Last year, the Toyota bZ4X EV was recalled, and sales were stopped. Even though it’s back on the market, sales for 2023 are expected to be low. Toyota wants to sell more hybrid cars than add more electric vehicles to its lineup. Toyota is starting over by selling the 2023 bZ4X to customers in the United States again. Last year, the company’s first mass-market electric vehicle (EV) was recalled, which stopped sales. Even if there is a fix for the annoying wheel hub nuts and dealerships have bZ4Xs in stock, Toyota has low hopes for this new electric vehicle and EVs. At the Washington, DC, auto show this week, Toyota executives talked to reporters about the bZ4X’s role in the company’s larger plan to use more electric cars. Jason Keller, who is in charge of dealer policy and government affairs, and Rick Gezelle, who is in charge of regulatory affairs, both say that the bZ4X recall “slowed down” the car’s release. We also talked about how people plan for the vehicle’s comeback. Why does Toyota like hybrid cars so much? The bZ4X might be even more limited than Toyota’s GR86 sports car, which the company plans to sell only 10,000 this year. In 2022, more than 12,000 copies of the GR86 were sold. Also, its sales would be much lower than those of some of its EV competitors in 2022. As production increases, sales of these SUVs are expected to rise even more in 2023. On the other hand, Toyota is proud of how many hybrids it sells. In 2022, the company sold more than 500,000 electric cars. Most of these sales were hybrids and plug-in hybrids. Toyota has been clear about dealing with the limited supply of raw materials, especially batteries, needed to make an electric vehicle: it intends to make hybrids before EVs. Toyota says it can produce 90 Prius hybrids or 60 plug-in hybrid RAV4 Primes with the same materials as a single bZ4X. Given the current industry, the company thinks that selling more hybrid cars is a better way to reduce carbon emissions. Toyota agrees that, even though sales predictions are low, the bZ4X needs to be brought to more people’s attention again after the recall and stop-sale delayed the first rollout. In May, a new marketing campaign will let buyers know that the bZ4X is on the market. We did a statewide search of dealer inventories and found a few hundred new bZ4X cars for sale and a smaller number of the Toyota’s twin, the Subaru Solterra. The Solterra, according to Subaru, is offered for sale in all fifty states, whereas the bZ4X, according to Toyota, is “only available in specific states in modest quantities.” If you don’t have a tax credit: Also, the bZ4X will be regulated differently than if it had been presented on time. First, it is no longer eligible for the federal tax credit of $7500. Because of the sales of plug-in hybrids, Toyota reached its sales limit in July 2022. This made the bZ4X ineligible under the old rules. Because they were made in Japan instead of the US, the bZ4X and Solterra don’t qualify for the credit under the new rules of the Inflation Reduction Act, which was just signed into law (IRA). Keller did talk about another part of the IRA for commercial vehicles that is important for bZ4X customers who choose to lease. But customers are still frustrated because they don’t know what’s happening. The bZ4X and possible future models, like the expected bZ3X small SUV and bZ5X three-row SUV, may be eligible for the more significant tax credit, but Toyota has yet to make EVs in the United States. Fix and call back: The bZ4X went on sale in the spring of 2022, but in June, the company that made it announced a recall because of a problem with the wheel hub bolts that could cause the wheels to fall off. Even though only 258 cars in the US were involved, those who bought them early were told not to drive them. Toyota gave these owners a loaner car, reimbursements, loan/lease credits, free charging, an extended warranty, loaner cars, loan/lease credits, and even a repurchase program for those who wanted to return their bZ4Xs. The recall also covered the Subaru Solterra, the same as the bZ4X, and no cars had been sold in the US when it came out. Toyota came up with a solution in October. It would help if you changed the wheels and hub bolts to fix the problem. Late in 2022, the company began fixing the cars, and by November, they were back on the market. Toyota sold 988 bZ4Xs in the fourth quarter, while Subaru sold 919 Solteras (Subaru has not shared sales targets for Solterra in the US). The bigger story of the bZ4X may be ruined by its rough start, but this new model shows what Toyota wants to do no matter what happens. Toyota is hedging its bets as the industry continues to move toward electrification until it is clear which option will win out in the end.
