• Not very efficient
• Poor range
• Electricity prices vary

What are the running costs?

Running costs mostly come down to where you choose to charge. Generally speaking plugging in via a home charger will offer the cheapest rates, especially on a special EV-friendly tariff, while the convenience of a public rapid charger will punish you the most.

According to our miles per pound calculator, you should be able to do 5.6-12.6 miles per pound officially. However, in testing the bZ4x wasn’t that impressive.

Range and charging

Equipped with a 71.4kWh battery, the bZ4X offers up quite impressive official figures. The longest range can be found on the most basic, front-wheel drive car – it’s capable of up to 318 miles according to WLTP. Step up to the top-spec FWD car and it drops to 277 miles.

Opt for the all-wheel drive car and you’ll achieve from 286 miles in the low-spec car to 257 miles in the highest trim level. In early testing, we discovered that these figures were impossible to match with the bZ4x falling massively behind, especially in cold weather. In those conditions, we were seeing a maximum range of around 170 miles.

However, recent software changes by Toyota have improved the situation, with more accurate range reporting, and better use of stored charge, and how much is made available to the driver. Further winter testing is required to see if these changes have been effective – because as it stood, this was easily the bZ4x’s worst aspect.

You can charge the bZ4X at up to 150kW from a suitably powerful public charger, which should top the batteries up to 80 per cent in around 30 minutes. As for home charging, at launch the onboard charger is only rated for 6.6kW, which puts a full charge at around 11 hours. From the end of 2022 it’ll be uprated to 11kW, meaning charge times of around 6.5 hours if you have a suitably powerful home electricity supply.

Servicing and maintenance

Toyota intends for bZ4X buyers to have a long and happy life with their cars – by giving it a 10-year ‘Relax’ warranty. When the new car warranty period expires, drivers can benefit from an additional 12 months (or 10,000 miles) warranty when their vehicle has a qualifying service at an authorised Toyota workshop.

Combine that with Toyota’s already excellent reputation for reliability and we’d wager the bZ4X will be about the most reliable electric car out there. In addition, Toyota is also confident about the longevity of its batteries, with the firm expecting them to retain around 90% capacity after 10 years, and offering a million kilometres (621,000 miles) of battery warranty.