YouTube’s ‘Car Care Nut’ review of BZ4X

[Gray86]

Well respected Toyota master tech does a thorough technical review on the BZ4X:

 

 

[Bper]

I have watched his videos over the years and find him very knowledgeable and helpful, and he tells you what issues he has encountered on the models he has previously worked on.

It's always good to get the pros and cons along with the mechanics from an actual Toyota technician who works on them.

 

 

[OldSteve]

He does say he generally likes the car but what kills it for him is the range, especially with air con on; and charging times.

We would all like an EV with a longer range but I think most of us generally find it reasonably close to as advertised which compares well with most, excluding Tesla and a few expensive others. It actually compares very well with, for example, the iPace in this respect.

He says air con knocks a third to a half off the range, I haven't checked across a full charge but it doesn't seem that the loss is that great to me.

As he says, the slow charge is to preserve the Battery and he feels Toyota have gone over the top. I've never had to fast charge and it's not a problem for me and I appreciate the Battery preservation ethos.

Another comment was that it didn't feel innovative enough for an EV. Compare it to the Volvo XC40 Recharge which really is an ICE with an electric motor replacement - it even has the restricted legroom and transmission hump in the rear!

Like many others, he says he can't get the steering wheel or himself into a position where he can see all of the dash instrumentation. All I can say is, I must be a different (better?) shape to everybody else as I have never had this problem.

The BZ4X certainly isn't perfect but I feel it more than holds its own with other EV's at similar price points.

 

[Roy124]

I wonder if his finding regarding AirCon is a function of where he lives in the US.

[Torrox]

I have watched this video and I agreed with him about Toyota didn't really want to make EV, so the bz4x was like a token offering, a not so serious attempt.

[Roy124]

Their hydrogen product is limited by the willingness of third parties to provide the infrastructure. 

EV is similarly,  though not absolutely,  dependent on third parties.  At least with EV many people can use a 13amp socket in extremis.

With Western States hell bent on abandoning fossil fuels, Toyota has finally realised that an EV product is the only way to continue sales, at least until H has a sufficient infrastructure. 

[Yugguy1970]

Aye, I just want a hydrogen version of my petrol hybrid.

I wish there were hydrogen pumps at every petrol station.

[swoop5511]

For the most part, hydrogen is currently not produced cleanly. At best you could argue that if generated as a by-product of newest-gen nuclear reactors its clean - and ya good luck arguing that one. The delivery infrastructure (go watch a video of a mirai being refulled ...), lack of "pumps" aside, makes this a no-go no matter how hard the industry is pushing for it. 

Hydrogen will function as a niche in areas where electrification is not economical - i.e. some rural trains or heavy-duty lorries. 

[Stopeter44]

1 hour ago, swoop5511 said:

For the most part, hydrogen is currently not produced cleanly. At best you could argue that if generated as a by-product of newest-gen nuclear reactors its clean - and ya good luck arguing that one.

Yes, that argument depends entirely on one's point of view. I'm not going down that rabbit hole.

For the most part, up to now, OTOH, hydrogen is made from methane (CH4 - One carbon atom to 4 hydrogen atoms) in the process carbon dioxide is produced. Where does that go ? Some of it goes into soft drinks for the fizz. 

Various reports I have seen suggest the Hydrogen is only truly useful for heavy duty usage, i.e. trucks and busses.

[Cyker]

Yeah hydrogen is literally worse than fossil fuels right now because of how it's made in bulk - You'd be better off using the fossil fuels and feedstock used to make the hydrogen to fuel cars!  

Maybe in the future when we have a huge excess of solar and wind power, or if we make it to space and e.g. start mining Jupiter and Saturn for hydrogen (I made a small business of that back in the day in Frontier: Elite 2 with my Panther Clipper and its hydrogen fuel scoop  ), but that's not likely to happen any time soon. 

We just need better batteries or some alternative way to store electricity en-mass. Come on Mr Fusion...!  

[Proof]

I am glad to see these guys videos on here, he came up on my youtube algorithm awhile back, his production videos and knowledge are great.