Looks like the Toyota bZ4X won’t make it as the official car for the 2022 G20 Bali summit, which Indonesia will be hosting in November this year. ASEAN’s largest country is currently the the rotating president of the Group of Twenty, which counts the US, European Union, UK, China and India, among other countries, as members.
It was previously reported that the all-EV official car fleet for G20 will include 143 units of the Toyota bZ4X, 123 units of the Genesis Electrified G80 and 226 units of the Hyundai Ioniq 5.
It was revealed at the ongoing GIIAS 2022 show that the Lexus UX 300e will now take the place of the Toyota bZ4X, and 143 units of the compact SUV will be brought in from Japan. Supply issues was cited as the reason for Toyota to make the switch.
It’s somewhat unsurprising as the Toyota bZ4X is super fresh and deliveries are just starting in major markets this year. In ASEAN, Toyota’s first purpose-built EV isn’t on sale in Indonesia yet, and is scheduled to reach Thai showrooms in late-2022.
Built on the electric version of the Toyota New Global Architecture (e-TNGA), developed in conjunction with Subaru which has its own model called the Solterra, the bZ4X is a crossover measuring 4,690 mm long, 1,860 mm wide and 1,650 mm tall, with a wheelbase of 2,850 mm. That makes it 90 mm longer than the current RAV4, with a 160 mm longer wheelbase. The latest RAV4 is quite a large SUV so the bZ4X will be bigger in the metal than it appears in pictures.
Two variants are available globally – the front-wheel-drive model gets a single electric motor producing 150 kW (204 PS) and 265 Nm of torque, while the all-wheel-drive version boasts two motors and a total system output of 160 kW (218 PS) and 336 Nm.
A 71.4 kWh lithium-ion battery provides a range of 516 km on the WLTP cycle with a single motor and 470 km with the dual-motor set-up. The car supports up to 150 kW of DC fast charging, which will fill the battery to 80% in just 30 minutes; it can also accept up to 6.6 kW of AC charging, with an 11 kW on-board charger set to be offered later on.
No supply issues for the Lexus UX 300e, which was launched in Indonesia back in November 2020. The 204 PS/300 Nm motor is powered by a 54.3-kWh lithium-ion battery mounted on the vehicle floor, providing up 300 km of range in the WLTP.
A straightforward swap between EV and EV? Seems so on the surface, but the bZ4X is larger than a RAV4 while the Lexus UX is the smallest SUV the brand makes. The G20 delegates are sure to be chauffeured, and it’s pretty tight back there in the UX. No space problems in the other official cars – the G80 is a large executive sedan while the Ioniq 5 is a giant hatchback.
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