Battery capacity/miles

[TraceyD]

Hi our Toyota BZ4X is our 2nd full electric car, and we only changed to this as we wanted more miles per charge. I love the car and how it drives. But 1 big problem we are having with Toyota dealership is that the car advertises 100% charge will show 318 miles. I know as soon as you turn it on etc that goes down depending on driving etc. But should show approximately 318 miles, yet we have had ours for just under 2 months and it has only ever charged to 212 miles on 100% . Does anyone else have this problem. Which is only 2/3 of what it should. Any ideas please.

[JonathanP]

Unfortunately the 318 is 'best conditions' tested in a lab that no car will ever actually get.
212 does seem very low though as mine usually reports around 270 on a 100% charge.

How do you have the climate controls set, as that can make a huge difference.
I have everything set to auto and I don't usually have the car too hot.

If you don't see any improvement check with the dealer that the car has the relevant software updates. Though if it's not got last years update I believe you don't see a Battery percentage.

[philip42h]

16 hours ago, TraceyD said:

Hi our Toyota BZ4X is our 2nd full electric car, and we only changed to this as we wanted more miles per charge. I love the car and how it drives. But 1 big problem we are having with Toyota dealership is that the car advertises 100% charge will show 318 miles. I know as soon as you turn it on etc that goes down depending on driving etc. But should show approximately 318 miles, yet we have had ours for just under 2 months and it has only ever charged to 212 miles on 100% . Does anyone else have this problem. Which is only 2/3 of what it should. Any ideas please.

I assume that your car is FWD? Toyota say: "The bZ4X has an official driving range (WLTP standard) of 318 miles for the FWD version". As Jonathan says, this would be in a lab, on a rolling round without air resistance, and at around 20 degrees C.

What the car actually shows is the estimated range based on recent driving performance rather than a WLTP theoretical figure. You say you have had the car for two months - so February and March - and while we haven't had a particularly cold winter, the average temperature will have been around 10 degrees or less. And you've probably been using the heating a bit?

Take a look at the Toyota Range Calculator and feed in the details of your car and typical usage pattern - what does that suggest you should be seeing? It will, probably, show something closer to your actual experience.

[TonyHSD]

Well, as mentioned above the higher numbers are simply a good old advertisement similar to their hybrid cars back in the days that were showing 74.5mpg for Auris hybrid in the brochure where in real world you will eventually get up to 55mpg with careful driving. 
In any bev in real world scenarios you will be able to get 60% of its initial range means success! 👌

[wivenhoe]

Real world range is totally variable - temperature, average speed, aircon etc.  There are a couple of really informative and independent websites that give the real world range in differing conditions. Try this one - https://ev-database.org/uk/car/1564/Toyota-bZ4X-FWD

[Thanos74]

Hello Tracey. I have the AWD version since December 2022. When I first drove the car the estimated range was 254 miles. Last summer the range improved considerably. Now I am getting almost 305 miles with the temperatures hovering around 25 degrees C.

So from my experience, the car's range could potentially get considerably better, but it depends on many variables as said before.

[SueLH]

Hi, this is my first post. My BZ4X is currently at the dealership after suffering a 12volt failure (I think). I picked it up 3weeks ago and my best mileage is 220. It’s an AWD so your mileage sounds much better.

[Andy BZ4x]

I have the AWD & 220 sounds about right, It increased to 250 last summer & dropped to about 200 in the winter - currently its about 230, but you would need to reduce this by about 10% for motorways.

[SueLH]

Issue with the 12volt Battery was sorted when dealer fitted new one.Current issue is with dash cam which is constantly making a descending tone sound every 20 seconds and it is absolutely driving me mad. Been back to dealers more times than I can remember but still no solution. I’ve unplugged the dash cam as noise is unbearable. Dealership looking to replace this also. Bring back my RAV!

[JonathanP]

The Dashcam is likely to be a Nextbase as Toyota don't make them just that dealerships usually have a deal with a company.
Did you supply the SD card for the camera or the dealer? Only the Nextbase website says that beeping is usually an issue with the SD card which is either too slow for the camera or has some other issue (SD cards can and do fail) and Amazon is full of fake SD cards.

If you used your own SD card I would suggest getting a new one, get a recognised brand and if using Amazon look for ones which are shipped directly by Amazon (not resellers).

 

Nextbase SD Card

[SueLH]

Hi, it’s a Nextbase 380GWX. I’ve removed front camera from car and it’s still making the noise in the house. I’ve spoken to the dealer and they are going to replace entire system. As soon as the camera was removed the range on the car increased immediately by 30 mls. On viewing the SD the dash cam has recorded every second since I collected the car even when parked overnight. I’m thinking that might have had an impact on the 12v Battery failure which dealer also replaced.

[philip42h]

18 minutes ago, SueLH said:

On viewing the SD the dash cam has recorded every second since I collected the car even when parked overnight.

That sounds as though the dealer has installed it onto the "wrong side of the ignition switch" - yes, I know it doesn't actually have an ignition switch! But the Dashcam should not be powered when the car if Off (unless a Parking mode Battery is installed, perhaps?)

[SueLH]

I must also add that this morning my scheduled early morning charge resulted in an extra 40 miles when the dash cam was removed.I also actually enjoyed my drive today without the usual constant noise from the dash cam.