Toyota went down the list of complaints about its electric crossover, sorting several of them with this update.
Whether you’re personally looking to make the jump toward an electric vehicle, year-over-year competition continues to build. It’s not good enough to just have an EV in your lineup, but it needs to be a compelling option to potential buyers. The original Toyota bZ4X had some issues in that department, and now the automaker aims to fix those complaints with its updated, freshly named ‘bZ’.
Right off the bat, the 2026 Toyota bZ gets a host of styling changes that bring it closer into line with the company’s other sedans and crossovers, so things look a bit sharper up front and out back. Inside, the bZ gets a little more conventional, and brings a larger 14-inch touchscreen to the game (rather than 12.3 inches, in some trims), as well as a reconfigured center console with dual wireless charging pads.
Apart from the styling tweaks, the updated 2026 Toyota bZ also gets a lot more power, if you opt for the dual-motor all-wheel drive models. Now, those variants put out 338 horsepower (124 more than before), while the larger battery pack delivers a range of up to 314 miles (with the XLE FWD Plus version). Depending on the trim, the bZ gets either a standard 52-kWh battery or a larger 67-kWh unit, as well as power outputs from 168 hp on up. That means the worst EPA estimate you’ll see (with the base model) is around 236 miles on a charge, while most of the others get a bump to anywhere from 278 miles to that headline 314-mile figure.
2026 bZ models further get a beefier onboard AC charger, up to 11-kW from 7.6-kW, meaning you can charge up quicker overnight with a Level 2 connection as well. DC fast charging speed hasn’t changed, so you’re still limited to 150 kW on an appropriate station, which Toyota says is good for 10-to-80% state-of-charge in about 30 minutes.
Toyota didn’t announce formal pricing for the 2026 bZ just yet. When it does hit dealerships later this year, though, the base price should land somewhere around $40,000, with the top-sped Limited model will likely run up to the mid-$40K range.
Hopefully all these updates will make the bZ an all-around better choice, as we haven’t been ecstatic about it since it first debuted in 2022.
