Toyota bZ4X review

Buttery smooth. That's the headline here - with its heavy steering, linear power delivery and nicely judged brakes, the bZ4X gives you all the tools you need to make calm, drama-free progress at all speeds. Ahh.

Of the 168bhp, 221bhp and 338bhp versions, we've tried the front-driven middle one with the 73.1kWh battery, so that's what we'll focus on here.

Toyota hasn’t bothered giving the bZ4X neck-snapping acceleration just for the sake of it (good), and if you do plant the throttle you'll likely be rewarded with a dollop of torque steer. Serves you right. Take it easy, now.

In corners it actually holds up surprisingly well, tending towards mild, easily managed understeer with body roll nicely contained. But don't go mistaking that for dynamic talent - it's a two-tonne car and feels it, with little feedback from the front wheels making it twitchy on a fast B road.

What about the ride?

The ride is pretty soothing, taking off the worst of sharp bumps. The damping keeps control of things on big dips and crests. Having said that, the suspension is thunky over rougher surfaces and if you live out in the sticks, the bZ4X will eventually get on your nerves. Toyota has at least addressed the high level of wind and tyre noise at motorway speeds with the facelift.

Do you like one-pedal driving? The bZ4X gets paddle-adjustable brake regeneration, but it isn’t aggressive enough to really be considered one-pedal. If it was, that might avoid the squeaky friction discs that voice their presence creeping at the lights.

The driver assist systems work smoothly, tracing a curving motorway lane without nervous twitches, and following another car intuitively. This isn't as wide a car as many EV rivals, and that makes it feel handy in town or narrow rural roads.

Efficiency and charging: we need to know!

Because the front-drive version in particular goes a long way on a moderate-sized battery and accepts high charge power, you'll be on your way quickly. All bZ4Xs get 150kW DC charging as standard, meaning a quick 10-80 per cent top up on a big rapid charger in about half an hour, 70 minutes on the more common 50kW. For AC (like you get at home), its 11kW as standard or 22kW on the range-topper. A heat pump is standard.

On our UK test drive - in deepest, darkest January we might add - we extracted 3.5 mi/kWh, suggesting real-world range of 255 miles against a claim of 352. Given the season that's an excellent return, and you'll likely get nearer the 'official' range in the summer months.

Is it an off-road thing?

When the bZ4X was launched, Toyota made a big deal out of the fact that it was decent off-road – unlike most of its competition – sporting an X-Mode that's capable of dealing with more than most owners are ever likely to throw at it.

Short overhangs from the electric platform help, and so does the sledge-like smooth bottom. The off-road chops were part of Subaru's contribution to the project.

Indeed we waded, hillclimbed, cross-axled and mud-ran a bZ4X through several carefully-crafted off-road courses. Even on 'eco' road tyres, it finds remarkable traction thanks to electronic modulation of the torque being more subtle than systems with a combustion engine could ever manage.