First impressions: Toyota bz4X

At home on the road and in the field

The Toyota bz4X is available in two versions. The lighter model with a longer range of 436 kilometers on a single charge has front-wheel drive and an output of 150 kW. But the more powerful “quad” adds a unit to the rear wheels. It reaches a combined output of 160 kW and a range of 411 kilometers. We tested the latter in almost the highest version Executive. It is a car for 1,495,000 crowns. The complete price list of the Toyota bz4X, including equipment and technical data, can be found at our catalog here.

We took the car on two circuits, first a short one around Copenhagen Airport and overlooking the famous bridge to Sweden and then on a hundred-kilometer journey through the Danish countryside. It should be noted that the operation cannot withstand comparisons with the Czech one. The highway has a limit of 110 km / h, districts 80 km / h, but drivers often drive 10 to 20 km / h slower. To this is added a relatively flat profile, where there were only a few sharp turns and terrain waves for the whole trip, which was supplemented by a withdrawal speed of 60 km / h. Hell on earth for a Czech driver, an ideal place for an electric car to show off with range and consumption.

But Toyota left an impression mainly on its dynamics. The all-wheel drive model accelerates from zero to 100 km / h in 6.9 seconds, which is a very good value for a two-tonne SUV. That is why we managed to overtake several crawling Danes, which obviously surprised and frightened them. The final consumption for the two circuits was 18 kWh per 100 km, which is good, but not excellent. With a longer test, we might achieve less. However, in Denmark, an electric car with a battery capacity of 71.4 kWh (Toyota states that it can be used immediately) would cover 396 kilometers. That’s really a usable distance! However, the on-board computer stayed closer to the ground and showed values ​​a few tens of kilometers lower. However, the results in the Czech environment will be especially interesting, which we have to wait until the standard weekly test.

However, the all-wheel drive version also allows for off-road use, which is why it has X-Mode on unpaved surfaces or snow. It also includes a system for slow driving, where you just have to select a button, take your foot off the throttle and the bz4X will make a difficult climb on its own, without the need to slip its wheels. The hill descent assistant is a matter of course. We tested both functions on a small off-road polygon that Toyota prepared for us at the CopenHill ski slope in Copenhagen. Yes, in Denmark they have a ski slope with a year-round ski season.

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