Ordering new bZ4X, what do I need to know

My 15yo Prius+ just got terminally ill. We're looking to go EV and bZ4X is our no.1 choice. We did a test-drive, and it has a big boots to fill, as we're very pleased with the quietness and softness of the Prius+ drive. I know, it will be almost 2x power and all the new bells and whistles I would have to get used to and depend on, lol.

Following this forum and reddit, I can see one of the issues is that some home charges are more other less compatible with this car. Any advice?

How do you find public charging, which ones give you less and which most trouble or slow charge? (UK)

Any interesting stories, experiences, when you switched over from ICE or other EV?

My advice would be not to buy a BZ4X. We are trying to hand ours back now and our case is currently with the motor ombudsman.

The car itself is nice to drive, well equipped and nice inside. But the all-round ownership experience is very poor, from the appalling deficiencies of the MyToyota app, through to the fact that we - and myriad others - are experiencing problems charging the vehicle.

According to the information that Toyota have provided us, the BZ4X is not compatible with any charger where the charging point requires the vehicle to send back data. So, we are told it is NOT compatible with smart tariffs like Intelligent Octopus, Octupus Go etc....or any Vestel-type chargers (eON). Toyota promote the British Gas charger.

Your money and your choice, of course. I am sure others will sing the virtues of the car and provide an opposing view, but we've had so many problems we'd recommend anything other than the BZ4X. It's a very half-baked solution and there are much better EVs out there at that price-point; it feels like Toyota are very late to the party and their offering is inferior to most others on the market.

The BZ4X is an excellent car apart from two issues, the range and charging!

As a car 8/10 (the infotainment system is pretty poor and all the electronic gadgets are pretty naff in wet weather)

As an EV 1/10 = It is my first EV so not sure if the BZ4X is any worse than any others. 

It is however finally the summer and I can live with it during the warmer months. I have now bought an ICE car to use through the winter months when it is really bad. Prices to fast charge at services can more expensive per mile than running a petrol V8!

To answer your charging question, I managed to get a charger installed before they all had to be smart ones so I just plug in and charge and have never had an issue with it (well apart from the time I went to get something from the car, unlocked it and forgot to re start the charging process)

In all honesty, if my daily drive was about 50 miles each way I would probably not be so critical of it. But I often have a 180mile round trip and in winter, it doesn't make it 

You will need to get used to a whole new way of motoring; If you own your building and have a driveway or garage, get a charger installed - That will take a lot of pain out of the owning experience.

You will absolutely need a Smartphone, and the first 2 things to install are ZapMap and A Better Route Planner - These are essential when trying to find working chargers and planning trips to include charging stops.

Be prepared to install loads of apps on your phone and create accounts for all of them - Every charger company has their own app and a lot of them still require the app and an account to get them working (I'm very disappointed at how poor card/contactless payment for charging still is, and even when it does work they often gouge you for a higher rate vs if you have an account and the app - Should be illegal IMHO. Ridiculous that even petrol pumps have mastered pay-at-pump better than these new supposedly high-tech chargers)

As used EV prices have plummeted I would look to getting a less than 1-year car. I suspect you could get a 6 month old car for maybe £ 20k off list. I stupidly bought a top of the range Lexus RZ Takumi last May and paid £ 72k - as an example Autotrader has exactly the same model and bicolour with 9k on it for £ 47k - https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202308010289144?sort=relevance&advertising-location=at_cars&aggregatedTrim=Takumi&make=Lexus&model=RZ&postcode=Co6 4fl&year-from=2023&year-to=2024&fromsra

The RZ real range is about 220 mix of urban / dual carriageways. Since a software update it only loses about 10 miles with the a/c or heat on. Lexus offers the same 10 year warranty as Toyota providing it is serviced every year. They have just introduced Lexus Reserve for EV’s, even used ones, which gives you a free hybrid model for 43 days over 3 years so if you only occasionally need to drive a distance you can use a petrol. I have a RX Takumi  booked for 12 days in August as we are going to Jersey and they only have 2 Ultra chargers on the whole of the island !

I suggest you take your time and look at ex demos / 1 year old cars  If you really want a bz then you should get at least £ 10k off list - https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202405089488239?sort=relevance&advertising-location=at_cars&aggregatedTrim=&body-type=&colour=&fuel-type=&make=Toyota&model=bZ4X&postcode=Co6 4fl&transmission=&year-from=2024&fromsra   £ 31.5k with 250 miles and a 2024 car but 73 plate  

I don’t know why people still interested in Bev’s ? Unless must have an electric  car you will be better off with anything else really. I don’t have myself ev but family member has and although it drives well same as Toyota hybrids but always in ev mode 😉 these are not fit for purpose vehicles and only good if you drive short distances , like 5-10 miles a day. Also buying privately with own money new ev it’s like throwing your money down the drain, as explained above massive depreciation, and that’s not all. More problems are coming with Bev and they will get banned soon. Battery gate is around the corner. 
And the bz4x it’s not a good one too. 
The negatives are more than the positives and imo a rav4 hev or phev are much better choices. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch… My BZ4X has been great. It gives me about 260 miles in winter and 300 miles in summer. Way more than I need for my driving, which is typically about 20 miles a day. I normally charge up at home every 7 or 10 days.

Public charging is expensive, but it’s not something I normally need. A £3 weekly charge is great, which more than makes up for the occasional £40 public charge.

Intelligent Octopus most certainly does work with the BZ4X if you use a compatible home charger.

Two gripes:

1. It has a user profile system that remembers things like the favourite radio station of the driver. I found this to be far too troublesome and turned it off. If you’re driving along using CarPlay, the very last thing you want is the screen to be taken over by a modal dialog box complaining that it can’t sync the user profile.

2. It continuously scans for your face to make sure you’re paying attention to the road. The problem is that the driver camera is placed in a dumb location and can give lots of annoying warnings that can’t be disabled.

Apart from these, I’m happy with the car.

On 6/17/2024 at 10:00 PM, TonyHSD said:

I don’t know why people still interested in Bev’s ? Unless must have an electric  car you will be better off with anything else really. I don’t have myself ev but family member has and although it drives well same as Toyota hybrids but always in ev mode 😉 these are not fit for purpose vehicles and only good if you drive short distances , like 5-10 miles a day. Also buying privately with own money new ev it’s like throwing your money down the drain, as explained above massive depreciation, and that’s not all. More problems are coming with Bev and they will get banned soon. Battery gate is around the corner. 
And the bz4x it’s not a good one too. 
The negatives are more than the positives and imo a rav4 hev or phev are much better choices. 

Idiotic comment about 5-10 miles per day. My kids have daily return commutes of 50 miles and 70 miles and their EVs (not Toyota) are ideal for this. My daughter got her <1year old e Niro specifically because it saves her money overall in her commute. I like my BZ, no problems with charging, perfectly good to drive.

On 6/17/2024 at 4:30 PM, BZ4XGrr said:

My advice would be not to buy a BZ4X. We are trying to hand ours back now and our case is currently with the motor ombudsman.

The car itself is nice to drive, well equipped and nice inside. But the all-round ownership experience is very poor, from the appalling deficiencies of the MyToyota app, through to the fact that we - and myriad others - are experiencing problems charging the vehicle.

According to the information that Toyota have provided us, the BZ4X is not compatible with any charger where the charging point requires the vehicle to send back data. So, we are told it is NOT compatible with smart tariffs like Intelligent Octopus, Octupus Go etc....or any Vestel-type chargers (eON). Toyota promote the British Gas charger.

Your money and your choice, of course. I am sure others will sing the virtues of the car and provide an opposing view, but we've had so many problems we'd recommend anything other than the BZ4X. It's a very half-baked solution and there are much better EVs out there at that price-point; it feels like Toyota are very late to the party and their offering is inferior to most others on the market.

There are very few cars that are compatible with smart tariffs - HOWEVER, you can get a charger (we have Ohme home pro) which is compatible, and does all the talking with the tariff itself, it’s just adds whatever percentage to the Battery we tell it (on our  Seat Mii electric). You either need a car, or a charger. You don’t need both.