in high-resolution digital dashboards... and then emulating old fashioned dials on them