Toyota launched its third all-electric car under the bZ brand in China, securing 10,000 orders within the first hour. The electric SUV starts at 109,800 yuan (15,100 USD) and is equipped with lidar and Momenta’s assisted driving tech. Its maximum range is 610 km.
bZ3X is largely based on GAC Aion V – the size, motors, and overall drive train are the same, but the batteries differ.
The bz3X is a 5-door 5-seater with dimensions of 4600/1850/1600 mm (length/width/height) and a 2765 mm wheelbase. It is FWD and has a single electric motor with a maximum power of 150 kW or 165 kW and a maximum speed of 160 km/h.
The electricity is stored in a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery, which comes in three variants: 50.0 kWh, 58.4 kWh, and 67.9 kWh, good for 430 km, 520 km and 610 km range under CLTC conditions.
Toyota wanted to fight the stereotype that it makes “dumb” cars and equipped the bZ3X with lidar and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) from Chinese autonomous driving startup Momenta.
The 520 Pro and Pro+ have versions with lidar from Robosense and Momenta 5.0 assisted driving tech, while the top trim 610 Max has optional lidar and Momenta 5.0 ADAS. The rest of the trims come with standard Toyota Pilot driver assistance.
Momenta 5.0 enables bZ3X to have the NOA (Navigate on Autopilot) function without needing HD maps.
The specs are as follows:
| Trim name | Range (CLTC) | Battery | Motor (kW) | ADAS | Lidar | Price (yuan) |
| 430 Air | 430 | 50 | 150 | – | No | 109,800 |
| 430 Air+ | 430 | 50 | 150 | T. Pilot | No | 119,800 |
| 520 Pro | 520 | 58.4 | 150 | T. Pilot | No | 129,800 |
| 520 Pro+ | 520 | 58.4 | 150 | T. Pilot | No | 139,800 |
| 610 Max | 610 | 67.9 | 165 | Momenta | Opt. | 159,800 |
| 520 Pro Smart | 520 | 58.4 | 150 | Momenta | Yes | 149,800 |
| 520 Pro+ Smart | 520 | 58.4 | 150 | Momenta | Yes | 159,800 |
The interior is Tesla-like and minimalistic, with a large 14.6″ screen dominating the cabin. However, it is powered by an older Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip, while most new EVs are already equipped with the more powerful Snapdragon 8295.
The lidar-equipped trims feature the Nvidia Orin X chip with 254 TOPS of computing power. Toyota also claims that bZ3X is the first car from the joint venture in China to feature lidar.
Toyota claims that 65% of the parts come from Chinese suppliers, and only 1% are imported. Toyota bZ3X is produced by the GAC-Toyota joint venture, and it is currently a China-only car.
Toyota already has two all-electric bZ series cars in China: the bZ4X SUV and the bZ3 sedan, which was developed together with BYD and featured BYD electric motors and battery. While bZ4X has ceased deliveries in China already, bZ3 sales are surprisingly not as bad as you would expect. In January, the company sold 3510 units, up 45% year-on-year.
Toyota says that bZ3X received 10,000 orders within an hour of the launch, and its server crashed. Early buyers are eligible for a limited-time discount of 5000 yuan (700 USD). We will monitor its sales performance closely.
