People love to hate on the Toyota bZ4X due to its uninspiring performance, limited range and unattractive design, but they especially hate its name. Toyota will, of course, tell you that it makes total sense. The “bZ” part stands for “beyond Zero,” which means it’s electric, and the “4X” part means it’s a crossover, so what else was it supposed to name its first electric crossover? Something else? Actually, according to Motor Illustrated, Toyota plans to do exactly that and relatively soon, too.
While speaking to a group of Canadian auto journalists, Patrick Ryan, Toyota Canada’s Regional Director for Quebec and Atlantic Canada reportedly said the bZ4X name is going away. And, apparently, we won’t have to wait long to see the new name, either. If this report is to be believed, Toyota plans to drop the name sometime in the next year. Presumably, that would happen in time for the 2026 model year change, but that has yet to be confirmed.
So, assuming the bZ4X name is dead, what’s Toyota going to replace it with? No idea. Ryan didn’t say, and Toyota declined to comment when Motor1 reached out for confirmation. If I had to bet, it will probably be a real name like Subaru gave the Solterra, since it wouldn’t make much sense for Toyota to change one alphanumeric for another. On the other hand, it would be absolutely hilarious if, instead of making up some name like Ampgenity, Toyota decided to swap “bZ4X” for another random jumble of numbers and letters.
My job is more enjoyable when automakers do things that are funny, so I’m definitely hoping it ends up being another alphanumeric. If the new name also happens to lend itself to a silly nickname like “busy forks,” that would be even better. What do you think, though? If Toyota really does rename the bZ4X, what should it call it?
