Now in the field of new energy, it can be said that it is the world of Chinese brands. From the power of new power brands to the turnaround of traditional brands, the new energy sales rankings at this stage are basically the figures of Chinese brands.
What about joint venture brands? Overall, the current movement is still a step slower. The Volkswagen ID. series has been the only new energy product in the joint venture brand that is independent of the traditional product sequence for a long time, and although the sales volume is not particularly high, it has also made a name for itself.
Honda e: N brand of the first car e: NS1 was officially listed two days ago, although the price is not cheap, but also officially announced that Honda joined the domestic new energy battle.
As for Toyota, the long-warmed bZ4X officially opened pre-sale on April 28, and it is "one fish and two eats", FAW Toyota and GAC Toyota sell at the same time, both names are bZ4X, and the pre-sale price range is 220,000-300,000 yuan. In the future, no matter which Toyota 4S store, consumers can buy bZ4X inside.
What does the bZ4X look like?
Let's talk about the basic information about the new car and the situation of this conference, and then I will talk about my thoughts on it.
Taking FAW Toyota bZ4X as an example, 5 models will be launched this time, of which there are three two-wheel drive versions and four-wheel drive versions, and the prices of each version are shown in the figure above.
As for the pre-sale policy, the first 1,000 users can get customized gift packages worth 2,000 yuan; old customers enjoy replacement subsidies or additional purchase subsidies. Free charging pile, 10 years 200,000 kilometers free basic maintenance and free warranty of electric drive system. Pre-sale transaction customers also have electricity card subsidies, up to 10 valet charges per year and unlimited valet maintenance free services (limited to digital key vehicles).
The bZ4X is based on Toyota's e-TNGA architecture, which is the first pure electric model under the e-TNGA architecture. Like other brands, Toyota took into account the problem of battery placement at the beginning of the design, and the power battery was combined with the chassis and became part of the chassis, which can effectively reduce the center of gravity of the vehicle, balance the weight balance in front and rear, and improve the rigidity of the body.
Thanks to the volumetric advantage of the electrified structure, the space occupied by the associated machinery and equipment is greatly reduced, and the front and rear axles of the bZ4X can be moved as far as possible to both ends. The body length, width and height of the bZ4X are 4690/1860/1650mm, which is not much different from its own Lingfang, but the wheelbase has reached 2850mm, which is 160mm more than lingfang, which objectively can accommodate a larger battery, and the rear space performance will be more outstanding.
At the same time, the front canopy height of the bZ4X is 50mm lower than that of the RAV4, which can optimize the front view to some extent. The body flexibility has been improved, and the turning radius is only 5.6m.
The air vents on both sides of the front face, the flat underbody, spoilers on the rear and roof, and the diffuser shape under the rear bumper help improve air flow and reduce air resistance. The active air intake grille under the front bumper can adjust the switch according to actual needs, which can reduce wind resistance while meeting the needs of battery cooling.
The position of the bZ4X's gauges is not quite the same as the position we remembered. This LCD gauge is positioned higher and more forward, close to the position of a conventional HUD, reducing the time it takes for the driver to switch his gaze from the road to the dashboard.
In order not to obstruct the front view, the gauge size is not large, only 7 inches, and it is a relatively slender shape.
In terms of space, thanks to the long wheelbase, the front and rear passengers have a hip position distance of 1 meter, which can bring plenty of space to the rear. With the second row of seats in normal use, the trunk volume is 452L, and the rear seat back can be folded forward to expand the storage space of the trunk.
In terms of power, the bZ4X two-wheel drive version and the four-wheel drive version are equipped with completely different motors. The two-wheel drive version only carries a motor with a maximum power of 150 kW, while the four-wheel drive version is equipped with an 80 kW motor front and rear, with a total power of 160 kW. In addition, the four-wheel drive version is also equipped with X-MODE four-wheel drive off-road auxiliary mode and Grip-Control intelligent creep mode, the former is optimized for off-road road conditions, with a variety of road condition mode options, while the latter can make bZ4X creep like a fuel car, convenient for the city to follow the car.
In terms of batteries, Toyota aims to build an electric vehicle that can be used for a long time, and the battery is developed with the goal of maintaining a battery capacity rate of 90% after 10 years. In terms of specific capacity, the ternary lithium battery equipped with bZ4X has two capacity specifications, namely 50.3kWh and 66.7kWh. On the front-drive version, the official maximum endurance data is 615km.
The bZ4X also supports an optional solar charging dome, which officially says can generate 1,750km of electricity a year. However, the racing steering wheel and the special system of control-by-wire shown on the previous pictures did not appear on the configuration table, according to official information, Toyota is actively exploring the introduction of OMG driving control kits, race wheel steering wheels, steering-by-wire systems, if it can be introduced, the bZ4X will become the only model in the same level and price range equipped with these configurations.
Is the bZ4X worth buying?
The personal answer is worth it.
In the past, the new energy models launched by the joint venture brand had a big problem: they were not grounded. The shorter endurance greatly reduces the travel radius range, and also increases the frequency of charging, which increases the anxiety of battery life. And the acceleration performance is not much better, coupled with the price that is more expensive than their own fuel vehicles of the same level, it is clear that it is to dissuade consumers, to put it bluntly, they do not want to sell new energy vehicles at all.
If you really want consumers to buy new energy vehicles, the first problem to be solved is the price, pulling the price of new energy vehicles to the price range of the same level of fuel vehicles in their own brands, then consumers can naturally consider equalization when buying a car, rather than paying for faith.
And that's what bZ4X did. In terms of size and positioning, the closest to bZ4X in FAW Toyota's fuel vehicle products is Lingfang, and the price range of Lingfang is 21.18-29.78 million yuan. The pre-sale price range of bZ4X is not much different from Lingfang, and if you count the policy preferences such as the exemption of new energy vehicles from purchase tax and the direct access to some urban license indicators, the purchase cost of bZ4X is actually lower than that of Lingfang.
Then, the bZ4X's innovative configuration, technical configuration, battery life, etc. have a good performance. In addition to its class's unique solar charging dome, the bZ4X is equipped with a lower-power heat pump air conditioner and an infrared heating system under the front seats to improve the passenger heating experience. The aforementioned steering-by-wire system and racing steering wheel may be introduced later.
In terms of intelligence, bZ4X has made significant progress compared with its own brand of fuel vehicles, equipped with the intelligent cockpit digital in-vehicle ecosystem to support voice recognition, OTA software upgrades; equipped with digital key functions that allow consumers to remotely lock, lock, start the engine and other functions. With a multi-scenario intelligent parking assistant with memory function, even open parking spaces can be easily handled through customization, and remote parking can be realized through a smartphone APP in narrow road conditions.
Although some of the functions have been seen in the new energy vehicles of Chinese brands before, the bZ4X has also caught up and reached the same level. In addition, Toyota has also added a lot of color to this bZ4X through its own unique "black technology" and also given consumers a different experience. Coupled with Toyota's courage to say that the battery will still have 90% capacity (development target value) in 10 years, this may allow the bZ4X to spend its "life" in the hands of consumers like other Toyota cars.
The bZ4X is not a new energy vehicle developed by conventional routines. On this car, Toyota should still stick to it, but change its conservative style. Compared with the new energy vehicles launched by itself before, or the new energy vehicles launched by other joint venture brands, bZ4X has its own unique charm.
Therefore, the bZ4X is a new energy vehicle worth buying.
summary
The bZ4X is the first model in Toyota's bZ series, followed by Toyota's development and introduction of more new energy vehicles. In the bZ4X car, you can see Toyota's sincerity in doing new energy vehicles, the right price, not low configuration performance, and good space, which is enough to attract some consumers to buy.
If the follow-up models of the bZ series can maintain this performance, perhaps Toyota can become the fastest turning around in the traditional joint venture car companies, and consumers can also get a Toyota electric vehicle that can be willing to start.