Larger body edition delivers more practicality for modest premium, but pares back range.

FULL complement of the revised Toyota bZ electric sports utility family has occurred with arrival of the flagship Touring.

Posting at $69,990, the new choice sites $3000 above the bZ4X dual motor Motion that is mechanically identical. The difference is that Touring has a larger body style.

The extra cabin room enhances practicality - but means accepting the penalty of lower range.

The Touring is cited to deliver 488 kilometres’ driving, when measured to the WLTP scale. The donor Motion is good for 517km, the entry rear-drive Pure will achieve 591km.

Announcement of the 2026 models was made last year, at which point all were expected in March.

The Touring has an extension of the SUV body style that adds 140mm to the length and 20mm to height, which increase load compartment capacity by more than a third.

The models, which all announced internationally in early 2025, also answer the original bZ4X’s critics by delivering with a bigger battery and efficiency improvements designed to give markedly more range, and reduced energy consumption.

When undertaking those revision, Toyota also took opportunity to tidy up the styling inside and out.

Moreover, in conformance with international trend, prices all trimmed massively. The originals that released here in May of 2024 cost $72,990 in single motor and $82,990 in dual motor.

Powering the updated bZ4X in all forms is a larger 74.7kWh battery pack, combined with more efficient electric motors and inverters.

The original models were credited with ranges of 535km and 485km; they drew from a 71.4kWh battery and made 150kW in front-drive and 160kW in dual motor.

Now the front-wheel-drive model pairs the battery with a single 167kW/269Nm electric motor. The dual motors develop 255kW/438Nm.

Zero to 100kmh times have sharpened but perhaps more pertinent to the user profile is that the AWD is now rated to tow 1500kg, up from 750kg.

DC fast charging remains limited to 150kW, for a 10 to 80 percent top-up in a claimed 30 minutes, but the battery's thermal control software has been updated to recharge faster in colder climates.

The AC charging has improved from 11kW to 22kW, for a claimed 10 to 100 percent fill in 3.5 hours on a 32-amp, three-phase power supply, according to Toyota.

Exterior styling revisions are mainly to the nose, which has the make’s latest ‘hammerhead’ profile. Down the sides and around the back, the bZ4X is basically the same as before.

Toyota says but small detail tweaks to the rear spoiler and the underbody aero package bring the drag coefficient down to 0.27Cd – compared to 0.29 previously.

Inside, a larger 14-inch touchscreen has been added across the range, joining a revised centre console housing dual wireless phone chargers. The front drive also now has some features, including some active driver safety ingredients, that previously restricted to the AWD.

Touring has two cabin colour options, black and khaki, for “more outdoorsy feeling”. Synthetic leather is on the seats and steering wheel.

The Touring’s increased dimensions result in a significant increase in load compartment capacity, adding an extra 148 litres to the boot space for a total of 600 litres.

The bZ4X is a co-development with Subaru, which has the lookalike Solterra. The latter has also undergone the same changes as the bZ4X, and the Touring is also in production as the Subaru Trailseeker.

Subaru NZ has not indicated if it intends to keep Solterra in the mix, but the updated Solterra and Trailseeker are regionally-available, having just released in Australia.

TNZ, meanwhile, remains mum on whether it will enhance its electric car presence with another model, the C-HR Plus. That car has also signed off for Australia, for mid-2027 arrival.