[Soltrrfrm]

Thoughts on this test? I didn’t think it would really drop so much in 60 F weather. Probably not going to be a great choice here in the northeast…

The 2023 Toyota bZ4X's Charging Speed Plummets When Temperature Drops

MotorTrend tested how the 2023 Toyota bz4x EV charges on a DC fast charger and it wasn't good, even when it’s not that cold.

www.motortrend.com

 

[voxel]

Thoughts on this test? I didn’t think it would really drop so much in 60 F weather. Probably not going to be a great choice here in the northeast…

The 2023 Toyota bZ4X's Charging Speed Plummets When Temperature Drops

MotorTrend tested how the 2023 Toyota bz4x EV charges on a DC fast charger and it wasn't good, even when it’s not that cold.

www.motortrend.com

Last week called and wants its News back. There are dozens if not a hundred threads on this on FB, reddit, social media.

 

[potato]

Last week called and wants its News back. There are dozens if not a hundred threads on this on FB, reddit, social media.

True, but those were all a result of one single test. Personally I was hoping maybe there was something wrong with the one vehicle in the first review, but unfortunately this review also replicates those results. Pretty close anyway.

 

[voxel]

True, but those were all a result of one single test. Personally I was hoping maybe there was something wrong with the one vehicle in the first review, but unfortunately this review also replicates those results. Pretty close anyway.

95% of your charging will be at home or office with L2. The DC charging curve is pretty poor for and definitely terrible for long journeys. I would not recommend a Solterra as a primary vehicle.

Yes folks go on road trips and those miles may actually be 20% or more of your total miles… but I argue the frequency of road trips is low and honestly all EVs (except Teslas) are poor road trippers unless you are retired and have tons of time on your hand to deal with the poor charging infrastructure in the US.

 

[Mpls612]

I believe the charging infrastructure will be there within a few years. Then what excuses will people make! Subaru knows the batteries and range suck compared to the other new cars coming out and that is why they are giving out 10 days of free car rentals with your purchase. if you want to keep lowering your expectations on what a 50k car can do to justify a purchase, that is your choice.

 

[voxel]

I believe the charging infrastructure will be there within a few years. Then what excuses will people make! Subaru knows the batteries and range suck compared to the other new cars coming out and that is why they are giving out 10 days of free car rentals with your purchase. if you want to keep lowering your expectations on what a 50k car can do to justify a purchase, that is your choice.

"charging infrastructure will be there within a few years" - I used to optimistic like you.

8+ months of mostly pure EV ownership... and I've seen one large non-Telsa DC charging location built in a 250 mile radius. Somewhere in South Florida. Teslas has built 6+ locations since then.

There might have been single stall 50 kW DC chargers thrown at Dunkins that have popped up (probably at the tail end of 2021 to capture the recently expired tax credit - Alternative Fuels Data Center: Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Tax Credit) but those are not real solutions.

Reality is America's DC charging network is not great, is a money losing business, and EA is a "compliance" network that is bleeding money and will probably go bankrupt when the last 30 month funding round ends. The only hope is Biden's $7.5B charging fund but I haven't heard of a single distribution and DC chargers take up to a year to build due scouting, permits, installation, etc.

TDLR: Charge at home/work.

 

[potato]

95% of your charging will be at home or office with L2. The DC charging curve is pretty poor for and definitely terrible for long journeys. I would not recommend a Solterra as a primary vehicle.

Yes folks go on road trips and those miles may actually be 20% or more of your total miles… but I argue the frequency of road trips is low and honestly all EVs (except Teslas) are poor road trippers unless you are retired and have tons of time on your hand to deal with the poor charging infrastructure in the US.

Around where I live, the DC chargers are all 50 kW or less anyway. So the Solterra will charge the same speed as a Taycan if I keep it under 50 or 60%. The mediocre charging infrastructure around here might be its saving grace 😂

But yeah, going forward, range won't matter much with more chargers around but charging speed will definitely be the weakest point of this car. I'm still on the fence. Pros: can get it this year, ground clearance / AWD. Cons: everything else.

 

[voxel]

Around where I live, the DC chargers are all 50 kW or less anyway. So the Solterra will charge the same speed as a Taycan if I keep it under 50 or 60%. The mediocre charging infrastructure around here might be its saving grace 😂

But yeah, going forward, range won't matter much with more chargers around but charging speed will definitely be the weakest point of this car. I'm still on the fence. Pros: can get it this year, ground clearance / AWD. Cons: everything else.

To me... if the Solterra is like the RAV4 Prime (which I loved in EV mode and general usability/reliability) then it's a major win and I definitely will be accepting delivery. I mainly drove the R4P like a city car and didn't take road trips as often as I thought I would. And I decided for extended long road trips it's ICE or Tesla for me.

If the Solterra ends up like an ID.4 glitchfest... you won't see me defending it. The beauty of Toyotas are: they just work.

 

[StevenH]

If the Solterra is as bad as this bZ4X at DC charging, I'm afraid even loyal Subie fans will start cancelling. Interesting that not one single charging test has been publicized on the Solterra. Everybody thought the two cars were identical regarding charging, but the level 2 charging difference is considerable (9 hrs Solterra, 11 hrs bZ4X). I suspect Subie engineers are tweaking and tuning the software for that charging curve before releasing any Solterras for charging tests.

 

[bobleon39540]

Is this 9 hrs charging 20 to 80% or is it 0 to 100%? How will it change if one drives 100 miles / day and L2 charging at home? Would letting the battery go down to say 30% and than charge to 70% be better or some other percentage differential be better?

 

[Commodore]

Whoa! These are gonna be clogging up the charging stations ...

Called my dealer and he won't cancel! I have to take a $50K vehicle that only has 70% of advertised [email protected]#!!

 

[R P]

L2 is a pretty steady charge rate at 6.6kW. It may slow down a bit at the very end. But expect about 11 hours from 0-100% with the 72kWh battery. Most people at home don't let their battery go to 0% before charging. Typically you would charge from 40 - 80%. That's 40% of your 72kWh battery or 29 kWh of capacity charged. 29/6.6 is just over 4 hours of charging.

Pick any amount of charge you want to do and divide by 6.6. That would be pretty close to how long it will take to charge that amount. If you are going on a trip the next morning, set your charging time to be finished at 100% just before you leave.

This is not rocket science or a black box. And all EVs are the same in this regard.

It is the L3 DC fast charging that is more unpredictable.

 

[Commodore]

Tesla has a built in app to help you plan trips. Subaru doesn't.

Tesla has lots of dedicated charging stations. EVgo will be full of Solterras taking 4 hours to get to 80%

 

[R P]

Tesla has a built in app to help you plan trips. Subaru doesn't.

Tesla has lots of dedicated charging stations. EVgo will be full of Solterras taking 4 hours to get to 80%

I don't know what the Solterra has for charge planning. But I did all mine using Plugshare. And my EV (Kona) could always tell me the nearest chargers and how far on my route. That's all I ever needed. I am sure Solterra must have something like that, too.

And why would you ever take 4 hours to get to 80% at EVgo or any L3??

 

[Commodore]

Tesla has a built in app to help you plan trips. Subaru doesn't.

Tesla has lots of dedicated charging stations. EVgo will be full of Solterras taking 4 hours to get to 80%

I don't know what the Solterra has for charge planning. But I did all mine using Plugshare. And my EV (Kona) could always tell me the nearest chargers and how far on my route. That's all I ever needed. I am sure Solterra must have something like that, too.

And why would you ever take 4 hours to get to 80% at EVgo or any L3??

I won't. 6,500 Solterras is enough to take-up charging spots for everyone...

 

[R P]

I won't. 6,500 Solterras is enough to take-up charging spots for everyone...

Well, it would be 6500 Solterras and many thousands more of other EVs. But not all at the same time...

On all my trips in the last 3 years, I have actually never had to wait for a charge. And BTW they were all free, despite the ones I picked having higher demand.

Also, BTW, Tesla superchargers are not free for the bulk of their fleet (Model 3s). My son has one, and he had to buy a $600 chademo adapter so he could charge at a regular L3 charger sometimes. In BC where I live Tesla Superchargers are only on main routes or in the cities, not off the beaten track where you can find other regular L3 chargers. I know that is not the case all over the US, but it is coming there soon. That's for sure.

 

[StevenH]

And why would you ever take 4 hours to get to 80% at EVgo or any L3??

This article said the Toyota bZ4X took 64 minutes charging 5-80%. Hardly 4 hours. Also, unless there's free charging, I'd shy away from stations that charge by the minute if I have a very slow charging car.

 

[R P]

Some of the faster kW chargers charge different per min rates depending on the max charge. It may be cheaper to lower the max charge rate setting on your car to optimize the per min charge to how fast your car can charge.

But like we have discussed on other threads before, the Solterra is not your best trip car, it that is most important to you.

 

[Mpls612]

I missed this part -

“…and may not be possible when the temperature drops to around -4 degrees Fahrenheit and below." Still not great.”

is this unique to the Solterra or every ev. cant Imagine is accurate as how would you sell this in a northern climate. I think we avg 20+ days below zero a Year and for some reason I want to say last winter was double that. I didn’t look up so I know my facts are wrong On number of days.

time to learn some more…

 

[StevenH]

I missed this part -

“…and may not be possible when the temperature drops to around -4 degrees Fahrenheit...

is this unique to the Solterra or every ev.

This is an article about the Toyota bZ4X. I'm reserving judgement on the Solterra until I see testing on it.