Family Car Review: 2024 Toyota bZ4X EV

How big is the boot of the 2024 Toyota bZ4X EV?

The bZ4X's boot is a practical size for families. The boot floor is nice and flat and underneath is where your charging cables are stored. The Subaru Solterra I tested had a rubber floor mat, which I'm sure would be a dealership add-on. The boot floor in the bZ4X is nice and flat and great for transporting a medium-sized family dog or an emergency nappy change.

When empty, the 2024 Toyota bZ4X's boot space fits fourteen shopping bags, which is the same as the Subaru Solterra, comparable to the Tesla Model Y‘s fifteen, the Kia Niro that holds eleven, the Volvo XC40 holding twelve, and the Kia EV6 holding thirteen. Some of those have a frunk but the Toyota does not.

The Thule Sleek, future-proof, multi-configuration pram with a single seat…

…will fit in the bZ4X boot with four shopping bags.

The Thule Sleek, future-proof, multi-configuration pram with two sibling seats…

…will fit in the boot of the 2024 Toyota bZ4X with three shopping bags.

The Thule Sleek, future-proof, multi-configuration pram with a single seat and bassinet beside it…

…will fit in the boot of the 2024 Toyota bZ4X with no shopping bags.

The Thule Urban Glide 3 single is the ultimate all-terrain stroller…

…with the back wheels on, it will fit in the bZ4X boot with four shopping bags.

The Thule Urban Glide 3 double is Thule's beloved ultimate all-terrain stroller…

…with the back wheels on, it will fit in the boot of the 2024 Solterra with three shopping bags. So it will be the same in the Toyota bZ4X.

The Thule Spring, lightweight and one-handed folding stroller…

…fits in the boot of the Toyota bZ4X with eight shopping bags.

The Toyota bZ4X's boot can also accommodate a 90L, a 70L and two 40L Thule Chasm duffle bags. You can transport a medium-sized dog in the boot of the Toyota bZ4X.

How good is storage in the 2024 Toyota bZ4X EV?

In the front of the Toyota bZ4X, the central console has two cup holders, each holding a reusable or disposable coffee cup. In front of the cup holders is a phone tray with a retractable lid.

Behind the cup holders is a large central console box.

Underneath the central console bridge is a great storage area for an iPad or wallet. There's also a shelf for phones, two USB-C sockets and a 12V charging socket.

There is no glove box in the Toyota bZ4X! It is the strangest thing to get used to, but you can see the similarities between the Subaru Solterra and Lexus RZ.

Rear passengers have good storage in the Toyota bZ4X, with cup holders in a fold-down armrest in the central seat back. Coffee cups and kids' drink cups fit well, and there is a well in front of them for storing phones or snacks for kids!

There are map pockets on the back of the front seats. They are large enough to hold and conceal an iPad.

The rear door bins in the bZ4X will hold two refillable water bottles, and there is storage in the handle wells.

The front door bins of the 2024 Toyota bZ4X will hold a refillable water bottle and a disposable water bottle.

How noisy is the 2024 Toyota bZ4X, and how easy is the media screen to use?

Being fully electric, the Toyota bZ4X is not a noisy car to drive; it is lovely, quiet and smooth. You can drive your kids to sleep and sit with the aircon running if you get caught out with a napping child without churning through fuel, polluting the local environment and no noisy engine.

The Toyota bZ4X has a clear media screen that is easy to navigate using the icons down the right-hand side.

It has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which allow you to access your phone's messaging, navigation, and listening apps while driving.

You can customise many aspects of the bZ4X, including the sound, so those with noise-sensitive kids can turn things down or off.

You can also customise the car's driver and safety assist systems to turn off the ones you don't want, and you can keep track of your battery range and create a charging schedule.

The bZ4X has a built-in Sat-Nav.

When you put the Toyota bZ4X in reverse, the camera images are lovely and clear and fill the screen. There is a birds-eye camera view…

… as well as other views.

The climate and heated seat controls are on the main dash below the media screen. This fixed position makes them easy to use and change while driving.

The Toyota bZ4X's indicator sound is not too loud, so it did not disturb my kids while they were sleeping in the back.

The windows and doors in the Toyota bZ4X are not too loud or noisy to open and close, and they do not baby-wake!

Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!

That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.

If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?

It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?

A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.

Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!

I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.

The Toyota bZ4X is a quiet and smooth drive, and there are no real baby-waking noises.

How many child/baby seats can you fit in the 2024 Toyota bZ4X?

When it comes to installing child seats in the 2024 Toyota bZ4X EV, there are ISOFix points in both outer rear seats. They are not within plastic guides, but they are nice and easy to connect to and clearly labelled.

All three rear seatbacks have top tether anchorages, which are clearly labelled and easily accessible through the boot.

The three child seats I tested fit nicely across the rear seats of the bZ4X. I installed three forward-facing child seats: one 0-8-year-old convertible, one 0-4-year-old convertible, and one 6-month-old-8-year-old convertible booster.

These three child seats fit comfortably in the back with good legroom for rear passengers. We could fit a 180cm driver in front of the rear-facing infant capsule. The rear footwell is almost flat, so there is plenty of kick room, and it's easy for little passengers to move around to get in and out of their seats. There is a carpeted mat in the footwell of the bZ4X.

There is room to insert Bub into their child's seat from outside the car and from inside, and there is room to feed Bub in the back if only one child seat is installed.

Australia being a country of weather extremes- blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!

How comfy is the 2024 Toyota bZ4X EV?

The bZ4X's rear occupants are kept comfortable with air conditioning vents, so rear passengers can stay comfortable while driving. There are also USB-C sockets for charging their devices. The Subaru Solterra has heated rear seats, but the Toyota bZ4X does not.

The rear seats are comfortable for passengers not in child seats, with good legroom and an almost flat floor. Making it easy for passengers to move to and from their seats.

The upholstery is perforated pleather throughout the Toyota bZ4X and would be kept best with a seat cover underneath your kids' child seats. The front seats are equally as comfortable and upholstered in the same way.

There are four air-conditioning vents across the front of the dashboard, two below the media screen and one at each end of the dashboard.

The air-con controls are below the media screen and are really easy to access and use while driving.

There are no built-in window shades in the 2024 Toyota bZ4X, so you do have to add your own after-market rear window shades. There are handles above both the rear doors so you can hang a child's toy.

Visibility is excellent in the bZ4X; even with three child seats installed in the back, you can see over them.

The cameras in the bZ4X also help to make maneuvering and parking easy.

One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Bub has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually, I dread parking in our tight apartment block carpark, but the Toyota bZ4X is easy to reverse park!

How safe is the 2024 Toyota bZ4X EV?

The 2024 Toyota bZ4X EV has been given a five-star ANCAP safety rating, scoring 88% for both child occupancy protection and adult occupancy protection.

Of the Toyota bZ4X Child Occupancy Testing, ANCAP wrote:

In the frontal offset and side impact tests, protection of the 10 year and 6 year dummies was GOOD for all critical body regions, and maximum points were scored in these tests.
The Toyota bZ4X is fitted with lower ISOFix anchorages on the rear outboard seats and top tether anchorages for all rear seating positions.
Installation of typical child restraints available in Australia and New Zealand showed most child restraints could be accommodated in most rear seating positions, however the Type A capsule could not be correctly installed in the rear outboard seating positions, and one of the booster seats could not be correctly installed in the centre rear position.

Seven airbags are standard:

Dual frontal, side chest-protecting and side head-protecting (curtain) airbags are standard. A centre airbag which provides added protection to front seat occupants in side impact crashes is also standard.

The 2024 Toyota bZ4X EV comes with adaptive cruise control (ACC), anti-lock braking system (ABS), and autonomous emergency braking (AEB) – Car-to-Car/VRU/Backover/Junction Assist. Automatic emergency call (eCall), child presence alert, electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD), event data recorder (EDR), electronic stability control (ESC), emergency brake assist (EBA), emergency stop signal (ESS), fatigue reminder, fatigue monitor/detection, forward collision warning (FCW), lane departure warning (LDW), lane keep assist (LKA), pre-crash systems, rear cross-traffic alert (RCTA), reversing collision avoidance (camera), secondary/multi-collision brake, speed assistance – auto/intelligent speed limiter,  speed sign recognition and warning as standard.

Blind spot monitor (BSM) is not available on the base variant but standard or optional on higher variants.

Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Bub’s asleep!