Author / Cao Jin
Yes, the Toyota bZ4X is finally here, with the eye-catching label of the e-TNGA.
Today, when you look at the innovative brands and products launched by a traditional car company, the first thing you see may be a conspicuous large screen, a cockpit space with many functions added, and redundant, forward-looking hardware parameters. As Toyota, which still topped the global sales charts, its first bZ model is considered to be another trend model.
Just yesterday (April 28), bZ4X officially opened pre-sale in China, which is divided into two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive versions, with pre-sale ranges of 220,000-360,000 yuan and 280,000-300,000 yuan respectively. Before the bZ4X went on the market, Auto Byte also participated in the car's internal test drive. Under the premise of first focusing on the pure electric driving experience, we can temporarily return to the rationality of the original driving intention and experience its hidden design ideas. Through this line of thinking, bZ4X seems to want to express the other side of "EV intelligence" that has attracted much attention: it is not only a "gorgeous coat" of intuitive functions, but also a driving control detail that should run through every kilometer.
Tuning is more intuitive than dynamic parameters
Compared with those models that rely on the characteristics of the initial torque of the motor and focus on promoting the acceleration time, the Toyota bZ4X is not outstanding from the parameters: in the two power versions launched in China, the front-drive version is equipped with a motor with a maximum power of 150kW and a maximum torque of 266N·m, with an acceleration time of 0-100km/h of 7.5 seconds; the four-wheel drive version is equipped with a maximum power of 80kW and a maximum torque of 169N·m, with an acceleration time of 0-100km/h of 6.9 seconds.
However, in the actual experience, the Toyota bZ4X brings a feeling beyond expectations: the two-wheel drive version and the four-wheel drive version make people feel the acceleration ability of "direct giving", and even not lose to some electric vehicles with parameters tens of kW higher than it.
The reason why there is this contrast, the key point is that the acceleration setting of Toyota bZ4X is to step on the acceleration pedal to get a linear power response, rather than like some models in order to pursue low energy consumption, only by stepping on the pedal to a certain angle can you obtain the acceleration ability that matches the parameters.
Such a linear pedal not only brings a direct sense of acceleration, but also has a linear upward power curve close to that of a large-displacement fuel vehicle, bringing better comfort, which can make the driver expect the next power change, and can also avoid pulling and vertigo caused by irregular and abrupt changes in power.
Also in order to optimize the driving experience, the bZ4X also optimizes the kinetic energy recovery linearly. The moment the accelerator pedal is completely released, the kinetic energy recovery system does not suddenly intervene, but there will be an enhancement process that gradually adapts to the vehicle; when the speed is too low, the system will not suddenly stop working, but gradually reduce the recovery force until it disappears. Compared with the kinetic energy recovery mode of sudden intervention, the bZ4X does not have the sudden drag sensation caused by intervention, nor does it eagerly take over the brakes because of the sudden disappearance.
In addition, although the bZ4X's kinetic energy recovery system supports multi-gear active adjustment, the strongest gear is not enough to fully achieve single-pedal driving, which is also more difficult for some novices to develop wrong driving habits.
Because this is an internal test drive activity, it is impossible to know the real endurance of the bZ4X through actual measurement. However, according to the information announced by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the toyota bZ4X front-drive version of the CLTC can reach a maximum endurance of 615km, which is at the leading level in the domestic electric SUV of the same level. In addition to the ability of the electric drive and energy storage system itself, the bZ4X has also made important contributions to the optimization of the 0.28 wind resistance coefficient of the car and the air conditioning system with a 30% reduction in weight and 30% energy consumption in the same class.
According to Toyota's introduction, the battery life performance of the bZ4X is not through the limit of the squeezed battery, but only uses the middle part of the power that has the least impact on life, so as to avoid the irreversible impact on the battery due to overcharge and over-discharge. This part of the "intermediate power" has been locked before leaving the factory, and the maximum battery life and the corresponding full power on the meter are only the available power of the middle part.
In addition, the bZ4X also adopts a refrigerant cooling method for the battery cell, an electric heating heating system, etc., to stabilize the battery output and suppress the battery life attenuation. It should be known that Toyota aims to maintain a battery capacity retention rate of 90% for 10 years at the world's first-class level, and strives to create a safe and durable BEV for users.
The limit and balance of driving experience
In addition to the surprises of the power design, the Toyota bZ4X has also put a lot of effort into the often overlooked EV handling attributes. In the pile winding link of the test drive, in the face of frequent changes in direction and center of gravity, the vehicle did not appear clumsy because of the characteristics of the SUV chassis and suspension, not only the front of the car can be flexibly steered with the steering wheel, but the follow-up wheel is also better than expected. Because this car has X-MODE four-wheel drive off-road assist mode, and equipped with the newly developed Grip-Control intelligent creep mode, which further optimizes the response speed and power distribution of the front and rear axle power output, the experience is better.
According to Toyota's introduction, the system can also be combined with the driving mode, providing snow/dirt and snow/mud modes, and can simulate the effect of a limited-slip differential by applying brakes to the idle wheels. The event site also provided a test scenario to simulate the loss of grip of a one-sided vehicle, and the system soon began to intervene after the tires were idling to help the vehicle get out of trouble, the whole process was very fast, and there was no feeling of struggle.
Although the Toyota bZ4X weighs far more than the fuel car because of the battery pack, it is actually not affected by too much inertia in the pile winding link. On the one hand, because of its sufficient suspension support, there is no unilateral compromise to comfort like some companies because of the lack of tuning experience, from the experience point of view, bZ4X has achieved a balance between comfort and transmittable road sense: while raising the limit and bringing driving pleasure, the vibration transmitted is completely within the acceptable range of passengers.
To achieve this driving experience, the bZ4X's low center of gravity and high rigidity body also play an important role: by minimizing the installation position of the integrated system of the three electrics, the vehicle's center of gravity is pulled down by 34%.
In addition, the integrated design of the body mechanical structure adopted by bZ4X makes the battery pack box girder structure part of the body skeleton, which increases the torsional rigidity of the body by 20%. The benefit of this is that the overall feel of the vehicle is better, and the four wheels can also maintain grip performance at the same time under more extreme conditions, increasing the handling limit.
Is the special-shaped steering wheel difficult to adapt?
At the test drive site, we also experienced a model equipped with OMG (One Motion Grip) driving control suit, which is the version of the special-shaped steering wheel + remote steering that is widely circulated on the Internet. Although Toyota China said that the bZ4X will only launch a round steering wheel + mechanical steering model in the early stage, the OMG suit may also be introduced into China in the future.
The lack of upper spokes on the profile steering wheel makes it difficult to perfectly match the need for inverted hands after turning to 180°. Therefore, the bZ4X through the steering-by-wire steering to bring about the variable steering ratio capability, so that it at low speed rotation small angle, can make the wheel rotate to the usual angle of several times the position to reach, the steering wheel corner upper limit is also set to plus or minus 150 °, usually without changing hands can also be easily hit angle.
Before the test drive, we made enough psychological expectations that "it should be difficult to adapt", and from the actual experience, we can actually get started faster, and even in some scenes, it is more convenient than fixed steering than the steering wheel. For example, low-speed inverted garage moving cars and fierce driving at relatively high speeds can greatly reduce the steering wheel angle and achieve one-handed control, saying goodbye to "kneading wheels and reversing libraries". In addition, the bZ4X's steer-by-wire has the ability to simulate a sense of way out, which further enhances the driving experience.
Design never takes precedence over "practicality"
Although innovation has become a way for more and more car companies and models to shape IP since the transformation of electrification and intelligence, there are few products like bZ4X that can return to the core experience of the car from a completely practical point of view.
The most profound feeling is the design officially known as the "cabin stacked instrument cluster". This is an LCD screen suspended above the center console, with a line of sight position only slightly lower than the traditional HUD, which has shifted from the hole in the center of the traditional steering wheel width to the entire steering wheel. Toyota says it only needs to lower its line of sight by 12° while driving to be able to read instrument information.
In addition, the position of the dashboard is also more backward, with a distance of 85 cm from the head, which can reduce the focus pressure when the eye is transferred from the outside world to the meter, and read the information faster. Compared to HUDs, this design not only provides more information through the large screen, but also makes the picture more difficult to be affected by light brightness and background color, and the clarity is better.
At the same time, the control buttons in the center console area of the car have also been moved up, and the multimedia and air conditioning buttons are integrated into the area close to the bottom of the screen, the angle of line of sight movement during operation is smaller, and the common functions also retain independent buttons, which is more convenient for operation when driving.
Finally, the bZ4X's knob shift mechanism, the main two characteristics are that it can be completely blindly operated, the logic is simple, and there is almost no risk of operating errors. The knob changes the logic corresponding to the traditional angle and gear, and the left and right rotation is the logic corresponding to the input D gear and R gear, the down pressure is to switch N gear, and the P gear is the independent button in front, so all cases do not need to pay attention to the current and post-operation knob position.
In addition, bZ4X has some details to consider. For example, the front wireless charging slot is significantly larger than the current mobile phone size, which can be compatible with more future mobile phones; the rear floor is almost completely flat, and the seat belt socket of the rear seat can be completely tucked into the seat interior, which optimizes the comfort when riding three people side by side; the bottom cover of the trunk is completely flush with the door frame, and it is very convenient to take items, and there is a large hidden storage slot under the cover plate, which can store scattered items and relatively private items.
summary
Nowadays, although we can see more and more dazzling intelligent functions, while surprising the imagination and technology landing, we should also remember that "intelligence" should be fully used in cutting-edge software functions and vehicle driving control design at the same time. The advent of the Toyota bZ4X has reawakened the driving genes of cars. While everyone repeatedly emphasizes "mobile space", we should also understand that the cars of this era are still the carriers of passion and driving pleasure first and foremost.