Earlier today, Toyota and Lexus debuted some improved and some new electric vehicles. The event was focused on the European market, where battery EV penetration is relatively high, and I wouldn’t expect either the Urban Cruiser or C-HR+ crossovers to show up on sale in the US. But we’ll likely find the upgrades to the Toyota bZ4x and the closely related Lexus RZ, or at least some of them, in North American models at some point.
The revised bZ4x will come in three powertrain options, at least in the EU, all with new battery packs. There’s a 165 hp (123 kW) front-wheel drive version coupled to a smaller-capacity 57.7 kWh battery pack (which I would not expect to come to the US), and then 221 hp (165 kW) FWD and 337 (252 kW) all-wheel drive options, both of which use a new 73.1 kWh battery pack.
For comparison, the bZ4xs that went on sale in the US several years ago are offered with either a 71.4 kWh pack for FWD or a 72.8 kWh pack for AWD versions.
Toyota
The Euro-spec bZ4x.
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Toyota
There are still two battery packs, but neither is the same as the two battery packs in the US version.
Toyota
The Euro-spec bZ4x.
Toyota
There are still two battery packs, but neither is the same as the two battery packs in the US version.
Toyota
The increased output from the electric motors is in part thanks to silicon carbide in the power electronics. Toyota says they can tow twice as much as before—3,300 lbs (1,500 kg). As for improvements to range, the automaker expects to improve the longest-range version to grow from 318 miles (510 km) to 356 miles (573 km) under the European WLTP tests. (To illustrate the difference between results on the EU and EPA test cycles, the longest-range US version is rated at 252 miles (405 km) of range, and there’s not a simple conversion factor; the tests are very different.)