In recent years, the emerging brand in the domestic new energy vehicle market has been "a wave of uneven waves", and the novel brand name often makes me show a "black question mark face" in front of my colleagues. It is true that as the "cake" of electric vehicles becomes bigger and bigger, more and more people will inevitably come to share the "cake".
Compared with the cool and avant-garde gameplay of these "newcomers", most of the "old guns" are somewhat creepy in action. It is not difficult to understand that electric vehicles are a rebirth in themselves for the traditional brands that produce fuel vehicles, requiring decisive courage, strong technical endorsement and sufficient financial support.
However, Toyota's new car, the bZ4X, which will launch in China on April 28, has really subverted my perception of this traditional car brand.
Is this still Toyota's design?
I remember the first time I saw the Toyota bZ4X concept car at the auto show, I was really surprised by its maverick design, but I was relieved to think that it was a concept car. It wasn't until now that I found the Toyota bZ4X that could be put on the road, that I believed that Toyota had actually mass-produced the concept car.
The front face of the Toyota bZ4X features a bold contrast design that sets the tone for the trend's avant-garde. The LED headlight groups on both sides are connected with the hood to create a very sharp "eye", and the internal matrix light group arrangement also makes the light paving better and improves the safety of driving at night.
The central part adopts a closed mid-grid design, highlighting the pure electric identity and efficiently directing the air flow into the huge air ducts on both sides, which is conducive to reducing the wind resistance of the whole vehicle, thereby reducing the power consumption, making the mileage more realistic, and the travel is more secure.
Coming to the side of the Toyota bZ4X, the blackened wheel brow and side skirt area add some wildness, and the larger inclination D-pillar design shifts the visual center of gravity of the whole vehicle down, combined with the sharp and steep waistline, making it more of a crossover SUV charm. At the same time, the car adopts a short suspension design in front and rear, with four wheels in the four corners, expanding the leading wheelbase of the same class of 2850mm, which plays a decisive role in the large internal space.
Coming to the rear of the Toyota bZ4X, the lightsaber taillights in the shape of an "X" are the most eye-catching presence, and the interior of the light group on both sides uses dense banner lines as a detail support, which reminds me of a legendary supercar - Lexus LFA. Because of this, the "double tail" design of the double-segment spoiler + duckling wing at the rear of this car looks very compatible.
Inside the Toyota bZ4X, if you cover the logo on the steering wheel, you will never guess that this is a Toyota car. Asymmetrical layout, two large LCD screens, and knob-type electronic gear shift mechanism, this is not a proper new force of car building. And it is this "unreality" that brings the most intense visual impact.
The Toyota bZ4X's center console position is lower than that of the regular model, so the cabin stacked instrument panel can be designed above the center console so that it is located on our far-view point of view, avoiding safety accidents caused by looking down at the instrument. In addition, what is more flattering is the visual depth created by the wing shapes on both sides of the dashboard, which gives us a driving experience as if we are driving a spaceship, which is unique among Toyota's models.
For every car brand, the family-style design language is one of the labels that strengthen the user's memory point, but the style of "matryoshka dolls" is really a bit tedious. This set of designs of the Toyota bZ4X broke my inherent impression of Toyota, establishing a new image on Toyota's time-space node to the future, and announcing a "boundary" with fuel vehicles.
Second, toyota electrification of the "pattern opened"
What will the electric car of the future look like? I think the first word that pops up in most people's minds must be "sense of technology."
The sense of technology can be reflected in human-computer interaction, intelligent driving, etc., but this does not seem to be a difficult task for Toyota, which has strong technical strength, and it is necessary to engage in some technology that can solve the pain points of users.
What is the biggest pain point of electric vehicles? That's definitely battery life.
Toyota bZ4X is equipped with a 71.4kWh capacity battery pack, WLTC cruising range of about 500km (Japanese standard front-drive model), the general fuel tank volume of 40-50L fuel vehicles is this level.
But Toyota bZ4X is also equipped with a high-efficiency solar charging dome, if measured according to the annual driving range of 10,000 kilometers, the annual solar power generation can be driven 1800km, equivalent to 3.6 times of battery, according to the average charging price of electric vehicles in Beijing 1.4 yuan / kWh to calculate, only 0.16 yuan per kilometer. Compared with today's meat pain oil prices, the cost of such a car is really too fragrant.
In addition to battery life, what are the pain points of electric vehicles? I think it's fun.
Due to the characteristics of the electric motor instantaneous burst of maximum torque, the electric vehicle has not taken the fuel vehicle in terms of acceleration performance. But it is the "silly fast" feature that makes it unable to look up in the face of the playability of fuel vehicles.
This is precisely where the determination of the Toyota bZ4X lies. It is based on Toyota e-TNGA to create a BEV exclusive platform to build, a thin large-capacity battery pack, integrated electric drive axle so that the vehicle has a lower center of gravity, with the newly developed Grip-Control intelligent creep mode, not only has good handling on the paved road, but also has a good passability for harsh terrain, for me and other people who like to play off-road is simply a gospel, completely without losing the fun of driving.
If you want to be wild, toyota bZ4X equipped with X-MODE four-wheel drive off-road assistance mode can play the strongest four-wheel drive performance in more extreme road conditions, for harsh terrain also has a good passability, so that this electric car can also take you over the hills, to pursue the distance and freedom.
If you think it's not enough, then don't worry, the Toyota bZ4X will also list the OMG driving control set in the future. That's right, the driver's steering wheel that is easier to test than Tesla, which combines steering-by-wire technology, ± 150° steering wheel rotation angle can complete the steering operation without changing hands and wheels, which is safer and also brings a sense of driving experience similar to Formula Racing.
There is beauty, technology is there, and fun is also there. It has to be said that Toyota's "pattern" in the field of electric vehicles has really opened.
Write at the end:
Toyota bZ4X breaks the world's traditional impression of the Toyota brand and its "pattern" in the field of electric vehicles; and stands a new image facing the future automotive industry and a banner for the development of future automobiles. At a glance, Toyota is embracing the future with bZ, taking a radical and solid step in the era of electrification.