Toyota is the world’s largest automaker by sales and enjoys a strong reputation with American consumers. But the brand’s first mainstream electric vehicle (EV) in the U.S. has not been met with buyers’ usual enthusiasm.
The Toyota bZ4X suffers from a low range (just 252 miles in its longest-range version) and slow charging times, limiting its appeal. That may get much better for the 2026 model year.
Toyota hasn’t officially revealed the 2026 bZX for American consumers yet. However, the brand raised the curtain on the version Europeans will get at an event in Brussels this week. Historically, the company sells virtually identical models on every continent. So, we anticipate the changes in store for Europe heading stateside soon.
New Battery Tech
The headline is a new set of batteries from a new supplier. They’re technically smaller but more energy-dense, so they should boost the car’s range at every trim level. They’re also capable of charging faster.
Europe and the U.S. use vastly different calculations to predict the range of electric vehicles. European formulas tend to predict much longer ranges. In Europe, Toyota claims the 2025 bZ4X is good for up to 320 miles. The 2026 model, they say, will get 356.
A similar 11% boost in U.S. ratings would increase the car’s range to 280 miles, which is more competitive. However, with 300-plus mile ranges becoming common, that would still leave Toyota’s entry with a competitive problem.
Perhaps more importantly, owners wouldn’t have to wait so long to recharge it. Toyota has finally added battery pre-conditioning, a system that can make charging much more efficient. Toyota claims “a development target of rapid charging in approximately 30 minutes under cold conditions.”
New Motor Tech
The company also says the 2026 bZ4X will get new motors (“eAxles,” in Toyota’s term). Single-motor models currently boast 201 horsepower. If they follow the Euro example, that figure should jump to 221.
Dual-motor, all-wheel drive (AWD) editions will jump from 214 hp to 338. That would likely make it the quickest compact SUV Toyota builds, exceeding even the 302 hp of the RAV4 plug-in hybrid.
We expect to learn whether the changes will come to the U.S. model shortly, but we’d be surprised to see Toyota build a less powerful, lower-range model for the U.S. market.
