Toyota's most affordable EV is a great car with some bad helicopter parent-y quirks

Toyota's refreshed, midsize EV — the 2026 bZ — looks thing for illustration different Toyotas.

Its backside is sharply sloped and angular, giving it a floor plan that resembles a doorstop. It mightiness triumph a Pontiac Aztek lookalike contest.

Step inside, and moreover the dashboard has immoderate funky angles, including a gauge cluster that sits unusually acold backmost from the steering wheel.

Once you get past the first "Wait, that's a Toyota?" emotion astir the design, the SUV quickly starts to consciousness for illustration an all-electric type of Toyota's massively popular gas-hybrid RAV4.

That's a immense compliment.

I spent a week and astir 300 miles pinch a front-wheel-drive bZ XLE Plus, which starts astatine $37,900 and has an EPA-estimated scope of 314 miles. My tester costs $40,468 pinch premium metallic overgarment and a fewer accessories.

A Toyota EV successful America's favourite packaging

For respective years, the best-selling conveyance conception successful the US has been the midsize SUV.

The RAV4, Honda's CR-V, Tesla's Model Y, and Chevy's Equinox each cracked the apical 10 successful US conveyance income past year. Combined, they sold much than 1.4 cardinal units successful 2025.

The bZ won maine complete because it acts a batch for illustration those celebrated cars — and sprinkles successful the champion EV traits.

Highway acceleration is quick, particularly compared pinch gas-powered rivals. The bZ besides feels well-balanced done a bend, pinch the battery's weight dispersed debased crossed the floor. Road sound was virtually nonexistent, moreover astatine road speeds.

I've driven a batch of EVs successful my profession — everything from the Lucid Gravity to the Fiat 500E to the Polestar 4. Passengers person often felt nauseated aft agelong trips successful immoderate of them.

Not successful the bZ.

Adults successful the backmost spot said they didn't consciousness immoderate queasiness and praised really comfortable it remained complete unsmooth New York City roads.

There was plentifulness of room for their luggage, too.

Behind the wheel, the bZ was besides impressively efficient. I averaged astir 4.1 miles per kilowatt-hour pinch the aerial conditioning moving successful summertime heat.

Ding! Bing! Hey! Sit up!

The bZ's biggest annoyance was its cacophony of bings.

Its driver-attention show — which mounts sensors into the steering instrumentality to way wherever the driver is looking — many times chimed to show maine I wasn't paying attention.

I get that penning that condemnation sounds for illustration I'm outing myself arsenic a distracted driver. But I'm not.

"Driver inattention detected," it said arsenic I looked complete my near enarthrosis earlier merging onto a engaged highway. "Look forward," the strategy warned arsenic I sipped a coffee. "Sit up," it blared arsenic I grabbed the apical of the steering instrumentality successful a measurement that blocked its position of my eyes.

By the extremity of the week, my passengers were laughing astir really often the car pinged, moreover erstwhile it was evident I was paying attention.

The car besides makes a abstracted ping erstwhile it's shifted into reverse. Even group connected the different extremity of a Bluetooth telephone telephone could perceive it.

Toyota's S-Flow ambiance strategy was different oddity. It's designed to nonstop aerial only toward occupied seats, but it didn't consistently admit group sitting successful the 2nd row.

For a car truthful intent connected watching me, it occasionally missed everyone else.

I conscionable wish it would spot maine to portion my java — and cool disconnected the passengers successful the backmost seat.

Toyota joins the EV statement successful a large way

For years, critics kvetched astir Toyota's uninspiring EV lineup.

From 2021 to 2025, the world's largest automaker had offered conscionable 2 EVs successful the US: the Toyota bZ4X and Lexus RZ. Both shared a platform, funky styling, middling charging speeds, and ranges that didn't scope 300 miles.

Now, arsenic galore automakers are pulling backmost their electrical ambitions, Toyota is doing the opposite.

For 2026, Toyota refreshed and renamed its midsize SUV to the bZ and upgraded the battery. Sales are up 89% this year.

The car institution besides added the bZ Woodland wagon and the C-HR subcompact SUV. Next year, the Highlander goes afloat electric.

The company's luxury brand, Lexus, is besides adding to its EV stable. The aged RZ sewage immoderate cosmetic and scope updates for 2026 (its income are besides up 106.8%), and was joined by the ES electrical sedan. A three-row TZ SUV is scheduled for 2027.

That will springiness Toyota's brands 7 user EV options — 4 much than Tesla.

"When we look astatine the brands that group want to bargain EVs from, Toyota and Honda are No. 1 and No. 2," K.C. Boyce, vice president of automotive and power investigation astatine Escalent, told Business Insider. "Toyota is afloat steam ahead."

The timing for Toyota's expanding lineup is striking. Honda is retreating from EVs and doesn't person an all-electric action successful 2027.

Critics person agelong charged Toyota pinch being an EV laggard. That statement is simply a batch harder to make now.