Company’s only EV gets 25% range increase, big power boost and more
Toyota’s all-electric 2026 bZ crossover gets major boosts in power and range for the new model year, with at least one version rated by Toyota at up to 314 miles versus 252 miles for its predecessor.
Dual-motor, all-wheel drive trims also get a 50% hike in horsepower, to 338 ponies from the previous 214.
The EV, which goes on sale in the second half of 2025, also gets a new name, sort of, with the old hard-to-mouth “bZ4x” chopped to simply “bZ.”
While the the dual-motor models get the significant power boost, the big range improvement is reserved for the new single-motor, front-drive XLE trim. Single motor versions also get a 10% horsepower improvement, to 221 hp from 201.
Among a host of other improvements designed to make the 2026 Toyota bZ a truly competitive compact electric crossover, 2026 models get:
- Restyled front fascia and thin-strip LED headlights
- NACS charging port for Tesla Supercharger compatibility
- Higher capacity, 11-kW Level 2 on-board charger
- A larger, 14-inch touchscreen
- Redesigned center console with dual wireless chargers.
- Redesigned instrument panel
- Customizable interior ambient lighting
- Optional body-colored fender moldings.
- Improved electric motors (e-axles)
- Steering-wheel mounted paddles for setting regenerative braking levels.
Trims, Batteries and Range
Toyota has dropped the mid-range Nightshade trim for 2026 and offers the bXZ in two levels – XLE and Limited, both available with single-motor front-drive or dual-motor all-wheel drive powertrains.
The XLE front-drive can be had as a sort of budget model with a 57.7 kWh battery delivering just 236 miles of range and 168 horsepower, or with an improved 74.1kWh battery (up from 73.1 kWh for 2025 models) for the 314-mile rating.
The big-battery XLE gets a “front-drive plus” designation to differentiate it from the version with the smaller battery. Range estimates are from Toyota – the offical EPA numbers aren’t yet available, but should be close to the company’s.
All other versions of the 2026 bZ get the 74.1 kWh battery.
The all wheel drive XLE has an estimated 288 miles of range, up from 252.
The front-drive Limited is Toyota estimated at 299 miles of range, up from 236; the all-wheel drive version get a range estimate of 278 miles, up from 222.
