first impressions

[gingertips]

So first impressions of driving the BZ4X Pure for 1 day.  I'm hoping the no Android Auto through bluetooth is just me being thick.

• No rear wiper - what an awful idea! Had to keep heated rear windscreen on to try and clear the water! Do you get used to it, or do you end up manually clearing it with a squeegee before heading off?!!!
• No Android Auto via bluetooth - this one really surprised me given that my wife's 3 year old Kamiq does.  And the phone "dock" that you can't close because your phone won't fit in when you connect it to the single Android Auto USB socket is completely mental! How did this get past their useability tests?!!!
• Drive, power steering, handling & noise are all fab. Really pleased with how it drives.
• Armrest & arm-rest on the door - not enough padding/material, so its pretty uncomfortable on a drive.  Not impressed.  Also find the seat is not that comfortable
• The charging cable was missing, but charging bag was open so Im hoping dealer accidentally removed it to charge the car & I can get this sorted quickly as I get free charging at work!
• Screen on the Pure is tiny, but I knew that when I ordered
• Reversing Camera, adaptive cruise control, keyless entry & steering wheel controls are fab to see on base model. I would readily have traded steering wheel controls & reverse camera for bluetooth Android Auto & a rear wiper!!!
• Think very carefully about buying the base model  - I'm regretting it!!!

[wivenhoe]

You don’t get a rear wiper or Android Auto on bluetooth on a £ 73k Lexus RZ Takumi either so it’s not just the Pure ! The rear screen does clear on a run but not much when crawling  around town. 

[David Vel]

Have mine almost 1yr. No problem with having no rear wiper, didn't even realise did not have one for first few weeks. Never seem to have a problem with the back window. It does not get very dirty. Think something to do with the way the air is directed over it.

[David Vel]

Steering wheel controls are fantastic. Would not be without them.

Charging cable was in mine when I got it, in a sealed bag.

[Mister Mike]

I miss having a rear wiper. There are definitely times when the rear window gets obscured.

[JonathanP]

Just had a look on the Love Electric website and understand some of your disappointment. The pictures on the website are clearly not the Pure model which is on offer. The big giveaway is the multimedia screen being the 12.5" version in the picture.
If I ordered from them I would be very disappointed to find it didn't match the pictures.
Very poor they are using pictures of the wrong model car.

[Audrius1970]

gingertips thanks for sharing impressions, I ordered Bz4x Motion trim without test drive and that give me more assurance now. 

Funny thing about rear wiper. 4y ago I had Honda Jazz, heavily underpowered and slow car. I hate tailgating so I was constantly using rear wiper just to watch every day inpatient drivers behind me with blinking lights, even put sign at back window "No tailgating , please" 🙂

When I got my first EV, Leaf, with ~7s smth acceleration, I noticed, that there's nothing to watch in rear window-90% of time there no car behind me-they simply cant keep up with me. Last week my rear wiper rubber kinda feel of and I understand, that I don't care... Anyhow-will buy some water repellent just in case.

What strange for me that as I understand there's only 1 USB for Android Auto? So weird.

Also no e-pedal, still creeping on low speed, so sad...In my leaf one pedal driving is awesome. Will miss for sure heating steering wheel, also sad

[G S]

22 hours ago, gingertips said:

So first impressions of driving the BZ4X Pure for 1 day.  I'm hoping the no Android Auto through Bluetooth is just me being thick.

• No rear wiper - what an awful idea! Had to keep heated rear windscreen on to try and clear the water! Do you get used to it, or do you end up manually clearing it with a squeegee before heading off?!!!
• No Android Auto via Bluetooth - this one really surprised me given that my wife's 3 year old Kamiq does.  And the phone "dock" that you can't close because your phone won't fit in when you connect it to the single Android Auto USB socket is completely mental! How did this get past their useability tests?!!!

No rear wiper is least of the issues with this car. in 15000 miles I can't say I have ever bothered to clean it (other than when the whole car gets clean) or use the heated rear window. You will soon forget this non issue and get annoyed with the slow charging in winter instead

Android Auto and my phone not fitting in the dock on the other hand drives me insane every time I plug in so I am totally with you there

[gingertips]

18 hours ago, G S said:

No rear wiper is least of the issues with this car. in 15000 miles I can't say I have ever bothered to clean it (other than when the whole car gets clean) or use the heated rear window. You will soon forget this non issue and get annoyed with the slow charging in winter instead

Android Auto and my phone not fitting in the dock on the other hand drives me insane every time I plug in so I am totally with you there

yes the phone not fitting has now become my biggest hate!!! 

Ive just ordered a Motorola wireless android auto car adapter after seeing it mentioned in this forum https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09PQ95GY4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Will then plan on keeping the motorola plugged in, inside the phone dock & then connect my Pixel up to the USB C port below for power.  Will let you know how I get on

 

[ernieb]

I bought the Motorola AA adapter for my PHEV. It works really well with the occasional reboot but overall OK. The only downside it that the phone does not charge and the drain using the adapter can be high if it’s a long trip.

[Bilthehut]

On 2/2/2024 at 10:55 AM, Mister Mike said:

I miss having a rear wiper. There are definitely times when the rear window gets obscured.

Rain-ex makes a difference but not as good as a rear wiper.  However, I tend to squeegee the windows before departing.

[adidev]

I'm sorry guys, but I don't understand all this drama with the rear wiper. I have Prius+ and, on the last service, guys told me they replaced the rear wiper for free as it disintegrated itself. I don't use it, side mirrors and visibility through the rear window are good enough for me without using the rear wiper. There are much worse things that obscure the vision like the massive front posts between windscreen and the doors - I had times when not only a pedestrian (and we know how they walk in London), but a whole car managed to hide in this blind spot. I'm hoping, when finally got enough £££ to upgrade, all the safety features will help with this 😉

[Audrius1970]

I agree on last one. My Nissan wiper also disintegrated  lately and I got surprised that I dont need it anymore. I caught myself on thoughts that only reason I watching rear window, that whos behind me because of tailgating. On my underpowered Honda ICE, tailgating was an issue, which drove me crazy. But since I got EV, I noticed, that no one behind me, obsolete ICE cant keep up with me.
Theres times on motorway, when because of high speeds, I want to double check before changing lanes, so thats only. 
When reversing, I fully trust reversing camera and since I got 360, dont even care look at mirrors of back window ever.

To be honest, sometimes I feel better when I clean rear window once per week manually, maybe its mine OCD, hard to say... But logically its just for comfort feeling, same as clean door handles, yeah. wiper never get me that comfort feeling anyway. 

One week left to collect my long waited Bz4x 😉

[Mister Mike]

You might feel happy with an obscured rear window in the rain. I am not. One other thing: the rear camera can easily become next to useless in wet weather. The last thing I want to do after a rainy journey is get out the car to clear the window or rear camera before I try reversing into my destination.

[Audrius1970]

10 hours ago, Mister Mike said:

One other thing: the rear camera can easily become next to useless in wet weather

Yeah camera in wet sucks, I got kinda of habit clean before I unlock car. Theres cars on market with camera wash, not sure how water healing with water works. Also VW got back camera hidden under Badge, which opens when you reversing, thats clever. 

[wivenhoe]

My Lexus RZ doesn’t have a rear wiper but the camera has a wash - you just push the stalk for rear camera and pull for front screen.