Toyota Updates The Beleaguered bZ4X For 2025, And It Might Actually Make A Difference

The bZ4X is no one’s favorite Toyota. Even Toyota doesn’t seem to have much love for it, and neither the Subaru nor Lexus variants have fared much better. For 2025, it seems Toyota is finally updating the car to make it more competitive — at least in Europe. It’s likely we’ll see at least some of the same changes here in the U.S., so this European update serves as a bit of a teaser as to what we may get. 

Toyota’s giving the Bees-Forks a number of updates, but the biggest of all is the battery. The current bZ4X offers a 71.4 kWh battery on all trims except the top 72.8 kWh Nightshade — a trim Europe lacks, getting only the 71.4 kWh option — but the updated model creates a bigger divide in the range: The base front-wheel-drive car gets a smaller 57.7 kWh pack, with the upgrade option bumped up to 73.1 kWh of capacity. 

Toyota claims this small bump will bring the EU-spec cars from a maximum range of 318 miles up to 356, but the U.S. car starts at a range deficit. If we see that same 12% bump, our domestic 252-mile range would spike to 282 miles. Still not fantastic when compared to the benchmark Mustang Mach E and Ioniq 5, both of which can reach over 300 miles in their highest-range configurations, but it’s a step in the right direction. 

The update also adds faster charging to the bZ4X, with a preconditioning system on the battery to better keep it in the ideal temperature range while plugged in. Toyota claims this will allow the car to charge in “approximately 30 minutes” at 14 degrees Fahrenheit, though the company doesn’t specify how much charging will actually take place over that duration. It references a “rapid charging time (European specifications) at -10°C,” seemingly referring to some sort of standardized charging amount that I can find absolutely no record of. Looking at cars with comparable battery capacity, though, shows that 30 minutes is a reasonable expectation for an 80% charge — likely the number Toyota means here. 

The company also claims that the new bZ4X is more efficient with how it uses its capacity, crediting new e-axles with increases to both range and power. Toyota reports a maximum SAE horsepower of 248 for the new car, up from the 214 of the current Nightshade, and up even further from the 201 hp of the current European models. Take that same delta into account for a U.S.-spec version of the updated car, and we could see a 262-horsepower bZ4X. That’s nearly a prior-generation WRX worth. 

The 2025 bZ4X gets a handful of other updates — some suspension tweaks here, an extra two inches of screen there — but the range and power will be the most substantial changes to the car. If we get both of those improvements over here, the bZ4X may finally be a car that buyers actually consider — rather than a car exclusively operated by Lyft drivers who desperately want to swap for a Camry. If we’re really lucky, they’ll change the name for us too.