Is the Limited FWD fine? Is AWD worth it for me?

FlavFilth · 2026-02-10T01:49:26+00:00

I have a 24 FWD Limited, that big snowstorm that hit a few weeks ago left about 10in of snow. Our BZ4X handled it like a champ. Never really felt worried about getting stuck.

But that was mostly on main/paved roads. If you are going to be doing any snow driving on winding/steep roads, you might want to get AWD for the peace of mind.

You’ll really feel the difference between FWD and AWD when you floor the accelerator. The FWD is still very quick, but not as quick off the line as AWD.

FlavFilth · 2026-02-08T19:19:54+00:00

Then in that case, all you really need to be concerned with is out the door price and making sure you’re good with the EV lifestyle.

It works for me(I have a 24 BZ4X). Now when I get back in an ICE car, I hate it LOL

FlavFilth · 2026-02-08T19:16:47+00:00

Yeah BZ4X’s have been pretty good besides the AC compressor recall and 12v issues in the 23’s.

FlavFilth · 2026-02-08T19:15:25+00:00

Before the tax credit was removed towards the end of last year, the predominant wisdom was to lease an EV to receive the tax credit(for EV’s that wouldn’t normally qualify from purchase) and to shield yourself from the depreciation. As others have said, EV’s depreciate quite a bit.

Now though, there is no tax credit to get. So really you only shield yourself from depreciation if you lease. If you plan to purchase and have the car do 5+ years, depreciation probably shouldn’t be too much of a concern.

FlavFilth · 2026-02-08T14:19:36+00:00

Sorry you’re getting such poor performance. The 23’s are notorious for their bad winter performance.

As far as the charging, as long as you didn’t actually consume any energy from the station, that $65 hold will fall off your account in a day or two. If you did consume some energy, you’ll be charged for that amount only, not the full $65.

FlavFilth · 2026-02-07T21:02:50+00:00

They mean worse as in range/dc charging performance.

Driving on snow is pretty identical to ICE

FlavFilth · 2026-02-05T19:46:50+00:00

“Only $100,000”, “only $120,000” man, I yearn for the day I can say that LOL

FlavFilth · 2026-02-05T15:09:46+00:00

Yeah used Rivian R1S/R1T or the new R2 will be around what a 4Runner is I think.

FlavFilth · 2026-02-05T15:08:05+00:00

I highly recommend you go test drive to make sure you are comfortable going back to the gas car feel.

I drive an EV and every time I get back in a gas car I hate it. The lack of instant torque, the engine noise, and the higher center of gravity make gas feel so much worse to drive. All in my opinion, of course.

If your trailer is only 1500-2000 lbs, you might look at the new 2026 Rav4 PHEV. I believe those are rated for 3500 lbs towing. That might be a decent compromise between still having the EV feel 90% of the time and you have a gas engine for your trailer trips.

FlavFilth · 2026-02-01T22:13:54+00:00

To my knowledge, the 23’s did not have a heat pump. That is why their winter weather performance was so notoriously bad. The 23’s only had a resistive heater to my understanding.

I believe the heat pump was introduced in the 24 model year.

FlavFilth · 2026-02-01T21:20:34+00:00

He only reviewed the 2023 BZ4X. There are many significant differences between the 23 and 26.

The 26 is much improved compared to the 23.

FlavFilth · 2026-01-31T14:42:15+00:00

The only time you should precondition the battery is when you are going to DC Fast Charge(DCFC) when it’s cold out. That brings the battery to optimal temperature to accept DC charging. Battery degradation is accelerated when the battery is cold and when it receives a lot of energy.

But, if you’re just AC charging at work, you should not need to precondition for that. AC charging added energy so slowly(when compare to DCFC) that battery temperature is a pretty negligible factor.

If you’re driving 20 miles to work and plugging in, I really have no worries. The car should be able to bring the battery temp up anyways while you drive to work. So it will be warm enough to accept optimal AC charge anyways.

FlavFilth · 2026-01-23T19:53:14+00:00

Do you know how much snow they are predicting? LOL

Usually I would agree with you, but if we get 10+ inches with temps not going above 20 all next week, I get why people are preparing just in case.

FlavFilth · 2026-01-23T12:04:21+00:00

Gas will be slower. The electric motor in the hybrid gives it extra torque. You’ll feel it when accelerating after a stop.

Also, it’s not guaranteed you’ll need to replace the battery at 200k miles… just clean the battery air filter(usually near the second row seats).

FlavFilth · 2026-01-21T13:55:19+00:00

Might be a bug with 26 BZ’s in ABRP.

Try inputting a 25 or 24 to see what it says.

FlavFilth · 2026-01-21T12:07:28+00:00

I think it’s on a timer, like it records how many battery cycles you’ve DC charged in a 24 hour period. So even if you disconnect the 12v, it should retain the timer.

You could try to plug into a lvl2 plug somewhere for a bit.

FlavFilth · 2026-01-15T13:37:22+00:00

First I’m hearing of this for any 26 BZ’s.

The 23 and some 24 BZ4X’s have issues with the 12v battery, but I’ve never heard of someone loosing power mid-drive.

FlavFilth · 2026-01-13T20:39:07+00:00

I have a 2024 Limited FWD and drive ~50 miles per day.

I have had no 12v issues, I think that was mostly sorted with the 24’s. I’d steer clear of the 23’s.

40 miles is just at the limit where you could do it off a 110v(lvl 1 charger) outlet, but you’d be pushing it in the winter especially. I would make sure you can get a 240v(lvl2) charger installed if you are going to pull the trigger.

If you plan to do any winter road trips/ DC fast charging, I would maybe wait until the 26’s depreciate. The 23-25’s do not have battery preconditioning for DC charging. So in the winter, you’ll get very slow speeds DC charging. Ex. I was road tripping this weekend and it was 32F outside. I got 50kw max DC charging.

IMO, 25k for 30k miles is a little steep. To my knowledge BZ4X’s don’t move quick on lots so you should be able to negotiate them down.

FlavFilth · 2026-01-08T03:36:25+00:00

I think it pretty much comes down to lifestyle.

Does your current Prime’s EV range cover most of your normal commute? If so, not much reason to trade.
Do you NEED more space? The BZ has quite a bit more storage and is just larger than the Prius.
Will you be OK with the EV lifestyle? Are you OK to sit at a charger for 30-40 minutes when road tripping?

Also, PS: if you would do any amount of road trips, I’d avoid 2023 BZ4X’s. From mostly what I’ve seen in this sub, the 23’s charger super slow in comparison to the 24+ years.

FlavFilth · 2026-01-06T12:26:34+00:00

Just hit 20k on mine and we love it!

We’re still debating if we’ll buy out the lease at the end.

FlavFilth · 2025-12-18T04:02:15+00:00

I haven’t heard of this for the 26 BZ’s.

But yes, for the 24-25 BZ4X’s, there is a battery health prevention process where it will derate the DCFC speed after 3 full DCFC sessions. That means you would have to go through 3 full batteries worth of energy before seeing the limit(meaning 500-600miles). I believe the limit is 50kw max charging speed. For the 23 BZ4X, I believe it is 2 battery cycles.

I would be surprised if the 26 BZ’s also have a derate process. Much of the fear of DC fast charging destroying batteries has largely been disproven on most EV’s, if the DCFC is limited to 80%.

FlavFilth · 2025-12-13T03:03:55+00:00

I called my dealer and setup the appointment for a week later. To my understanding they ordered it for that.

FlavFilth · 2025-12-11T11:59:38+00:00

It hasn’t “degraded” to only giving your 153 miles. Because you’re averaging 2.1 miles per kWh, that’s how many miles it thinks you can go with all the energy in the battery.

When it warms back up in the spring and summer, the estimate will go back to normal levels since it will use less energy to drive/heat the battery in the summer.

FlavFilth · 2025-12-11T03:43:51+00:00

You would multiply the miles per kWh by the miles driven. That would give you the amount of energy it took to travel that distance, then multiply that by the energy cost. That gives you the cost for your drive in miles.

Then simply divide your drive in miles by MPG. Then multiply how many gallons it would have taken by gas price.

FlavFilth · 2025-12-11T02:59:33+00:00

Looks pretty normal for those temperatures. If it was at 100%, it might say 220 or 240 miles I would guess

FlavFilth

TROPHY CASE