The Toyota bZ4X Touring launches in Japan, so does that mean we could get it?
Some time mid-last year, Toyota unveiled the bZ4X Touring to the North American and European markets as a midsize, five-seater, fully electric crossover offering that’s aimed at people who want to have a little more practicality than the average bZ4X. This is also known as the bZ Woodland in America, and it has a twin in the Subaru Trailseeker/e-Outback.
READ: The bZ4X Touring is the newest Toyota EV
What we did not expect was that the automaker would introduce it to other markets, specifically its own home market of Japan.
Essentially, most of the car remains unchanged, from the Hammerhead styling with the large black cladding front and back, up to 20-inch wheels and five body colors as options, the interior with a 14-inch infotainment, black wood-grain pattern trim, the large cargo space capable of carrying up to four 9.5-inch golf bags, and the optional dual wireless chargers and panoramic sunroof.
The most interesting changes come in the powertrain, where the North American and European bZ4X Touring only comes in a single dual-motor, AWD configuration; the Japanese-market variant is offered in both FWD (single) and AWD (dual) configurations.
The AWD variant pushes out 280kW (380 horsepower), while the FWD variant does a more respectable 165kW (224 horsepower). They both utilize the same 74.69kWh battery as the North American and European models, but Toyota says that from a single charge, according to the WLTC standard, the FWD variant can drive up to 734km, and the AWD variant can do up to 690km.
A far cry from the rated up to 418km of the North American/European bZ4X Touring and Subaru Trailseeker/e-Outback, but you do have to remember that conditions in the Japanese market are very different from what’s normally seen in those other markets.
And that brings us to one of the more interesting points: the bZ4X is built in Subaru’s Yajima Plant in Ota, Gunma, Japan. Toyota Motor Philippines sources the vanilla bZ4X from Japan, which is assembled in Toyota’s Motomachi Plant in Aichi, Japan. With this model expanding its availability to Asia, that surely doesn’t count out our market from possibly getting it.
Photos from Toyota
