Photo: Toyota
Toyota faced a major embarrassment when its first mass-produced EV presented a weird issue with its hub bolts. In June, the company said 2,700 units of the bZ4X and 2,600 Subaru Solterras could see their wheels go loose due to the issue. At the time, Toyota stated that “the cause of the issue and the driving patterns under which this issue could occur are still under investigation.” It seems the company discovered what the problem was: it announced it would produce the electric SUV again starting on October 6.
Before the bZ4X, Toyota also sold the RAV4 EV in the U.S. The vehicle had two different generations – the last of which used Tesla battery packs – with both accounting for less than 5,000 units. The bZ4X is the first one conceived from the ground up to be electric and the first with ambitions to break the 10,000-unit barrier.
Reuters said that only 232 bZ4X had been sold in the American market before Toyota halted sales and advised these customers not to drive their EVs. Considering that the Part 573 Safety Recall Report 22V-444 talks about 661 vehicles involved, Subaru had sold more Solterra units until that point: 429. Most of these 2,700 bZ4Xs must be in Europe. In Japan, they are only leased.
When Toyota announced the production restart, it disclosed the bZ4X had to go through another recall involving the airbags. According to Reuters, they were improperly installed in some units and could either fail or cause injury because of how a strap was placed inside the airbag assembly. The Japanese carmaker did not disclose how many EVs were involved with this new recall, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) also does not present any information about that on its website so far.
Although Masahiko Maeda informed about the bZ4X getting back into production, he refused to answer how much money Toyota spent on the recall processes. The Japanese automaker’s chief technology officer also did not disclose the defect with the hub bolts. Toyota just informed the Japanese transport ministry that all of them were replaced, and the new ones were properly tightened.
Reuters said that only 232 bZ4X had been sold in the American market before Toyota halted sales and advised these customers not to drive their EVs. Considering that the Part 573 Safety Recall Report 22V-444 talks about 661 vehicles involved, Subaru had sold more Solterra units until that point: 429. Most of these 2,700 bZ4Xs must be in Europe. In Japan, they are only leased.
When Toyota announced the production restart, it disclosed the bZ4X had to go through another recall involving the airbags. According to Reuters, they were improperly installed in some units and could either fail or cause injury because of how a strap was placed inside the airbag assembly. The Japanese carmaker did not disclose how many EVs were involved with this new recall, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) also does not present any information about that on its website so far.
Although Masahiko Maeda informed about the bZ4X getting back into production, he refused to answer how much money Toyota spent on the recall processes. The Japanese automaker’s chief technology officer also did not disclose the defect with the hub bolts. Toyota just informed the Japanese transport ministry that all of them were replaced, and the new ones were properly tightened.
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