Toyota bZ4X EV Charging Cable

Toyota changed the charger a few months after launch

The UK press pack contains both facts in one place. Launch cars have "a 6.6kW on-board charger" and "a full charge using a 230V/32A supply will take around 9.5 hours". Then: "From Q4 2022, an 11kW three-phase on-board charger will replace the initial 6.6kW unit".

What matters here is that the 6.6 kW is single phase. There is no second or third phase waiting unused, no gap between the brochure and the driveway. Plug into a 7 kW home point and the car takes everything it is built to take. So the early car takes 6.6 kW at a British house and the later one takes 7.4 kW. Roughly eleven per cent apart, not the forty per cent the ratings suggest, and there is nothing on the spec sheet that tells you which you have. The build date does.

The MY25 car went to 22 kW, and it makes no difference here

The 2025 update made 11 kW standard across the range with a 22 kW three phase charger on the High grade. If you are looking at a car with the 22 kW charger option, understand what it does and does not buy. Twenty two kilowatts means 32 amps across three phases. A British house has one phase. The car takes 32 amps of it, arrives at 7.4 kW, and the expensive charger sits there being no faster than the standard one. It earns its money at a 22 kW public AC post and nowhere else.

EV Database shows the tables side by side for the MY25 car: a single phase 32 amp supply gives 7.4 kW and eleven hours; three phase 32 amps gives 22 kW and three hours forty five. The second row belongs to a building with an industrial connection, not a house.

The socket is at the front, which is unusual

Charging happens at the nose, which is unusual and useful. There is no nearside or offside to worry about, only how far the front of the car sits from the charge point when it is parked as it always is.

UK reviewers noticed it: the charging port is on the front nearside wing with an "Electric" badge beside it, and separately, the port is on the front left hand side of the car. Toyota US describes the same panel as the driver side front quarter on a left hand drive car, which is the same physical side. AC and DC share the one combined inlet, so there is nothing to split.

Batteries and range, which moved twice

Cars to MY24 have 71.4 kWh gross with 64 usable, and WLTP range of 286 to 317 miles depending on drive. MY25 brought two packs: 57.7 kWh gross with 54 usable, and 73.1 gross with 69 usable and up to 354 miles. The MY26 Touring goes further again at 74.7 gross and 71 usable.

Rapid charging has stayed at 150 kW throughout, with ten to eighty per cent in 28 to 33 minutes and a measured peak of 147 kW.

How long a full charge takes

Figures are calculated rather than quoted: battery divided by power, 13 per cent for losses, quarter hour rounding. The range column assumes 3.5 miles per kWh rather than a summer best case. The two battery figures cover the MY22 to MY24 pack and the larger MY25 one.

Which length for a bZ4X

The car is 4.69 metres and the socket is at the front nearside. Nose into a bay with the charge point on the kerb side and five metres is comfortable. Reverse in, or put the charge point on the offside, and ten becomes the sensible choice. Measure from the charge point to the inlet as the car actually parks, then add two metres of slack.

How these cables are built

Construction is to IEC 62196-2 with CE marking, IP55 weather protection and a -30C to +50C operating range.

The three pin cable is built to IEC 62752, CE marked, sealed to IP67 and rated from -30C to +60C. It carries a two year manufacturer's warranty, ships free on next working day delivery, and can go back inside 30 days.

Also from Toyota: Toyota C-HR Plug-in Hybrid EV Charging Cable. The full range of Toyota charging cables is on one page. For a wall box or public post the lead is the Type 2 to Type 2 charging cable.

Toyota bZ4X charging cable questions

Does my bZ4X have the 6.6 kW or the 11 kW charger?

Cars built before Q4 2022 have the 6.6 kW single phase unit. Later cars have the 11 kW three phase one. At a British house the difference is about eleven per cent.

Is the 6.6 kW charger a problem?

Hardly. It is single phase, so a UK house gives it all 6.6 kW. An 11 kW three phase car only reaches 7.4 kW at the same house.

Is the 22 kW MY25 option worth having?

Not for home charging. It needs three phases. On a single phase supply it gives the same 7.4 kW as the standard 11 kW charger.

Where is the charge socket?

Nearside front wing, which is unusual and helpful if you park nose in with the charge point on the kerb side.