Toyota’s first mass-produced electric vehicle (EV) has hit a major bump in the road. The Toyota bZ4X was launched in the spring, and just a few months later the EV registered 0 (zero) sales in September.
There is a good reason for the non-existent sales last month. In June the Japanese automaker recalled all 2,700 examples of the EV that were sold around the world for a problem that may cause the wheels to literally fall off the car.
Existing owners are being warned not to drive their EV until a fix is determined, and according to a Toyota spokesperson that spoke with Motor1, they have yet to come up with a solution. The results is that until that happens, there will be no new sales the bZ4X anywhere in the world.
This issue also affects the sister car of the bZ4X, the Subaru Solterra, but there had been no deliveries of that EV when the issue was discovered.
The problem is bad enough that Toyota has even offered to buy back the EV from affected customers, but not before those customers have said no to the several other goodwill gestures offered by Toyota, including:
- Reimbursements if the car was paid in full
- Continued access to a loaner vehicle free of charge
- Storage of their bZ4X
- Free charging
- Extension of factory warranties
The wheels potentially falling off is not the only problem bZ4X owners have to worry about. According to Toyota the EVs DC fast charging capabilities may not work when the temperature is below 0°C or 32°F.
After we reported on that rather alarming wording, Toyota updated their website to say fast charging “may slow down” in temperatures below freezing, and that it may not work at all in temperatures to around or below -15°C or -4°F.
