Toyota bZ4X EV falls far short of claimed electric range in European testing

A Danish magazine has returned from an electric car range test of the Toyota bZ4X with disappointing results, finding the new EV only reached about half of its claimed range.

Cold-weather testing undertaken by Motor, the magazine owned by Danish auto club the Federation of Danish Motorists (FDM) found the Toyota bZ4X fell significantly short of its claimed range in both variants tested, a two-wheel and all-wheel drive.

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Officially, Toyota claims the front-wheel drive bZ4X can manage 504km under the WLTP testing regime, but in cold Danish weather the electric car only managed 246km, just under half the claimed range.

It was the same story for the all-wheel drive version, its claimed 461km range being well out of reach for testing on the day, which landed at 215km.

The reason for the Danish-specific testing is the cold weather, where on the day the cars were driven in temperatures of about four degrees celsius.

This sounds like a very specific situation, but consider even Australian winters in Tasmania, Victoria, or inland towns in central NSW where the temperature remains in the single figures for days on end.

The report points out the 71.4kWh battery in the bZ4X only indicates a useable 60kWh when fully charged, too.

The magazine has tested other electric cars similarly, with rivals like the Tesla Model Y performing relatively well comparatively.

With a claimed 507km range for the Model Y Long Range AWD, Motor found it reached 355km, 30 per cent under claim during cold weather testing.

The Volkswagen ID.4 Pro and Mercedes-Benz EQA350 4Matic also fell short by around 33 per cent from their ranges in similar weather.

A Danish Toyota spokesperson spoke to the magazine about the results and said the results didn’t line up with Toyota’s testing, and even suggested the ‘reserve’ range available after an indicated empty battery may be larger than initially suspected.

In response to a query from online outlet Carscoops, Toyota stated that "Toyota Europe and Toyota HQ in Japan were carrying out an investigation into the findings, which aren’t isolated numbers, and tally with figures from Norwegian and Swedish media, from Norwegian customers, and from our own experience with the bZ4X".

The Toyota bZ4X hasn’t yet arrived in Australia, nor its Subaru Solterra twin, but keep eyes peeled for local real-world testing by CarsGuide when it does.