Here we have a Toyota bZ3, seen after the rain in the summer of 2023 in Beijing. The bZ3 was as good as new and painted in a typical Toyota color: gray, with gray bumpers and gray wheels. Stay awake folks!
The color may be boring but the bZ3 is a good-looking car, with a sedan-coupe design and some wild creases on the sides. It has pop-out door handles and cool aero wheels.
Badge: 一汽丰田, Yīqì Fēngtián, FAW-Toyota.
The Toyota bZ3 is a China-only electric sedan. It is made locally at the FAW-Toyota joint venture. Technically, it is an interesting mess. Many Western car makers are scrambling to get EVs to the market. They have been outpaced by Chinese brands who launch a new EV almost every day.
So many Western car makers are looking for shortcuts. Some buy entire platforms from Chinese automakers, others buy parts from the shelf. This is what happened with this Toyota bZ3. Toyota has sourced the electric motor and the battery pack from BYD. The platform is Toyota’s own e-TNGA. But one may wonder how much money Toyota will make with this car. Half of the revenues go to partner FAW, and they have to pay lots of cash to BYD for the electric bits.
The interior is again rather pretty, but with these colors, it also looks boring. Chinese brands are very good these days with light-colored interiors, with white and beige color schemes. Toyota didn’t get the memo. The interior is gray with gray, a little beige, and some gold trim for excitement.
The instrument panel is located very far from the driver, almost at the window’s edge. A typical Toyota design but a bit weird. The main screen is a beauty. The center tunnel has an ‘island’ with the drive selector and the electronic handbrake.
Did I say gray? But if you sit here on this gray bench with gray door trim you do have a lot of legroom. The bZ3 is an electric car with front-wheel drive. Size: 4725/1835/1475, with a 2880 wheelbase.
Toyota sells two versions of the bZ3:
- 184 hp and 303 Nm. The max speed is 160 km/h. BYD Blade LFP battery with 50 kWh for a 517 km CLTC range.
- 245 hp and 303 Nm (yes, the torque is the same). The top is 160 again. BYD blade LFP battery with 65 kWh for a 616 km CLTC range.
The price starts at 151.800 yuan for the base model to 181.800 yuan for the top-spec car.
Somewhat oddly, Toyota uses a BEV badge on the back, with a blue dot. In China, the common English abbreviation for electric cars is EV (electric vehicle), not BEV (battery electric vehicle). The bZ3 name is spelled with a capital Z. The b and Z are both in blue. But the bZ blue has another shade than the dot’s blue. The dot’s blue is darker. Messy.
The headlights are kind of space-age. Very cool. The green-white license plate is a NEV-plate of the Beijing Municipality. NEV is a Chinese vehicle category: New Energy Vehicle. This category includes EVs, PHEVs (including EREVs), and FCEVs.