Toyota BZ4X

Levi

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As a tin foil hat wearer, never rule out sabotage. Didn't Tesla fans also claim sabotage in some cases?
 

NXracer

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didnt similar TSB appear for Sequoia or Tundra?
Im familiar with the Tundra TSB. They have solutions to that recall which is to retorque. The BZ4x is a buy back I can only guess why.

Either way I assume Toyota PR is working overtime to clean this scenario.
 

Will1991

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Had the opportunity to seat inside a bz4x for a couple of minutes, some key points:

- It’s almost impossible to get a comfortable driving position without the steering wheel top arc blocking the speedometer;
- The inside floor is really high, so the interior ergonomics are somewhere between a TM3 (you can’t have your knees at an expected SUV angle) and a NX, it reminds me the first gen X3, older ML’s;
- It has a really nice legroom but you can’t place your feet under the front seats;
- It doesn’t seemed that bigger than the RAV4 due to the design, the RZ should be on point;
- Sales are not allowed for now (both BZ4X and RZ450e) in Portugal;
- It feels more spacious inside, than what it seems outside.

Right after I stepped into a NX450h+, that car messes with me!
 
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LS500-18

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Does anyone here suppose that Toyota deliberately wants to buy back cars and not sell any because they are not BEV friendly? They are nearly anti-BEV. Makes me wonder, because thread locker could have fixed this issue on day one of the issue, I would think... :unsure:
 

qtb007

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It cost an absolute fortune to develop a new car and buying back cars is a black eye to their reputation. They will want the bZ4x out on the market again ASAP to put the buyback in the past and hopefully have happy customers. You also shouldn’t put thread locker on a bolt that you remove every 5000miles. Thread locker bolts are more 1 shot and done, do not reuse bolt if removed. Buyers aren’t going to want to buy new lug bolts every 10k miles or rely on the local tire shop to apply thread locker every time they rotate tires.
 
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Will1991

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This unit was already registered in Portugal, but wasn’t allowed to be driven.
They also told me the solution has been found and that’s going to be done soon, they chose to delay the repair to bring it to this event.
 

NXracer

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It cost an absolute fortune to develop a new car and buying back cars is a black eye to their reputation. They will want the bZ4x out on the market again ASAP to put the buyback in the past and hopefully have happy customers. You also shouldn’t put thread locker on a bolt that you remove every 5000miles. Thread locker bolts are more 1 shot and done, do not reuse bolt if removed. Buyers aren’t going to want to buy new lug bolts every 10k miles or rely on the local tire shop to apply thread locker every time they rotate tires.
I wonder if they are repurposing those vehicles before the title gets stamped as part of the buy back process. If they did, a nice bunch of "open box" BZ4x allocations just opened up lol.
 

CRSKTN

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Repurpose into the RZ.

"UHHH we need to recall these... the uhhh, the wheels fall off"
 
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ssun30

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@spwolf Could you provide a credible source that claims bZ4X doesn't have battery preconditioning?

The ChDM bZ4X clearly has preconditioning and in fact would not allow charging at all before a temperature threshold.
 

IS-SV

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The ChDM bZ4X clearly has preconditioning and in fact would not allow charging at all before a temperature threshold.
How does that work on the bz4x? (what initiates the precondtioning process)
 

IS-SV

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Plugging it in.

Sad. If that's true, that is slow, requiring the driver to wait until correct temperature is reached.

The way it works on a Tesla, driver navigates to the preferred Tesla supercharger, and while on the way to the supercharger the battery is preconditioned automatically. Upon arrival at the Tesla supercharger, Tesla driver immediately plugs into charger and the fast charging starts immediately (no waiting at all, no 3rd party charging app needed, no keeping fingers crossed and hoping that the 3rd party charger actually works, no PIN numbers, no credit card swipes, etc.)
 

ssun30

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Sad. If that's true, that is slow, requiring the driver to wait until correct temperature is reached.

The way it works on a Tesla, driver navigates to the preferred Tesla supercharger, and while on the way to the supercharger the battery is preconditioned automatically. Upon arrival at the Tesla supercharger, Tesla driver immediately plugs into charger and the fast charging starts immediately (no waiting at all, no 3rd party charging app needed, no keeping fingers crossed and hoping that the 3rd party charger actually works, no PIN numbers, no credit card swipes, etc.)
No, the bZ4X's BMS always "conditions" the battery even without scheduling or when "navigate to charge point" is activated (it doesn't have that to begin with). In that sense it's always "conditioned" when running. But there is no way to schedule preconditioning after the vehicle has idled for a long time (possibly because they assume use will always plug in as soon as they park?)
Owners might not be able to charge their bZ4X in colt weather
"The second footnote in the press release stated, “for the bZ4X AWD model, charging may slow down more than other models in weather conditions below 32 degrees Fahrenheit and may not be possible when the temperature drops to around -4 degrees Fahrenheit and below. Again, this was tucked away at the bottom of the press release. What should fans make of this warning?"

View attachment 6379

"2 DC charging times are estimated based on ideal charging conditions. As temperatures decrease below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, charging time will increase significantly. *For the bZ4X AWD model, charging may slow down more than other models in weather conditions below 32 degrees Fahrenheit and may not be possible when the temperature drops to around -4 degrees Fahrenheit and below. Drive battery conditions, charger specifications and DC charging fully more than twice per day also can negatively affect charging time."


https://getjerry.com/electric-vehicles/toyota-tried-to-sneak-huge-flaw-new-bz4x
That's a different matter. Preconditioning is the BMS actively heating up the battery so the internal temperature could be ready for DC fast charging (whether by scheduling or "navigate to charge").

The bZ4X cold weather charging problem is caused by the CATL battery having much worse low temperature cycle degradation due to dendritic growth than the Panasonic battery. All car makers limit DC charging speed at low temperatures, but the threshold is different. Toyota has a much more conservative approach that disallows fast charging below certain outside temperature with the CATL battery period. It's a passive-aggressive way to say "this supplier sucks, wait until we find a better one".

In other words, preconditioning is a function that helps with battery longevity in winter, not limiting DC charging at low temperature decreases battery longevity in winter. They actually do exactly the opposite thing.
 
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Motor

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But at the end of it all this is a 2060kg SUV, so we’re talking shades of beige. But that’s fine – people in general, and Toyota owners in particular, don’t mind beige.
 

mediumhot

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Pricewise VW ID4 is almost 10k chepaer than this in UK. Is BZ ten grand better car than ID4? I kind of doubt it. If you look at the pricing BZ is mora of a Tesla Y competitor and while that might seem silly at first it's kind of not. This car is targeted toward Toyota loyals who might have thought of switching to some BEV so this one comes in the last second right before the bell to make sure they don't leave the stable.

After all switching from Toyota to Tesla is like going from still water to soda everyday. Tesla has a lot of perks but it's missing so many things that you find in soccer mom vehicles. I will take myself as an example, I tried so hard to like any of the Teslas but once the cool factor wears off (after like two weeks) I hate every bit about it. The only Tesla I would ever consider is Performance beacuse with that one at least I know why I sacrificed so many things. I would pick any BEV Audi over Tesla 10 times out of 10 and I didn't even like Audis but I do now after seeing what MB did with their Chinese EQ jelly bean line.

BZ and it's reskin RZ are not my cup of tea much like any other production Toyota (I am more of a Honda and Mazda guy when it comes to pedestrian cars) but new BEV Lexus RX would hit the sweetspot like asap. I don't have to tell you about possible BEV LC as it is right now. It would be an instant buy.