(Credit: Toyota)
Toyota has just one EV, the bZ4x, a name that always seemed unnecessarily complicated. Today, it announced the 2026 model, which will now go by just bZ.
Alongside the simplified name, Toyota promises key performance improvements. It's upping the range from a mediocre 252 miles to up to 314 miles, which is more in line with the modern market. The bZ also features up to 50% more horsepower.
It will arrive in the second half of 2025 for the 2026 model year. Toyota hasn't revealed the price yet (the bZ4x starts at $37,000).
The bZ comes standard with a NACS charge port instead of the legacy CCS port, making it compatible with Tesla Superchargers without an adapter. It powers up from 10% to 80% in 30 minutes, which is a respectable charging speed.
Shoppers can choose from several trims with different battery capacities: 236 miles of range, 278, 288, 299, and 314. Each has varying performance and rear-wheel or front-wheel drive.
Toyota added a new instrument panel, upgraded center console, larger touch screen (14 inches), and customizable interior lighting with 64 color choices. Toyota also improved the styling all around for a "sleeker, more elegant look."
To help preserve range in cold weather, all models come with a heat pump and new battery-preconditioning function to improve charging speeds in low temperatures. To help conserve range, drivers can turn on the heated steering wheel or seat warmers instead of blasting the central heat.
We hoped Toyota would release an all-new EV this year, and it still could, but for now, it seems content to make some overdue upgrades on its sole offering in the US. The company plans to launch 15 electric models worldwide by 2027, but it's unclear how many will be available to American shoppers. Toyota's luxury division, Lexus, also makes the electric RZ, which could use a refresh as well.
Toyota has been slow to embrace EVs. Its previous president preferred hybrids, at least in the short term, but then he was replaced with an EV-forward leader from Lexus in 2023. That executive change hasn't yielded any obvious changes in the company's EV strategy yet, possibly because the hybrid lineup continues to pay the bills, The New York Times reports.
Other Japanese automakers have been similarly hesitant to go all-in on EVs but have warmed up to them more than Toyota in the past few years. Subaru, which previously only had one EV, the Solterra, debuted its second at the 2025 New York Auto Show and hinted at plans for a third. Honda also has just one EV, the Prologue, but it's a hit, and the company has been working on the 0 Series lineup, which debuts in 2026.
Japan is much more hybrid-centric as a country. In 2023, hybrids made up 55% of new car sales there, followed by 36% traditional gas cars. EV adoption is at just 2% of new car sales, or even lower than the US's 8% and far below the 20% + in China and Europe.