The BZ4X EV SUVs are expected to cease driving immediately, according to a statement from Toyota. Toyotas is recalling many BZ4X vehicles, including some from model year 2023, due to defective wheels. Toyota announced the recall at the end of June, citing a possibility that new electric vehicles wheels could come loose.
The worldwide recall affected its first EV, after Toyota found an issue with a bolt connecting the wheels to the frame. Subaru Corp (7270.T) also said on Thursday it is globally recalling around 2,600 units of the Solterra, the first fully electric car developed with Toyota, the Solterra, for the same reason. A Subaru spokeswoman told Insider it is recalling 403 units of the Solterra, the all-electric car it has developed with Toyota, under Toyotas 2-recall. Toyota said on Thursday the GB4X global recall will affect around 2,200 cars in Europe, 260 in the U.S., 10 in Canada and 110 in Japan, according to Reuters.
Toyota launched 2 in Japan last month, with plans to bring the model to U.S. dealerships this spring. Toyota will use that investment to develop as many as 30 all-electric models, with the goal of selling 3.5 million of them by the end of the decade. In any event, Japanese carmaker Toyota announced in May of last year it was expanding its lineup of models to 70 electric vehicles by 2025.
Toyota has started moving aggressively into the EV market lately, with the announcement of about a dozen new electric vehicles for sale by December 2022. The vast majority of Toyotas electrified sales were plug-in hybrids, until Toyotas recent $43 launch this year of its all-electric $43. Toyotas first fully electric car, Toyotas BZ4X, is off to a rough start. Its first mass-market EV is the first Toyota EV powered entirely by batteries, and it is not a modified version of the gas-powered model.
With its 2023 bZ4X, the first of its kind to be offered in all 50 states, Toyota has taken a more conservative styling and useability approach than some of its fellow EV manufacturers (and we mean that in the best way). Toyota is ready to make another splash in the EV space with the 2022 bZ4X crossover, boasting an aggressive style that sets it apart from the gasoline-powered 2022 bZ4X crossover. Unlike Toyotas last fully electric car offering–the RAV4 EV–the bZ4X will be sold in Toyota dealerships across the country. Toyota has yet to reveal a lot of information about the bZ4Xs drivetrain, other than to say the 2022 model year of the crossover will have four-wheel drive as standard.
The bZ4X uses a front-wheel-drive, single-motor version that makes 201 horsepower and 196 pound-feet of torque, and uses a battery pack with 71.4 kWh. The 2023 Toyota BZ4X has a few strange choices both inside and out that drop it down to a 7.2 TCC score, but few other electric crossovers have made the transition from gas-powered or hybrid-powered to purely electric as easily. The fix offered here does not give BZ4X owners EVs either, since Toyota does not have another EV that Toyota could hand out (the RAV4 Prime Plug-in Hybrid is their closest analog).
We are working hard to come up with a remedy, and we will let bZ4X owners know in the future when the remedy becomes available. Toyota recently advised bZ4X owners about the recall, and continues to request that you do not drive your bZ4X until the remedy becomes available. Toyota has sent out a letter to bZ4X owners offering the choice between loaner cars and incentives packages, or a full buyback of the cars, while the company continues to fight to keep (literally) the wheels on bZ4X.
Toyota has been forced to recall 2700 units of its early EVs over concerns that the wheels might come off, in a setback for the worlds largest automaker is late attempts at producing battery-only vehicles. Toyota has been the worlds biggest automaker by sales in the past two years, beating out Volkswagen. That represents a 5.2% market share in the first half of 2022, up from 2.5% the previous year.
In fact, roughly two-thirds (66%) of all new battery-electric vehicles sold in the U.S. during the first half of 2022 were Tesla models, with consumers waiting up to a year or more for delivery. Toyotas first full-range EV, the BZ4X compact SUV, is expected to launch in the U.S. by mid-2022. Toyota is a global champion of the hybrid car, and for years, Toyotas been reluctant to jump headlong into the EV design and manufacturing space. Toyota made hybrid cars mainstream with the Prius, sold the first commercial hydrogen vehicle with the Mirai, and is now working with Japans space agency (JAXA) to place the first proper vehicle — the kind that will not require you to don a spacesuit — on the moon.
The screw-up would not be that bad if this were 2,700 random cars, but it is all Toyotas first EVs, and even without powertrain issues, it is a massive blow to their EV programme, which only puts them further behind in the race that they are already falling further behind everybody. Owners of its first mass-market EV, and Tundra owners who have questions about the roughly 46-car recall, can call Toyota Customer Service at 800-331-4331.