Toyota Australia’s bZ4X price warning: ‘it’s not going to be cheap’

Toyota is planning an EV fight back that starts with the bZ4X late in 2023.

But rather than the version of the car that is already on sale overseas, the Toyota bZ4X that will arrive late in the year will be an updated model that is yet to be revealed.

The mid-sized five-seat SUV will be the first battery electric vehicle from Toyota as it looks to fight back against Tesla and other fresh brands that are dominating record sales of EVs locally.

The bZ4X will be the first of three EVs Toyota is promising by the end of 2026 as part of an electrified resurgence underpinned by more hybrids.

READ MORE: Toyota bZ family to expand beyond bZ4X

However, Toyota Australia vice president of sales and marketing Sean Hanley has again warned the bZ4X won’t be cheap in a sign that suggests it will be priced north of $70,000 before on-road costs.

“Battery electric cars are expensive, don’t kid yourself,” says Hanley. “If you want quality, safety, performance and range, they are expensive.

“This car will not be a cheap car.”

The only clue to how expensive the bZ4X could be was in Toyota Australia suggesting it could be double the price of a RAV4.

Given the RAV4 starts at $36,550 plus on-road costs it’s certainly not looking like it’ll threaten the BYD and soon-to-arrive GWM Ora at the entry level of the market.

But Hanley says more modest price premiums will not take as long to arrive as they did with hybrid technology, perhaps in part because every automotive brand in the world is manufacturing or developing EVs.

Toyota bZ4X
Toyota bZ4X

“Hybrid took 22 years … BEV … it’s quite quick, it’s five to 10 years,” he says.

But the belated EV arrival for Toyota is only part of its electrified story.

Toyota also says that, by 2025, it will be selling more cars propelled at least partially by electricity, compared with those powered solely by petrol or diesel.

For a company that sells a huge proportion of utes, vans and heavy-duty off-road wagons – most of them diesels – that’s an impressive target.

“Our sales share from electrified vehicles will jump to more than 50 percent by 2025 – and possibly quite a bit higher,” says Hanley.

It suggests a Prado, LandCruiser or Hilux with some form of electrification may only be two or three years away, something that would give Toyota a big edge towards that 2025 goal.