It’s a reasonable question: Why would anyone purchasing a battery-electric crossover want to venture deep into the woods, far from population centers where EV owners charge their vehicles, with varying degrees of success?
If the reliability of EV chargers is in question — it is, even in places where a growing number of people have bought into zero-emission mobility — then how is EV off-roading ever supposed to become a thing?
Exploring The Great Outdoors
For the record, there were more than 100 EV charging stations at U.S. national parks as of last year, including eight at or near the Grand Canyon, four at Yellowstone, and three at Yosemite. Consider it room for growth.
The 2027 Toyota bZ Woodland hopes to demonstrate that EVs indeed have a place in the great outdoors, joining similarly positioned vehicles like the Rivian R1S, GMC Hummer, Jeep Recon, Volvo EX30 Cross Country, and all-electric Mercedes-Benz G-Class, not to mention the Subaru Trailseeker, which arrives soon and shares its powertrain and architecture with the bZ Woodland.
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Segment For Off-Road EVs
Clearly, automotive product planners see money to be made with off-road EVs — even in these trying times — because more are on the way, including Rivian R2 and R3X and Range Rover Electric. The adventure-oriented Scout Traveler SUV and Terra pickup will join the fray as well next year, but with an available range-extending gas-powered generator that might be the powertrain configuration necessary to dispel any backwoods anxiety.
Grunts And Groans
After spending a day driving the bZ Woodland on winding roads and ascending a rutted dirt trail up Laguna Ridge near Ojai, California, we can report that this battery-powered two-row, reasonably spacious all-wheel-drive crossover is quite capable off-pavement and exhibits exemplary road manners on two-lane asphalt, with a comfortable, ergonomic cabin, to boot.
But this is an EV, so it will make unfamiliar grunts and groans on dicey terrain as the two 167-kW motors (one front, one rear) send torque to whichever wheel has traction, and it might be only one.
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Managing The Moguls
The best way to demonstrate this capability is on a dirt trail that resembles an Olympic moguls course with alternating mounds to really stretch the suspension and articulate each wheel as far as it can go, up and down.
Turn on AWD X-Mode with Grip Control, and you can adjust how much slip you want in sand, mud, or snow. Get one (or two) wheels off the ground in these circumstances, and you’ll hear brakes and motors grinding away, responding to steering and accelerator inputs while the central controller tries to manage it all. You’ll need to recalibrate your thinking in these situations if you’ve been off-roading for years with internal combustion.
Toyota’s Growing EV Family
Is a Jeep Rubicon more capable on truly extreme rocky trails? Yes. But the bZ Woodland isn’t made for that, and is certainly well-suited for more casual settings.
The 2026 bZ Woodland should seem familiar — heck, its front end is hard to tell apart from its three EV siblings, the bZ, C-HR, and the newly revealed 2027 Toyota Highlander. But note the bZ Woodland has bulging black plastic fender flares you won’t get on the bZ.
X-Mode With Grip Control
The bZ Woodland spans 190.2 inches overall, which is 5.6 inches longer than the bZ, and you see most of that in the back, with more cargo room. Many of the interior dimensions are identical, as is the wheelbase (112.2 inches). The bZ Woodland is nearly an inch taller, and ground clearance is up slightly to 8.4 inches from the bZ’s 8.2 inches.
The suspension, brakes, and steering hardware are identical between the two, but 18-inch all-terrain tires are available on the bZ Woodland. The bZ, on the other hand, offers 20-inch alloys as well.
281 Miles Of Range
But the bZ Woodland definitely has the upper hand when it comes to performance, with 375 horsepower, 198 pound-feet of torque at the front axle and another 198 pound-feet at the rear. The bZ is capped at 338 horsepower with AWD, and a smaller rear motor adds only 125 pound-feet of torque out back.
Toyota says the bZ Woodland can sprint to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds, while the bZ needs 4.9 seconds with AWD and a leisurely 8.0 seconds with front-wheel drive. But that added punch knocks the range a bit, to 281 miles fully charged or 260 miles with all-terrain tires. The bZ XLE AWD is rated at 288 miles of range, while the FWD XLE delivers the longest range of any bZ, at 314 miles.
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Tesla NACS Port Standard
Both the bZ and bZ Woodland use the same 74.7-kWh lithium-ion battery pack with an 11-kW onboard AC charger; both are capable of DC fast charging at up to 150 kW. Toyota says the bZ Woodland can fast charge from 10 percent to 80 percent in about 30 minutes, and the Tesla-friendly NACS charging port is standard, while an adapter for connecting to CCS fast chargers is included with every purchase.
Multi-Terrain View
Sliding behind the wheel of the bZ Woodland, you’ll find virtually the identical interior as the bZ, which got a significant redo last year when the awkward bZ4X name was truncated. Standard are the SofTex faux leather upholstery, 14-inch horizontal multimedia touchscreen, and dual wireless Qi phone chargers, while the Premium trim adds JBL Audio, ventilated front seats, and panoramic moonroof.
Both bZs offer a 360-degree Panoramic View Monitor, but only the Woodland edition adds an enhanced Multi-Terrain view around the vehicle. Take your pick of camera angles to display on the 14-inch screen. If it’s a physical switchgear you crave, there are knobs to adjust cabin temperature and volume, and buttons for defrost.
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Woodland Costs $10K More
On the pricing front, there’s definitely a premium for stepping up to bZ Woodland. A FWD bZ starts at $36,350 (with destination charges), and AWD pushes that base price up to $41,350.
The AWD bZ Woodland starts at $46,750 (with destination charges), while Woodland Premium will set you back at least $48,850, which is still less than the average price of a new car in America. Expect to start seeing the 2026 bZ Woodland in Toyota showrooms next month.
Source: Toyota