New Toyota bZ4X Touring arrives in the UK with hefty £46k price tag
Regular Toyota bZ4X not big enough for you? Here’s the larger Touring model
Toyota has been going big on its all-electric models recently with the all-new Urban Cruiser, the C-HR+ and the Hilux BEV pick-up. The bZ4X also received a mid-life update and to go with it there’s now a more practical version, the bZ4X Touring.
We first saw the bZ4X Touring a year ago and we’ve even driven it over in the US where it’s been on sale for a few months already. Now, pricing has been announced for the car that will rival the likes of the Skoda Enyaq, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the Tesla Model Y.
Ditching the base Icon trim level available in the standard bZ4X (which starts at £38,495), the bZ4X Touring line up begins with Design grade at £45,995 before climbing to £51,695 for the Excel.
Mirroring the equipment levels in the regular bZ4X, the Touring in Design trim gets a 14.3-inch touchscreen, a wireless smartphone charger, heated front seats, an electric bootlid, dual-zone air conditioning, four USB charging ports and two wireless smartphone chargers.
With the Excel you get a 22kW on-board charger instead of an 11kW cable, 20-inch alloy wheels, a fixed panoramic roof, synthetic leather upholstery, ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, a digital rear-view mirror plus the option of a JBL sound system.
Toyota bZ4X Touring: practicality
Much more of an SUV in size and stature than the standard bZ4X, the Touring is aimed at those who need room in their electric cars. There’s loads more luggage space, plus all the technical upgrades recently introduced when the standard bZ4X was updated.
The key change to the Touring is its body, which is 140mm longer and 20mm taller than the existing bZ4X. This creates more room inside, with boot capacity increased by around a third to 600 litres. The second row should also benefit from more headroom, and an added sense of space thanks to bigger windows and a more open interior layout.
Toyota has also fitted new roof rails that are rated to carry up to 70kg, and towing capacity is boosted to 1,500kg – two new attributes that make this much more suitable for outdoor types who like to haul caravans or sleep in roof-top tents.
Toyota bZ4X Touring: powertrains
The bZ4X will be available with two powertrains, both powered by the same updated 74.7kWh battery pack that was revealed in the regular car’s facelift a few months ago. The first, single-motor version produces 221bhp and is capable of a WLTP range of up to 366 miles – a huge increase on early bZ4X models.
The single motor is also the only option for the Design grade, if you go for the Excel you get a more powerful 376bhp dual-motor with its second motor also delivering all-wheel drive - lowering the 0-62mph time from 7.3 seconds to 4.5 seconds. In order to make the most of this added driveability, Toyota’s X-Mode is fitted, which will augment the power delivery to help in slippery conditions. Due to the all-wheel drive system, range dips to 297 miles.
Both powertrains allow 150kW DC fast charging with a 10 to 80 per cent top-up taking half an hour. These are not quite class-leading figures, but they’re no longer a million miles away in terms of range, as the previous-generation bZ4X was.
Don’t forget you can search for loads of great used Toyota bZ4X models on the Auto Express Buy A Car service with prices starting below £20,000.
