Who is Toyota? Everyone is familiar with it. Who is the Toyota bZ4X? But it will feel strange.
Just like ID. for Volkswagen, EQ for Mercedes-Benz, bZ is Toyota's product array in the era of pure electric. Literally, bZ means "Beyond Zero" and represents a vision of going beyond zero emissions. The 4X is the model code and the bZ4X is a pure electric mid-size SUV.
As the first production car of the e-TNGA pure electric architecture, the arrival of the Toyota bZ4X also announces that Toyota's electrification transformation has begun a substantial rhythm!
Now it is popular to give cars to hit people. If you set up a Toyota bZ4X, the "Treasure Boy" is the most suitable one at present. Not only do they have their own materials, but they are also constantly giving a new imagination to the domestic pure electric model market.
So why?
【It is a newcomer, but also a veteran】
From a product point of view alone, the Toyota bZ4X is definitely a newcomer to the market.
From the perspective of car companies, it is more like a newcomer with the skills of veterans.
This starts with the development of Toyota hybrid models. Toyota Hybrid's position in the industry, as many people say: "There are only two kinds of hybrids in the world, one Toyota Hybrid and one other hybrids."
Although Toyota itself has never advertised this, from the perspective of its development and mastery of hybrid technology, the evaluation is qualified.
The development of Toyota Hybrid, which has practical significance for the present, dates back to 1993. This year, the first generation of Prius prototypes code-named G21 was officially approved. In 1994, the hybrid project began pre-research and was unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 1995 as Prius Prius. The production version was officially released in 1997. Its second-generation model also officially entered the Chinese market in 2005.
From the Prius Prius to the present, Toyota's hybrid models have a history of 25 years. The sales of various hybrid models have already exceeded 10 million units worldwide. And its power battery in terms of safety, there has not been a vehicle accident caused by electric shock (leakage), battery combustion or explosion cases.
This endorses the current layout of Toyota's pure electric models from the aspects of technology and reliability.
Let's look at the development of Toyota's hybrid model in the domestic market.
In the early days, the second-generation Prius Prius entered the Chinese market, opening up a new product line for Toyota to develop in the Chinese market. Later, with the strong performance of hybrid models such as Corolla and Leiling in recent years, as well as the continuous development of various SUV models with hybrid technology, hybrid models have not only brought Considerable sales to Toyota in China, but also formed the impression that "Toyota is reliable for new energy vehicles" in the minds of users. This has become the most critical cognitive endorsement for Toyota to achieve electrification transformation, and it has also laid a solid foundation for the current electrification transformation.
When the development trend of the market is requiring traditional car companies to do pure electrification transformation, it is time for Toyota bZ4X with pure electric identity to take over the baton.
[Tesla did not do, bZ4X dare to do]
As a pure electric model, Toyota bZ4X naturally has to "draw a line" with the era of fuel vehicles.
This boundary is the exclusive platform of BEV based on e-TNGA.
Although it is only a word away from the TNGA architecture, the orientation is completely different. The vehicle layout of the e-TNGA architecture is completely based on pure electric models, so the battery pack is integrated with the chassis and the structure is flatter. At the same time, the power layout is also more flexible, and it can be compatible with three power forms: front drive, rear drive and four wheel drive. In terms of data, measured by CLTC working conditions, the front-drive version has a range of 615 kilometers, and the four-wheel drive version has a range of 560 kilometers. In terms of zero-hundred acceleration, the front-drive version has 7.5 seconds and the four-wheel drive version has 6.9 seconds.
As an architecture, the e-TNGA uses a modular design. The motor, the propeller bridge, and the inverter are packaged into one. At the same time, the width of the electric drive assembly and battery pack is also fixed, and it is only necessary to adjust the half shaft length and change the number of battery modules according to the different models.
So, genetically, the Toyota bZ4X is quite "pure." But "pure" is only one aspect, and it does not support product competition in the pure electric era. Advanced technology is also required as a bonus.
This is also the biggest highlight of this Toyota bZ4X.
In the industry, Tesla has always been characterized by subverting industry perceptions. For example, the "alien" Yoko steering wheel is considered to have subverted cognition in the mass production industry. But its weakness is that it still needs to play 1-2 turns to be full. Due to the "special-shaped" design, after 1 lap, the hand will not be able to find the grip point from time to time, and the experience is not perfect.
The Toyota bZ4X solves this problem with a racer steering wheel called the OMG driver's set.
As the world's first steering-wire system to achieve true mass production, this racer steering wheel has a steering angle of ±150°, which can be steered without changing hands, directly upgrading the experience. Especially for female car owners, smaller steering angles mean easier driving. Therefore, it is not only achieved in the visual effect of the shape, but also an accurate consideration of the user experience. By independently controlling the steering torque and wheel angle, it can also bring a better sense of handling. Because it is steered-by-wire, it expands the legroom while also blocking unnecessary vibrations transmitted by the tires, improving safety.
So tesla did not do, Toyota bZ4X dared to do. At present, this car has also officially opened pre-sales in the domestic market, but the models that appear in the Chinese market in the future will be the traditional steering wheel mode.
Beyond the steering wheel, the Toyota bZ4X has two technical highlights that are eye-catching enough.
The first is the X-MODE 4WD off-road assist mode. On this car, it is a four-wheel drive off-road mode with dual motors in front and rear. With the Grip-Control intelligent creep mode, on the basis of the power output ability of the motor, it can not only meet daily travel, but also complete a mild off-road experience outdoors. Other pure trams, on the other hand, focus more on urban driving scenes and do not pay much attention to outdoor performance.
This is followed by a high-efficiency solar charging dome on the roof. According to current Toyota estimates, solar power generation can bring about 1750 kilometers of cruising range per year. What is this concept? For a more concrete example, if you travel by car from Beijing to Chengdu, it is about 1750 kilometers. In other words, the power generation of bZ4X solar panels is statistically equivalent to the mileage of "carrying out" a self-driving trip from Beijing to Chengdu.
In the sense, this first saves about 3.6 charges. Secondly, from the perspective of scale effect and carbon neutrality trend, solar charging will allow Toyota bZ4X not only to achieve carbon emission reduction, but also to add additional value, such as providing a new clean energy source path reference for other car companies to lay out pure electric models in the future. Not only does it reduce carbon emissions, but it also adds additional value.
So from the product and technology port, in fact, Toyota bZ4X represents that Toyota will participate in the market competition with a new attitude. And Toyota's technical reserves seem to be "rolled" in the industry.
[It is said to be a treasure because ta is a beam of light!] 】
The reason why the treasure boy is "treasure" is because in the eyes of those who like him, he is a beam of light.
The Toyota bZ4X is one such beam of light.
Objectively speaking, in the electrification transformation of major international giants, Toyota is not the first echelon in speed. For example, the Volkswagen ID. series, which has been delivered in 2021, has now been a year.
In this era of speed and efficiency, a year can change a lot of industrial patterns.
But it really doesn't affect the bZ4X to become that beam of light.
Because the core of Japanese car companies represented by Toyota is: "No matter how aggressive the product is, we must come up with the most stable model." "That's the sense of proportion in Toyota. The subtext is: "I, Toyota, have everything, stable, not in a hurry."
Since the new forces began to form a fierce climate in the domestic automobile market, the word capital has been added to the background of the market. Competition is more like an elimination game in which capital intervenes. Car manufacturing is a money-burning business, which is not false, but it is also stronger than the system strength of car companies.
The most significant difference between traditional car companies and new forces is that the external capital that the new forces borrow is investment, and investors want to look at ROI, so they must catch up with the progress and create heat and constantly go to the market.
And the traditional car companies are not, and the funds are obviously more confident. This means that the first thing is to have the strength to build their own factories, rather than adopting the OEM model. It also determines that the technical level and product quality of the production port are better guaranteed. Secondly, it is more stable in research and development, supply chain, etc., and the upstream and downstream industrial chains involving the product life cycle have been completely cleared.
Therefore, the new forces like to use a single product to explode, while traditional car companies prefer to use the system to fight. This is the difference between beating for a while and beating for a while. The Toyota bZ4X is the result of systematic operations.
Recently, the electrification transformation of traditional joint venture car companies in the domestic market has been mentioned as "elephant turning".
There are two main considerations for this.
First, compared with the "little fast spirit" of the new forces, the joint venture car companies are not so fast in the early stage because of the scale of the system. Second, from the perspective of the potential energy brought to the industry, the joint venture car companies with a more stable system after the turn will greatly promote the market share of domestic new energy vehicles, thereby accelerating the overall transformation of the industry.
Previously, the industry was mainly in transition with Volkswagen, and now when Toyota bZ4X is the starting point of Toyota, it is bound to accelerate the transformation progress of the entire industry.
Zooming in on the pattern a bit, let's look at this Toyota bZ4X from the background of carbon neutrality.
The electrification transformation of traditional car companies, in addition to the changes in their own markets, carbon neutrality is also an influencing factor in the background of this era. Towards the novel, it will determine the corporate image. To put it more broadly, it is for the development of all mankind.
An important consideration for carbon neutrality is the level of carbon emissions throughout the product life cycle, from raw materials to production and use to final product disposal.
Toyota bZ4X's battery development target is 90% of the 10-year capacity retention rate, which brings a longer life cycle for the car to ensure good use quality. On the basis of reducing the user turnover rate, improve the maximum utilization rate of resources. This reduces overall carbon emissions and contributes to the eventual realization of carbon neutrality.
So from this point of view, toyota bZ4X, the pattern, all at once.
【Summary】
The Toyota bZ4X, which competed as the "Treasure Boy", not only has far-reaching significance on the product side, but its hidden value should not be underestimated.
Over the years, Toyota has formed a brand image with reliability as the label in the minds of users by virtue of its product quality. Today, this "Toyota standard" and "Toyota perception" have also been synchronized to the era of pure electric. Reliable, still the hardest pass in the pure electric era. For Toyota, the early introduction of the highly competitive pure electric SUV market with the bZ4X from the new pure electric platform and fairly average skill points not only proves its determination to turn around electrified, but also plays a role in understanding the domestic market situation. After all, in the most intense range, we can gain insight into the most real needs of users.
In 2022, new forces are still fierce, independent brands are getting stronger, luxury brands continue to be tempted, and joint venture brands continue to turn around. Everyone is riveting hard to grab a little more market share.
As the "Treasure Boy" bZ4X must glow.
The more fierce the competition, the faster the market will develop. Looking at it this way, with the entry of Toyota bZ4X into the market, this year's domestic pure electric model market is more interesting.