Toyota bZ4X Review

Practicality and load space
Nothing that would put you off, or indeed sell the car particularly here - the bZ4X hits all the right notes without much flair. There’s plenty of space for front and rear passengers, with legroom in the back verging on the generous. Though there is a slight hump in the middle of the rear floor. Small-ish windows don’t make it feel overly airy, mind you. As far as the boot goes, 452-litres seats up is good, with a nice low/wide hatchback that makes for a convenient shape to load. No word on how big the volume is seats-down, but more of the same is likely; class standards without blowing your mind. All in all though, the bZ4X feels spacious enough both in terms of passenger and cargo volume, without any surprises. 

Technology
Toyota is pretty good at driver-assistance tech, and the bZ4X gets a full complement of digital helpers. Toyota calls it ’T-Mate’, and it covers a lot of gear. Everything from pre-collision systems to intersection turn assistance, emergency steering assist, front cross traffic alert and even a system called safe exit assist that stops you opening a door into traffic. This all happens with the help of upgraded front cameras and radar on the front and sides. 

Then there’s the in-cabin tech, which covers all the usual bases like android Auto and Apple CarPlay, cloud-based navigation that journey and charging planning, voice control and on-board assistant. There’s over-the-air upgrade capability, decent audio and air-con as standard. You can even option an ‘Advanced Park’ system which can park the car remotely. So its covered for pretty much anything you ant to throw at it. There is also an option - not bound for the UK just yet - of a solar panel roof that Toyota reckons can add as much as 1,800km of driving charge. As long as you live in California, presumably. 

Safety
The bZ4X is too new to have gone through the official tests as yet, but seeing as the battery is a structural part of the car’s body, and Toyota makes a great deal of the car’s rigidity and safety systems, you can pretty much bet on a top score for the bZ4X. There’s even a system called ‘Safety Sense’ which monitors the driver’s posture to make sure that they’re not feeling sleepy or unwell - and it’ll trigger a warning if it thinks you’re not paying enough attention.