“Twin” Subaru Solterra: Toyota showed serial crossover bZ4X

The Japanese company decided to launch an electric SUV in production: the model is almost identical to the concept presented in April this year.

Toyota and Subaru have had joint projects since 2005 when Toyota bought a 9.5% stake in Fuji Heavy Industries (formerly Subaru). Subsequently, this package has grown: now the share of Toyota is already 20%. Recall that within the framework of the partnership, Japanese manufacturers have developed a new e-TNGA platform: several new products of the Toyota electric family, including the bZ4X crossover, will be built on the basis of this “trolley”.

Pictured: Toyota bZ4X

An experimental version of the new Toyota SUV was presented in April this year at the Shanghai Motor Show. The name of the production car was decided to remain the same as that of the show car: bZ4X. Recall that the first two letters of the name stand for “beyond zero” – this is the name of the entire project for the development of the “green line” (we emphasize that such machines have zero emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere).

Today, the Japanese company has declassified the commercial version of the Toyota bZ4X crossover. Visually, it practically does not differ from the pre-production version, which was shown in the spring. The electric car has short front and rear overhangs, the same smooth front without a separate plug instead of the traditional grille, the same optics as the LED head, a large air intake integrated into the lower part of the bumper. The wheel arches of the SUV are highlighted in black.

The Toyota bZ4X is comparable in size to the current RAV4 crossover. The length of the novelty is 4690 mm (90 mm more), the width is 1860 mm (5 mm more), the height is 1650 mm (35 mm less). At the same time, the distance between the axles is much larger: 2850 mm, which is 160 mm more than that of the Rafik. The interior of the novelty is very spacious: the legroom for the rear passengers is about 900 mm (about the same figure for the flagship Lexus LS).

Pictured: Toyota bZ4X sedan

Toyota bZ4X has a virtual “trim” located at the level of the driver's eyes so that he is less distracted from the road. The diagonal of the company's digital instrument cluster is yet to be named, as is the large screen of the infotainment system, which is located in the center of the dashboard. By the way, not only multimedia content, but also a number of Toyota Safety Sense driver assistants can be updated “over the air”. For a fee, Toyota will offer buyers a “by-wire” steering system, in which the steering wheel takes the place of a conventional steering wheel.

The base front-wheel drive version of the Toyota bZ4X has a 204 horsepower electric motor. The all-wheel drive version is equipped with two electric motors (one for each axle) with a capacity of 109 hp each. The total power of this power plant is 218 hp. The weight of the front-wheel drive crossover is 1920 kg, it takes 8.4 seconds to accelerate from zero to “hundreds”. While the “electric parquet” with all-wheel drive, which weighs 2005 kg, takes 7.7 seconds.

In the photo: Toyota bZ4X sedan (with steering wheel)

For either option, only the lithium-ion traction battery is offered, with a capacity of 71.4 kWh. The cruising range is approximately 500 and 460 km, respectively (the calculation was made according to the WLTC cycle). It is worth noting that a solar panel is offered as an option, which is installed in the roof area. A maximum of a year from it you can walk about 1.8 thousand kilometers.

Production of the new Toyota bZ4X electric crossovers will be launched at factories in Japan and China. The model will be global: the company intends to sell it, including in North America and Europe. The cars will arrive at car dealerships in mid-2022. Recall that the model will have a “twin” from Subaru: the Solterra crossover will officially debut soon, and the company has published only teasers of the future “green” novelty.