Toyota bZ4X review

Toyota is making a very decent play at the ‘one-stop-shop’ subscription variation of BEV-buying with the bZ4X, called Kanzen. For fuss-free ownership, it certainly sounds promising. Throw money at Toyota and the company will take care of everything, from provision of a home wallbox charging unit to aggregated one-bill charging solutions, servicing – you can even wind in insurance if you wish.

Lengths of term can vary widely, and you can pick and choose from a laundry list of handy items. It might not end up being the absolute cheapest way of getting a bZ4X, but it's flexible if your circumstances change in these uncertain times.

In the UK, you’re looking at four grades: Pure, Motion, Vision and the Premiere Edition. That’s a spread of between £41,950 and £51,550, with the spec and optioning pretty much as you might expect. Pure and Motion get 18-inch alloys, the top-tier two get 20s. The Premiere Edition is shorthand for 'every box ticked', including the ‘SkyView’ panoramic roof.

Only the Pure gets the smaller eight-inch multimedia screen and black fabric seats, the others get the 12.3 and synthetic leather – and yes, it will make a difference to the ambience. As with all electric cars for 2022, benefit-in-kind will make itself felt at two per cent.

Initial PCH leasing figures seem to suggest that the bZ4X will probably end up in the same hard-fought arena as all the decent BEV SUVs – so £600-ish a month.

Toyota’s big battery warranty and ‘Toyota Relax’ servicing activated extended warranties offer a truckload of peace of mind. Try 10 years on the battery and a million kilometres (with three-years/60k on the rest of the car) provided you have them inspect it annually. In fact, the bare numbers don’t actually do the bZ4X justice – it might be a very hassle-free ownership prospect.