Man Who Hates EVs Buys EV. What Will Go Wrong?

[RRocket]

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After living with the bZ4X for 6 months, it's clear why they're generally considered to be the "worst" EV out there, lol. The specs are underwhelming all around and sometimes I ask myself what the heck they were thinking for certain elements of the car. And it's definitely inferior to the competition in many ways. I'm curious to see what you think after living with the car for awhile.

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I pretty much agree with everything. For me though, it's a Prius replacement so in that regard it's a nice lateral move vehicle. Similar to your Subaru upgrade.

Everything is "nicer" than the Prius. And I was already used to the funkyness of the Prius, so the interior quirks of the BZ don't really bother me. In fact, both IQ and I feel like it's a Prius CUV. They feel like they share a similar lineage. So I was immediately comfortable.

And yes, at $60k this was a dumb buy. But at mid $20s, a bargain. Otherwise, I'd have zero interest.

I don't think I'm really going to like it as much as the Prius. But my "beaters" have never knocked my socks off (Echo, Insight, Prius,) so this will be much of the same.

And I think Toyota goes easy on the battery tech (charging, range, performance) to sacrifice for longevity reasons. This same powertrain in Europe gets a 1,000,000km warranty. And I'm OK with that. Toyota has always been extremely sensitive to the quality of their batteries in their hybrids so I think that applies here too

[Tortoise]

I just looked into the pricing of these, and wow, they are quite a deal.  Bananas they were over $60k new.

I could see us getting one when the Golf goes and using it as a "city" car along with an SUV for longer road trips.

[Blueprint]

Congrats! Yes, probably the safest used EV option out there, with lack of initial success / great reviews to lower resale values, and Toyota's rep for reliability. I find the size "just right" as these are larger in person than they look in pictures. Good colour combo on your unit too!

[GreatBigAbyss]

So it was $20k?  Or closer to $30k? 

I had a quick look on autotrader, and the only ones I can find are in the low 30's for a 2023 with ~50k kms.

The only one in Winnipeg

This would actually work in my use case, instead of a Civic Hybrid.  We'll still have the CX-5 for longer trips, and the 2nd vehicle would mostly then be relegated to city/commuter driving.  Like you, I could probably get away with just plugging into a normal household outlet.  But at low-mid 30's, I'm not so interested.  Mid 20's, that would be doable.  Perhaps its because this one is an XLE?  EDIT:  Nope, this one isn't even as nice as the one you got.

Also, I wonder how it would do parked outside overnight at -35C.  I don't have a garage, so my cars live outside.  Would it still charge?  How would the battery fare?

[Blueprint]

90 bz4x's listed on Trader for my province.

2023 LE fwd with 56,612 km for $24,939 - that's the cheapest in QC.

Plenty of others in the $20's, such as a 2023 XLE with pano roof, 71,488 km for $25,480.

Cheapest Solterra (63 listings) is an awd 2023 with 108,516 km for $23,992. Much fewer units below $30k due to higher content/msrp with the Subaru version.

These two do seem to be the sweet spot in the nearly new EV market!

[GreatBigAbyss]

So, a tiny bit of a thread hijack, but it's relevant - the topic of cheap EV's:

Here's an oddball: 

Mazda MX-30 - $19k

It's got a $3800 insurance claim on it, so that tells me it was perhaps involved in a fender bender, but nothing too major? 

What an oddball car.  160km range, lol. 

[RRocket]

So it was $20k?  Or closer to $30k? 




Also, I wonder how it would do parked outside overnight at -35C.  I don't have a garage, so my cars live outside.  Would it still charge?  How would the battery fare?

$27k

And the cold absolutely kills range.

You are not an ideal EV candidate.

[Blizzard]

So, a tiny bit of a thread hijack, but it's relevant - the topic of cheap EV's:

Here's an oddball: 

Mazda MX-30 - $19k

It's got a $3800 insurance claim on it, so that tells me it was perhaps involved in a fender bender, but nothing too major? 

What an oddball car.  160km range, lol.

Before I bought my Bolt I looked briefly at one of these, because I've always liked Mazdas and they're plentiful and cheap on the used market in Quebec. Like, 50 cars for sale at any given time with many in the $15-20k range. At the time having no experience with EVs and also no charger at home, the low range scared me off.

But now, I'd totally rock one (or something like a Fiat 500e). I just finished my kilometers calculation for 2025 for my tax return, and my car drove 10,283 km in 2025 and I'd say my daily mileage is rarely more than 40 km. Occasionally on the weekends I'll do 100 km in a day, which would easily be doable in this car. Assuming I continue to have access to a gas car or EV with a longer range for the 1x per month I drive substantially over 100 km, this car would be totally viable for me. Assuming it's cheap enough to compensate for the shortcomings. Which I think it is... what other almost new car can you get for 15-20k these days?

[Blizzard]

So it was $20k?  Or closer to $30k? 




Also, I wonder how it would do parked outside overnight at -35C.  I don't have a garage, so my cars live outside.  Would it still charge?  How would the battery fare?

$27k

And the cold absolutely kills range.

You are not an ideal EV candidate.

I did a few tests last winter with my Bolt, plugged into a regular household outlet. In warm weather it would gain around 8-9 km/2% per hour set at 12A. This started dropping off slightly below zero, and on the coldest nights when it was around -25, the car barely gained anything overnight.

So living in an area where temps are -35 at night, you would definitely need a Level 2 charger. Plenty of people in my neighbourhood charge their cars outside all winter with a Level 2 charger, so they seem to work regardless of the temperature.

At -35 though I feel like you definitely need a backup set of wheels in case range/charging issues are prohibitive.

[Oliver]

Congrats on the new ride!

Just over two years ago someone I work with bought a Solterra for his wife, and an Audi etron for himself. I think they liked it just fine but in the fall he ended up trading it for a very lightly used, highly discounted Audi SQ6.

[Careener]

Congrats Ron. Seems like it fits your needs.
My aunt has one (2023) and it's been flawless so far

[Bridgecity]

Congrats man!  Very interested in following this thread and seeing how it works out for you.

[dkazzed]

Looks amazing Ron! I haven't looked at BZ4Xs but have seen bargain basement prices on Solterra. A consideration if we ever get a second vehicle again. 

[RRocket]

I'm still reaching for the keys to the Prius most days.....I'm going to miss it.

Got my free NACS adapter (via recall!) from Toyota and decided to try it out to see if it worked.

As with all things Tesla...junk. 4kWh charging speed.....slower than Level 2

[dkazzed]

So it was $20k?  Or closer to $30k? 

I had a quick look on autotrader, and the only ones I can find are in the low 30's for a 2023 with ~50k kms.

The only one in Winnipeg

This would actually work in my use case, instead of a Civic Hybrid.  We'll still have the CX-5 for longer trips, and the 2nd vehicle would mostly then be relegated to city/commuter driving.  Like you, I could probably get away with just plugging into a normal household outlet.  But at low-mid 30's, I'm not so interested.  Mid 20's, that would be doable.  Perhaps its because this one is an XLE?  EDIT:  Nope, this one isn't even as nice as the one you got.

Also, I wonder how it would do parked outside overnight at -35C.  I don't have a garage, so my cars live outside.  Would it still charge?  How would the battery fare?

I've level 2 and DC charged at -32 just fine. A little slow at 90 to 120 kW at those temperatures but admittedly I only preconditioned for like 10 minutes. I charge at up to 175 kW at -15 fully preconditioned. I have a home charger now but my garage still needs to be organized before I can fit a vehicle in there, so it charges outside just fine.

I like to keep at least 3 days worth of battery life in case charging somehow stops working and it takes a few days to get it to a dealer. Below -20, we could use 10-20% battery a day, so I charge anytime it gets under 60% to get it to the 80% limit. Now that it's warming up to +/-0, we use as little as 4% battery a day and I'll let it run down to under 40% before charging. Our level 2 charger is on a 30A circuit but I software limit it to 16-18A, only letting it get up to 24A if I'm home, awake, and need to charge it a bit quicker.

Caveat that my Grizzl-E Mini Connect charger has an operating range of -30 to +50, so in the uncommon event it drops under -30 here, we'll plan around it accordingly.

I'm still reaching for the keys to the Prius most days.....I'm going to miss it.

Got my free NACS adapter (via recall!) from Toyota and decided to try it out to see if it worked.

As with all things Tesla...junk. 4kWh charging speed.....slower than Level 2

Something doesn't seem right. Is it CCS to NACS?

4KW is technically on the lower end of level 2 though.