24hr Test Drive Feedback

[Gray86]

I’ve borrowed a BZ4X today for 24hrs, whilst my Corolla has been in for inspection. 
 

it’s the ‘Motion’ spec, FWD, covered in advertising stickers.

when I got in the Battery was 100% charged, and range was showing. 220 miles, with heating on (17.5 degrees) & heated seats on. Ambient temps were 7 degrees C. 
 

I drove the same route back that I’d driven to the dealer in my 2.0 Corolla, which managed 60mpg, the BZ did 3.1 miles /kwh. after a day of mixed driving and ambient temps improving marginally, I saw an average of 3.2 miles / kWh, although I did explore the acceleration a few times. I’ve done around 100 miles, and have just over 100 left. So range prediction is there or thereabouts. 
 

Driving: it’s smooth, effortless and nippy - just as you expect from an EV. the ride & handling is very good for a heavy EV, and ride quality is only marginally behind my Corolla. Steering well weighted too. Road noise not excessive. 
 

interior: seats are great (Toyota seats always are), headroom is a bit better than the Corolla thanks to slightly better interior height. Boot cover isn’t as good as the Corolla TS, but boot size is decent. Electric boot is slow (as expected). 
 

Tech: the system that monitors your eyes is a bit annoying, and doesn’t like your hand being over it. Lane tracing constantly vibrating steering wheel when passing cars parked at side of the road. The displays are great, and I’ve no issue reading the Speedo over the steering wheel. A lot of beeps & bongs from all the systems gets a little annoying sometimes. 
 

Comparison: I test drove a Tesla Model Y (RWD) a couple of weeks ago, just for an hour, but I’ve driven a Model 3 for 500 miles 18 months ago. The Tesla is much firmer riding, and a wider & slightly longer car. The Tesla tech, performance, interior space & quality are generally superior, but reliability is a concern. The supercharger network and charging speed is far superior to any other brand has to tolerate with public chargers. By comparison the BZ4X charges maximum at 100kw (if the charger will offer it) and the Tesla 250kw. 
 

I’m keeping my Corolla for a little while, but with having the wife’s EV in the household and therefore having a home charger and Inteligent Octopus tariff, it’s hard to ignore the lure of 7.5p / kWh and £5 to charge, versus a £50 fill up on petrol. 

[Chris 101]

I’m having the same dilemma between BZ4X and Tesla Y RWD

Incidentally the RWD Tesla charges at a max of 170kWh and The FWD BZ4X is a max of 150kWh so fairly close on paper but think the charging curve on Tesla is better plus full use of the Supercharger network for now

I felt the BZ was a nicer drive, steering felt better, Tesla has a slight dead feeling which improved a bit when I put it in the comfort setting, Tesla felt more airy inside, BZ felt a little cramped and hit elbow on centre console until I jacked seat up (I’m relatively skinner as well) but this meant I had no problem seeing driver display

Tesla seems more efficient, can’t get my head around Toyotas figures they say WLTP is 4.2kW/m which ties in with their claim of 310miles from 71kWh Battery but have read reports that there is quite a large buffer at both top and bottom end which ties in with a real world figure of 200-240 miles

Decisions decisions

 

[Gray86]

9 hours ago, Chris 101 said:

I’m having the same dilemma between BZ4X and Tesla Y RWD

Incidentally the RWD Tesla charges at a max of 170kWh and The FWD BZ4X is a max of 150kWh so fairly close on paper but think the charging curve on Tesla is better plus full use of the Supercharger network for now

I felt the BZ was a nicer drive, steering felt better, Tesla has a slight dead feeling which improved a bit when I put it in the comfort setting, Tesla felt more airy inside, BZ felt a little cramped and hit elbow on centre console until I jacked seat up (I’m relatively skinner as well) but this meant I had no problem seeing driver display

Tesla seems more efficient, can’t get my head around Toyotas figures they say WLTP is 4.2kW/m which ties in with their claim of 310miles from 71kWh battery but have read reports that there is quite a large buffer at both top and bottom end which ties in with a real world figure of 200-240 miles

Decisions decisions

 

It’s a tough one. I’ve found a 13 month old Model Y long range with a great spec, and jumped on it. I collect it a week tomorrow! 

[Cyker]

I'd never get a Tesla because I hate the interface, but if you want an EV that you can use for something other than local journeys, they are still the only real choice if you don't want to get charging rage  

The sharp contrast in experience between the Tesla Superchargers and all the other third-party chargers is ridiculous, and it's going to hamper the proliferation of other EVs until the other chargers can get their act together.

 

[wivenhoe]

I totally agree about the interface - why they don’t provide a HUD with speedo baffles me. Having to look down to see the speed isn’t something I would be happy with. Tesla have opened a fair number of supercharging sites to non Tesla’s. 

[Cyker]

That will hopefully help, although you need a smartphone and Tesla app and Tesla account to use them - No contactless payment.

Hopefully they get less janky for third-party cars - I've heard a lot of people having trouble with them or getting slow charging speeds in Euro countries and the USA where they have already opened up some of their network.

With Teslas they mostly Just Work, which is how all the chargers should be, instead of messing about with apps and having to call up the support lines.

 

[Chris 101]

I think going forward it’s going to be a requirement to have payment facilities on the charger so hopefully Tesla will do this on the sites they are opening up to all

The Speedo on Tesla is a lot easier to read than I thought, it’s only just to left of left hand, you don’t have to look down as much as a traditional Speedo although HUD would be better

[Audrius1970]

I did test drive Kona and C4, fall in love with head up displays 🙂

Extra safety option- eyes always on the road, so couple miligrams stress chemicals out of my blood while Im driving 😁 I sat in Tesla and speedo somewhere between passenger legs gave me goose bumps lol. But I take hat down to Tesla pilot, I love tech. Except I heard Tesla firm drive, did not had chance to test it.

[Gray86]

1 hour ago, Chris 101 said:

I think going forward it’s going to be a requirement to have payment facilities on the charger so hopefully Tesla will do this on the sites they are opening up to all

The Speedo on Tesla is a lot easier to read than I thought, it’s only just to left of left hand, you don’t have to look down as much as a traditional Speedo although HUD would be better

The new V4 superchargers have payment facilities on them. Just the older v3 chargers (which are open - limited number ) are app only 

[Harters]

With all the Dealer incentives going at the moment for the BZ4X and the big discounts through Car Wow, we took a Vision FWD out for a test drive yesterday.   We were very impressed with the ride on the 20" wheels and the performance too.  I got 3.3 miles/kWh which I was happy considering it was pouring with rain, so lights, wipers A/C (Eco) etc. so happy with that.  Did a mixture of roads including motorway and had some quite heavy traffic too. I had no issue with seeing the instruments over the steering wheel, not as good as my current HUD, but still nice and loved all the new central screen and tech onboard.

The main problem I had was with the drivers seating position which felt a bit odd and it played up my sciatica, but I had no issue in the passenger seat.  I worked out that the drivers seat was slightly higher than the passenger seat when both are on their lowest setting, probably due to the electric motors in the drivers seat.  I felt vey much that I was sat on the car, rather than in it and obviously the small difference in seat height made a big difference to my comfort.  We were looking get one with the panoramic roof, but I am very long in the body and I already felt very close to the roof lining, so would only imagine it would be worse with a panoramic roof fitted.

The other issue we had was the numerous clicks, crackles and creaks in the cabin which really surprised us, my near 7 year old Prius cabin barely makes a noise.  I know people will say the car is so quiet without an engine, but half the time, my engine isn't on anyway. 😁

it's a shame as it is an amazingly good value car with the offers, but just not for me.  I await with anticipation the Gen 5 Prius and the other BZ cars coming soon.