How far away is Toyota from Tesla?

Recently, GAC Toyota released Toyota's first pure electric vehicle in China, the bZ4X, launched a total of 5 models, and the price after subsidies was 220,000 yuan to 300,000 yuan. It is reported that the bZ4X will be pre-sold by FAW Toyota and GAC Toyota, and Toyota has officially entered the track of pure trams.

As we all know, Japanese car companies have a complete set of quality control systems, and will adjust their strategies in a timely manner according to different markets. GAC Toyota bZ4X is the first model of Toyota's bZ pure electric exclusive series, shouldering the important responsibility of the traditional giant's transition to pure electric.

01.

"Freshmen" admission

In the era of new energy vehicles, Toyota's efforts in the field of pure electric vehicles are very late, but they are very fierce. At the end of last year, Toyota suddenly released 17 pure electric models. Toyota Motor motor proposed that in 2030, Toyota's sales of new energy vehicles will account for 75% of total sales, and strive to sell 3.5 million vehicles per year. In 2030, a total of 4 trillion yen (about 224 billion yuan) will be invested in the field of pure electric vehicles, and 30 new pure electric vehicles will be launched by 2030. In addition, Lexus will become a pure electric brand, achieving 100% pure electric in Europe, North America and China, and this goal will be expanded to the world in 2035.

The bZ4X is the first model launched by Toyota's bZ pure electric exclusive series, of which bZ is the abbreviation of "beyond ZERO", which means that Toyota wants to achieve the value of "beyond zero emissions".

GAC Toyota bZ4X opened pre-sale, which is an important part of Toyota's all-round electrification and a milestone in toyota's exclusive series of pure electric vehicles. The good and bad of bZ4X products and the response of the market have certain reference significance for consumers and car manufacturers, so the importance of bZ4X, the first model of the bZ pure electric exclusive series, is self-evident.

In fact, under the "double carbon" goal, the arrival of GAC Toyota bZ4X is a key strategic layout, but also an initiative. Moreover, looking at the entire pure electric vehicle market, the voice of the joint venture brand is not high, and the market opportunity is very large. At present, there is a slight achievement in volkswagen's ID series, and Honda has recently launched a new product, Extreme 1. Under such a trend, GAC Toyota bZ4X is like a timely rain, which is too critical.

02.

Turn around to face Tesla

As the earliest and widely popularized car company in the development of new energy technology, Toyota launched the world's first mass-produced hybrid model in 1997. After 25 years of four generations of development, with very perfect electrification technology and three-electric system advantages, Toyota has 45 HEV products, and the global cumulative sales of electrified vehicles represented by HEV have exceeded 20 million, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 160 million tons and saving 65 billion liters of fuel.

On the road, on average, nearly 7 of every 10 hybrids are Toyota hybrids, whether in terms of cultural concepts and hybrid technology, or in terms of product lineup and user scale, they are well-deserved "C-bit hybrids".

Unlike other new energy vehicles, Toyota hybrid models have more excellent quality. For stronger battery performance, Toyota Hybrid Battery uses an aqueous solution of alkaline electrolyte, and its operating temperature can be as low as -40 °C, which can be perfectly adapted to extreme cold and extreme heat.

Stronger engine performance, in the high altitude hypoxia environment, Toyota HEV engine power is affected very little, the vehicle power can still be on call; circuit safety, even in high humidity environment, even under extreme conditions of wading, Toyota HEV has not had a circuit safety failure.

Secondly, as a traditional mature car company with global influence, Toyota is also constantly improving its product spectrum at the product level and laying out electrification. Whether in the mainstream brand market or the high-end brand market, Toyota will promote the transformation of the industry with a product lineup with more technical strength and quality advantages. As Toyota's first product after accelerating electrification, the bZ4X is undoubtedly a reliable electric vehicle with personality.

For the first time, the bZ4X is equipped with the X-MODE four-wheel drive function developed with Subaru, which does not require a transfer case and a central drive shaft like the four-wheel drive system of a fuel vehicle, which can improve the passability of the whole vehicle while controlling the volume.

The 12.3-inch central control screen is equipped with the latest car and machine system of the family, which supports mainstream functions such as speech recognition, mobile phone interconnection, App application download, digital key, remote OTA online upgrade and so on. At the same time, the user can also detect the vehicle energy flow release process and power reserve through the screen. In addition to this, there are many operations that can be done on the multi-function steering wheel, and the button layout is also very convenient to operate.

In terms of power, bZ4X provides two-wheel drive front-mounted single-motor and front-rear dual-motor four-wheel drive models, of which the single-motor version of the maximum power of 150kW, the dual-motor four-wheel drive version of the motor comprehensive power of 160kW, providing 400km, 615km, 560km, 500km four-mileage version optional. In terms of body size, the bZ4X has a length, width and height of 4690/1860/1650mm, and a wheelbase of 2850mm, which is very similar to the Tesla Model Y.

It is worth mentioning that this time GAC Toyota installed a solar charging dome for the bZ4X, which can obtain power to supplement the battery life by absorbing solar energy. According to Toyota's official test, the solar charge can be used to charge a smartphone 140 times a day, and the electricity obtained each year can be used to increase the cruising range by about 1750km.

As the world's top car company, Toyota naturally wants to do more meaningful things. Different from traditional brands, but also different from the new forces of car manufacturing, Toyota's idea is far from building an electric product. Toyota's advantages in the fuel vehicle market cannot be directly switched to competitiveness in the new energy market in the short term, which means that traditional car giants must put down their bodies and rebuild new competitiveness.

Behind the listing of GAC Toyota bZ4X is a key battle for Japanese car companies to catch up with the electrification transformation in China, marking that an important part of GAC Toyota's electrification strategic layout has been successfully landed. In the future, whether the Toyota bz series can compete with the Volkswagen ID series, Honda Jipan series and other joint venture brand electric vehicles, let us wait and see.

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