Toyota Is Finally Making the EV the Car Market Sorely Needs

Yahoo

16-05-2025

Toyota's second pure EV for America plays more to the brand's adventurous spirit while filling a notable hole in the current EV landscape.
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It's hard not to admire Toyota's remarkable portfolio of vehicles, though, in full disclosure, my first car was a Toyota Tacoma, so feel free to call me biased if you want.
On one side, with all apologies to rare exceptions like the newly revealed Corolla Hatchback FX Edition, it's a brand known for making some of the most pragmatic (and yes, often staid) sedans and vans ever to grace the asphalt in the Camry, Corolla, and Sienna.
Yet the same company also makes other vehicles, like the Tacoma (and Hilux!), 4Runner, and iconic Land Cruiser, which passionate, hard-core off-roading enthusiasts revere as some of the most badass, drive-through-hell-and-back rides in existence.
It's the cultural equivalent of Michael Bay being a maestro of action movies and rom-coms—nay, foreign documentary shorts—or Patrick Mahomes being equally elite in football and figure skating.
You just don't often see a singular entity master such two disparate fields so completely.
I'm belaboring the point because when the company had to game-plan its first mass-produced EV in North America, it's easy to imagine leadership facing a difficult question.
Do we release a vehicle that aligns with our pragmatic or passionate side? Or do we thread the needle and aim for the narrow zone somewhere in between, as in the case of one of the brand's other all-time great vehicles, the RAV4?
I can't speak to what the company ultimately aimed for. Yet, a quick survey of the automotive media's reaction to the Toyota bZ4X, which launched in 2022, suggests it didn't quite hit any mark, at least not neatly in the center.
'Toyota's newly announced bZ Woodland SUV feels like a much stronger bet in the direction of the brand's deep roots in making versatile, value-oriented adventure vehicles, which the EV market is sorely missing right now.'
However, Toyota's newly announced bZ Woodland SUV feels like a much stronger bet in the direction of the brand's deep roots in making versatile, value-oriented adventure vehicles, which the EV market is sorely missing right now.
You might think the bZ Woodland is simply a unique name for a particular configuration of the existing bZ4X, and you'd be wrong.
It's a brand-new vehicle, though it has much in common with the original bZ4X. The vehicle's 'hammerhead' front facia and lights are the clearest tie-ins, along with a heavy dose of black plastic along the wheel wells.
Subaru's upcoming Trailseeker is actually the more accurate comp since it shares the same platform.
Like the Trailseeker and Subaru's category-defining Outback, the bZ Woodland leans more towards adventurous pursuits than almost every other mid-sized EV crossover/SUV currently on the market, short of perhaps Jeep's Wagoneer S.
It ships with raised roof rails and special 18-inch wheels that can pair with all-terrain tires. It's also nearly 6 inches longer than the bZ4 and offers 8.3 inches of ground clearance, good enough to pass over semi-prominent trail features.
'It ships with raised roof rails and special 18-inch wheels that can pair with all-terrain tires. It's also nearly 6 inches longer than the bZ4 and offers 8.3 inches of ground clearance, good enough to pass over semi-prominent trail features.
That figure is significantly higher than the max 5.7 inches the Ford Mach E offers or the 6.1 inches of the Hyundai Ioniq 5. In fact, it's just shy of the 8.4 – 8.6 inches offered by various RAV4 trims.
The vehicle's towing capacity is also 3,500 lb, which matches that of RAV4s with bigger engines, the Tesla Model Y and 2025 Subaru Outback. It's also notably higher than that of the Ioniq 5 and Mach E (which isn't recommended for towing in the U.S.).
At launch, the bZ Woodland will be available only in a single trim. A premium package can add a better sound system, a pano glass roof, vented front seats, and a more energy-efficient infrared-based radiant heating system.
The photos show a fine and functional interior for a human living in 2025. The seats are SofTex-trimmed. A 14-inch infotainment screen dominates the center and supports wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Standard panoramic and multi-terrain view capabilities should help with squeezing into tighter spaces.
A dual wireless smartphone charger is also a welcome addition. Four USB-C ports are placed throughout, too.
Speaking of phones, the car's headlights, horn, rear hatch, and core temperature controls like the heat seaters/ventilation, defroster, and steering wheel heater can all be activated remotely using the Toyota app and even synced to a schedule. A user's phone can also serve as a digital key to the vehicle. The car can even function as a 4G wireless AT&T hotspot for up to four devices with a subscription.
The bZ Woodland also comes standard with Toyota's Safety Sense 3.0 suite, which includes features like pre-collision avoidance, lane departure alerts, dynamic cruise control, lane tracing and road sign assist, automatic high beams, and proactive driving assist.
You can't talk about EVs without discussing range. Toyota states the bZ Woodland will offer up to 260 miles, which isn't particularly impressive given the vehicle's seemingly 'get out there' ethos. That said, it matches the range of baseline versions of Ford's Mach E and the Hyundai Ioniq 5.
It features a North American Charging System (NACS) port and can jump from 10 – 80% power after 30 minutes of DC charging.
Traction-wise, the vehicle features a dual-motor all-wheel-drive system with a grip-control function that Toyota says provides 'motor drive power modulation to achieve capable off-road performance.' Toyota pegs the combined system output at 375 hp.
Taken as a whole, the bZ Woodland fills an obvious hole in the current EV landscape.
Its additional ground clearance, roof rails, all-wheel drive, and wagon silhouette make it much more capable of tackling lighter weekend adventures closer to home, like ski trips or mountain biking excursions right off the lot, than nearly any other mid-range EV at this price range.
'Taken as a whole, the bZ Woodland fills an obvious hole in the current EV landscape.'
But it still seems to provide all the comforts and conveniences you'd want from a smaller mid-sized EV around town.
Its main competitor for outdoorsy-minded buyers interested in switching to a full EV is the recently revealed Trailseeker. In many ways, it's just a Subaru-flavored version of the same vehicle.
The upcoming Rivian R3 is another vehicle that could meet a similar balance of needs, albeit with a different body style. But that vehicle may not hit the market until 2027.
Neither brand can match Toyota's reputation for reliability, value, performance, or ground footprint in terms of local dealership presence.
The bZ Woodland will arrive in the U.S. in 'early 2026'.
Toyota hasn't yet shared official pricing for the Z Woodland. Still, it's safe to estimate that the vehicle will land near or around the high $40 to $50k range based on comps to the current bZ4X – presuming U.S. tariffs don't dramatically impact our rough math.
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