Toyota has vowed to expand its Gazoo Racing offerings across the entire lineup and is living up to that promise by giving the bZ4X electric SUV the GR treatment. Introduced today at the 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon in Japan, the vehicle is a concept for the time being, although it’s likely a matter of time before it will go on sale.
It’s all show without any extra go as the bZ4X GR Sport consists of visual upgrades while retaining the hardware of the regular production model. To make it stand out, Toyota through its performance division has installed wider tires for better grip and has painted some of the exterior body panels in matte black. Images of the interior have not been provided, but we do know it has sports seats.
We’ll remind you the zero-emission SUV has a 71.4-kWh battery pack if you stick to the front-wheel-drive model while the AWD-equipped version gets a slightly bigger 72.8-kWh battery. In terms of power, the base model makes do with 201 hp (150 kW) channeled to the front axle while the all-wheel-drive variant has a pair of 107-hp (80-kW) motors for a combined output of 215 hp (160 kW).
In terms of performance, the single-motor Toyota bZ4X does the 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) sprint in 8.4 seconds while upgrading to the dual-motor setup reduces the time to 7.7 seconds. Needless to say, the FWD model is lighter by tipping the scales at 4,232 pounds, but should you want more oomph, the dual-motor SUV tips the scales at 4,420 pounds.
It’s worth mentioning Toyota has promised the battery will retain 90 percent of its capacity even after using the vehicle for 10 years. Speaking of which, the battery can be charged at up to 150 kW and the bZ4X has been engineered with a heat pump for heating and AC for extra efficiency. In the US, the front-wheel-drive model is estimated to deliver 250 miles of range.
Toyota is already selling the electric SUV in Japan and will have it at dealers across the US from mid-2022.
Source: Toyota
