One year report on my bZ4X FWD (Motion)

[dab1054]

One year report on my bZ4X FWD (Motion)

I’ve had my bZ4X for over a year now. Overall, I’ve been extremely happy with it. I kept records of monthly efficiency for exactly a year (until the new MyToyota app in Nov last year suddenly did not record efficiency…).

There is always concern about range and efficiency when you buy a new EV so these numbers can be useful for those thinking of buying or as a comparison for others who already have one of the bZ4X models.

These numbers were taken from the MyT app. Nov 22 to April 23 were on the original software. May to Nov 23 on the updated software which brought efficiency calculations in line with standard practice. You can see the improvement in efficiency as we moved into the summer months. The driving was a mixture of short/city trips, longer motorway driving and a 2000+ mile trip to France/Switzerland/Italy last summer.

Annual Efficiency from MyT app: 4.51 ml/kWh, 22.17 kWh/100ml

Annual Efficiency Calculated from actual charging kWh: 4.09 ml/kWh, 24.4 kWh/100ml (and yes, I did record every single kWh put into the car…)

(Note that the difference between these two annual efficiency values above represents the losses during the charging process which for me are around 9.5% which seems typical of other reported values)

Monthly efficiencies

Nov 22 - 26.6 kWh/100ml (3.8 ml/kWh) 833 ml

Dec 22 - 32.7 kWh/100ml (3.1 ml/kWh) 811 ml

Jan 23 - 30.3 kWh/100ml (3.3 ml/kWh) 638 ml

Feb 23 - 24.4 kWh/100ml (4.1 ml/kWh) 417 ml

Mar 23 - 25.1 kWh/100ml (3.8 ml/kWh) 445 ml

April 23 - 24.2 kWh/100ml (4.0 ml/kWh) 929 ml

May 23 - 20.8 kWh/100ml (4.8 ml/kWh) 818 ml

June 23 - 21.7 kWh/100ml (4.6 ml/kWh) 2181 ml

July 23 - 21.3 kWh/100ml (4.7 ml/kWh) 707 ml

Aug 23 - 21.0 kWh/100ml (4.8 ml/kWh) 835 ml

Sept 23 - 20.8kWh/100ml (4.8 ml/kWh) 629 ml

Oct 23 - 22.2 kWh/100ml (4.5 ml/kWh) 1000 ml

What I have liked about the car are build quality, superb driving experience, quietness in city driving, comfort for long journeys. Even diehard petrolheads like the way it drives. Rear seat passengers often comment on the roominess. The software upgrade in May really helped with charging speed on rapid chargers. Its overall efficiency was much better than I expected and in line (or better than) similar sized EVs.

There were a few negatives, but mostly minor things. The annoying “cannot Sync profile” which still appears occasionally. Misting up of inside of car on ECO HVAC setting in winter. 12V Battery needs extra charging in winter. MyT app is very poor for those (like me) who would like more EV performance data.

[Cyker]

That's really good and more in-line with what I was hoping we'd see efficiency-wise!

So many current EVs struggle to get into even the 3.something miles/kWh so managing to average in the 4's is really good, well done!  

We really need to see them all get into the 4s and 5s with improved Battery energy density before we hit that tipping point, but the progress toward that has not been great. On the bright side, that'll hopefully give the abysmal charging infrastructure time to catch up!

[leosayer]

Mine after 10 months of usage I have total efficiency 3.92m/kw. I have an FWD model but I live in a warmer climate needing airconditioning in spring to autumn

[Davey75]

Thanks for sharing. That's really useful as I'm considering ordering a BZ4X motion. As an owner can you please confirm if motion grade has mirrors that fold electrically? (useful for putting in garage!) 

Toyota UK seems to avoid mentioning this spec anywhere.

 

[dab1054]

Yes, I can confirm that the FWD Motion has folding mirrors.

[ernieb]

It’s a pity that Toyota cars do not have dipping wing mirrors like I had on my Skoda Yeti, brilliant for reversing. Select reverse and the side mirrors dipped to a user pre set amount. 

[philip42h]

25 minutes ago, ernieb said:

It’s a pity that Toyota cars do not have dipping wing mirrors like I had on my Skoda Yeti, brilliant for reversing. Select reverse and the side mirrors dipped to a user pre set amount. 

... but the bZ4X does have PVM which is even better ... 😉

[ChrisON]

My bz4x has 'dipping' wing mirrors.

 

Chris

 

[ernieb]

3 hours ago, philip42h said:

... but the bZ4X does have PVM which is even better ... 😉

I take your point Philip, the dipping mirrors is a much more inexpensive option however.

2 hours ago, ChrisON said:

My bz4x has 'dipping' wing mirrors.

 

Chris

 

Didn't know that...

[adidev]

On 1/4/2024 at 5:31 PM, dab1054 said:

One year report on my bZ4X FWD (Motion)

I’ve had my bZ4X for over a year now. Overall, I’ve been extremely happy with it. I kept records of monthly efficiency for exactly a year (until the new MyToyota app in Nov last year suddenly did not record efficiency…).

There is always concern about range and efficiency when you buy a new EV so these numbers can be useful for those thinking of buying or as a comparison for others who already have one of the bZ4X models.

These numbers were taken from the MyT app. Nov 22 to April 23 were on the original software. May to Nov 23 on the updated software which brought efficiency calculations in line with standard practice. You can see the improvement in efficiency as we moved into the summer months. The driving was a mixture of short/city trips, longer motorway driving and a 2000+ mile trip to France/Switzerland/Italy last summer.

Annual Efficiency from MyT app: 4.51 ml/kWh, 22.17 kWh/100ml

Annual Efficiency Calculated from actual charging kWh: 4.09 ml/kWh, 24.4 kWh/100ml (and yes, I did record every single kWh put into the car…)

(Note that the difference between these two annual efficiency values above represents the losses during the charging process which for me are around 9.5% which seems typical of other reported values)

 

Monthly efficiencies

Nov 22 - 26.6 kWh/100ml (3.8 ml/kWh) 833 ml

Dec 22 - 32.7 kWh/100ml (3.1 ml/kWh) 811 ml

Jan 23 - 30.3 kWh/100ml (3.3 ml/kWh) 638 ml

Feb 23 - 24.4 kWh/100ml (4.1 ml/kWh) 417 ml

Mar 23 - 25.1 kWh/100ml (3.8 ml/kWh) 445 ml

April 23 - 24.2 kWh/100ml (4.0 ml/kWh) 929 ml

May 23 - 20.8 kWh/100ml (4.8 ml/kWh) 818 ml

June 23 - 21.7 kWh/100ml (4.6 ml/kWh) 2181 ml

July 23 - 21.3 kWh/100ml (4.7 ml/kWh) 707 ml

Aug 23 - 21.0 kWh/100ml (4.8 ml/kWh) 835 ml

Sept 23 - 20.8kWh/100ml (4.8 ml/kWh) 629 ml

Oct 23 - 22.2 kWh/100ml (4.5 ml/kWh) 1000 ml

 

What I have liked about the car are build quality, superb driving experience, quietness in city driving, comfort for long journeys. Even diehard petrolheads like the way it drives. Rear seat passengers often comment on the roominess. The software upgrade in May really helped with charging speed on rapid chargers. Its overall efficiency was much better than I expected and in line (or better than) similar sized EVs.

There were a few negatives, but mostly minor things. The annoying “cannot Sync profile” which still appears occasionally. Misting up of inside of car on ECO HVAC setting in winter. 12V battery needs extra charging in winter. MyT app is very poor for those (like me) who would like more EV performance data.

 

 

That's a fantastic result. Could you tell us a bit more about your 2000+ mile trip to France/Switzerland/Italy? How many, and how long the stops for charging? Any issues on the way? I'm not looking for weaknesses, just trying to understand this car more as we're planning to buy one once we save enough deposit. Thanks.

[dab1054]

The trip went surprisingly smoothly from an EV perspective. Firstly, it's clear that the EV infrastructure in France, where we spent most of our time, is quite a few years ahead of UK. Loads of rapid chargers (150kw+) pretty much at every major and minor (Aire) service stations. You don't really need to plan ahead for charging stops, but we did anyway since we are used to doing this in the UK. And EV charging stations are clearly signed on all the major routes. The cost per kWh was about half of that in the UK public chargers (average was 34p/kWh in France). We mostly used Tesla Superchargers as these are accessible to non-Tesla users throughout France. Charging stops were usually long enough for a meal or a coffee and cake. In summer temperatures the bZ4X charges quickly, mostly all done within 25-40 minutes (typically from about 15-20% to 80-100%). No issues and even the longer drives (a few days of 300+ miles) were easy to manage. We probably used around 10-15 different charging points over the 2 weeks and had few problems. Several of the places we stayed at offered free EV charging - useful but very slow at around 2.5kW. We drove over a lot of high passes in Switzerland- going up it was scary to see the %SOC going down rapidly but on the way down the car regenerated a huge amount of kWh. 

The whole trip was quite a revelation about the ease of using an EV in France. The driving experience there, particularly on the Motorways (toll roads, expensive but good) could not be more different to what we have become used to in the UK. Mostly light traffic and hardly any hold-ups anywhere.

[Louie]

To say my Toyota App is clunky is a mild understatement as mine keeps having hissy fit on a regular basis and I am just ignoring it. However the most annoying is misreporting of car status etc. This evening ( and not for the first time) it reported all the car doors were unlocked yet the status message said everything was OK. On checking all the car doors were locked ! and when I remotely initiated car locking that message telling me that vehicle was not secure vanished. One day last week all my journey records vanished and today the only record that has reappeared is my current trip today the rest have gone. It has occurred to me that it is entirely possible that a car thief had a brief go at trying to steal the car but failed.  However my  Ring door bell has not picked anything up so its a mystery !!

 

[OldSteve]

On 1/6/2024 at 1:32 PM, ernieb said:

I take your point Philip, the dipping mirrors is a much more inexpensive option however.

Didn't know that...

You have to do something to set them. I think I saw it on here and it was really simple but I can't remember exactly what it was.

[SB1500]

Always very interesting to see and hear real world stories / numbers from owners who are much more honest than the marketing materials and dealers sales people. 

Do you think you'll keep the BZ4X for long term or ever go back to Hybrid / engine cars? 

[philip42h]

41 minutes ago, OldSteve said:

You have to do something to set them. I think I saw it on here and it was really simple but I can't remember exactly what it was.

If you have the selector set to L or R the mirrors dip when you shift into reverse. If you leave the selector in the neutral position they don't. Or at least, I think that is what it says in the Owner's Manual ... 😉 

[dab1054]

4 hours ago, SB1500 said:

Always very interesting to see and hear real world stories / numbers from owners who are much more honest than the marketing materials and dealers sales people. 

Do you think you'll keep the BZ4X for long term or ever go back to Hybrid / engine cars? 

My last car was a Prius- had it for 15 years!  Having driven the bZ4X for the last year I would now never go back to a hybrid. I expect to get 10 years or more from the bZ4X. 

[SB1500]

11 hours ago, dab1054 said:

My last car was a Prius- had it for 15 years!  Having driven the bZ4X for the last year I would now never go back to a hybrid. I expect to get 10 years or more from the bZ4X. 

Glad it’s been a positive experience for you and one you see as a step forward.  
 

from watching a video by The Car Care Nut on YouTube, although he notes a few bad things about it, he reckoned Toyotas conservative approach will mean that the BZ4X should outlast most other EVs due to more sensible less intensive figures around the charging system