Toyota sells two electric SUVs on the same platform, and $10,400 separates their advertised starting prices. The bZ opens at $34,900 with front-wheel drive and a choice of two battery sizes. The bZ Woodland asks $45,300, arrives only with all-wheel drive, and tows 3,500 pounds.
Those are the least expensive version of each, which is not the comparison most buyers face. Toyota sells seven grades between the two, and two of them carry the same sticker.
A bZ Limited AWD and a bZ Woodland both list at $45,300. At that money the Woodland is EPA-rated at 281 miles on its standard tires against 278 for the bZ, and the two draw identical energy doing it. The one with the tow rating and the extra ground clearance is the one that goes farther.
Key Takeaways
- A bZ Limited AWD and a bZ Woodland both list at $45,300. The $10,400 headline gap compares the least expensive version of each, not the versions that actually compete.
- At that shared price the Woodland out-ranges the bZ Limited AWD, 281 miles to 278 on its standard tires, and both consume 29 kWh per 100 miles at 117 MPGe. On the optional all-terrain tire the Woodland drops to 260.
- Toyota’s own range estimate for the bZ Limited AWD is 21 miles optimistic. The company advertises 299; the EPA certified 278.
- The safety difference is a headlight rating, not a crash rating. A bZ built before June 2026 rates Poor for headlights. The Woodland rates Good with no build-date qualifier.
- The bZ has been crash-tested once and the Woodland never. All four IIHS crashworthiness ratings on the Woodland’s page, and three of four on the bZ’s, are assigned from tests of related vehicles.
- The bZ offers two battery sizes, 57.7 and 74.7 kWh. The Woodland offers one. The smaller pack drops the bZ to 236 miles.
- Only the Woodland tows, at 3,500 pounds, and that rating produced its only recall: a 407-vehicle tow converter fault.
- The battery warranty is 8 years or 100,000 miles on both. Toyota’s bZ warranty guide sets the coverage threshold at 70 percent of original capacity. The 10-year figure people cite is Toyota’s hybrid warranty, not this one.
What Toyota Actually Sells
Both cars use the BEV-dedicated e-TNGA platform, and that is where the similarity in structure ends. Toyota sells the bZ in five grades: XLE front-drive, XLE front-drive Plus, XLE AWD, Limited front-drive and Limited AWD. Woodland buyers choose between two, both all-wheel drive. The EPA certified six bZ configurations out of those five grades, splitting the Limited front-driver into two entries by cell rating.
Battery choice is the structural difference. Toyota states that “the 2026 bZ battery options include a 57.7-kWh and 74.7-kWh unit,” with the smaller pack reserved for the entry XLE front-driver. The Woodland uses a single 74.7-kWh pack at both grades.
Worth noting for anyone searching an older name: the bZ was called the bZ4X through 2025. Toyota renamed it for 2026, in its words, “simplifying the name for customers.”
Price, Grade by Grade
Toyota’s full-line pricing sheet lists every grade of both cars. Its delivery charge, which Toyota calls a Dealer Processing and Handling fee, is set by vehicle class rather than by model year and applies to any unit processed on or after January 1, 2026. For the bZ and bZ Woodland it now runs $1,595, up from the $1,450 Toyota published in February.
| Grade | Drivetrain | MSRP | With delivery |
|---|---|---|---|
| bZ XLE FWD | FWD | $34,900 | $36,495 |
| bZ XLE FWD Plus | FWD | $37,900 | $39,495 |
| bZ XLE AWD | AWD | $39,900 | $41,495 |
| bZ Limited FWD | FWD | $43,300 | $44,895 |
| bZ Limited AWD | AWD | $45,300 | $46,895 |
| bZ Woodland | AWD | $45,300 | $46,895 |
| bZ Woodland Premium | AWD | $47,400 | $48,995 |
Two rows in the middle of that table carry the same number. A bZ Limited AWD and a bZ Woodland both list at $45,300, which puts them side by side at the same counter for the same money.
That pairing resolves in a direction the headline gap does not predict. For identical money the Woodland is rated three miles farther on its standard tires, adds a 3,500-pound tow rating, standard roof rails and standard X-MODE, and heats its outboard rear seats. What it gives up is a published heat pump, a published power liftgate and the option of a 20-inch wheel.
The $10,400 gap everyone quotes compares the least expensive version of each. At $34,900 a buyer gets the 57.7-kWh pack, front-wheel drive, and none of the X-MODE traction software Toyota markets across the line, which is not what anyone shopping a $45,300 Woodland is looking at.
No federal tax credit applies to either. The $7,500 credit ended September 30, 2025, about three weeks before the bZ reached dealers and five months before the Woodland did.
Range Is Where the Assumption Breaks
Toyota advertises “up to 314 miles” for the bZ and “up to 281” for the Woodland. Those are the best figures each car can post, and they describe different drivetrains. EPA certification produced eight numbers between them.
| Configuration | Drive | EPA range | Combined MPGe | kWh/100 mi |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| bZ (191 Ah) | FWD | 314 miles | 131 | 26 |
| bZ Limited (191 Ah) | FWD | 299 miles | 125 | 27 |
| bZ Limited (200 Ah) | FWD | 296 miles | 123 | 27 |
| bZ AWD | AWD | 288 miles | 120 | 28 |
| bZ Woodland, standard tires | AWD | 281 miles | 117 | 29 |
| bZ AWD Limited | AWD | 278 miles | 117 | 29 |
| bZ Woodland, all-terrain tires | AWD | 260 miles | 109 | 31 |
| bZ (200 Ah) | FWD | 236 miles | 130 | 26 |
Those parenthetical labels are the EPA’s own. It identifies the front-drive bZ entries by cell rating rather than by battery size or grade, and Toyota does not publish which grade receives which. Two things point to the 236-mile car being the 57.7-kWh XLE: it is the only configuration the EPA lists with a six-hour charge at 240 volts rather than eight, and Toyota’s own estimate for that grade was 235 miles. That is an inference, not a label either agency prints.
Read that by drivetrain rather than by badge. Against the bZ AWD the Woodland gives up seven miles. Against the bZ AWD Limited it gains three.
The Woodland on standard tires and the bZ AWD Limited draw 29 kWh per 100 miles apiece, and both rate 117 MPGe combined. Identical, on the car that makes 37 more horsepower, rides two tenths of an inch higher and pulls a trailer.
The all-terrain tire is the only Woodland option with a published range cost, and it is a real one. It gives up 21 miles, 8 MPGe and 2 kWh per 100 miles against the standard tire. Toyota does not publish a dollar price for it.
Two of Toyota’s own estimates missed, in opposite directions.
For the bZ Limited AWD, Toyota’s launch materials advertise 299 miles. The EPA certified 278, a gap of 21 miles that Toyota has not corrected in the release carrying it.
The Woodland went the other way. Toyota’s May 2025 reveal promised “up-to 260 miles,” a figure that matches only what the EPA later certified for the optional all-terrain tire. On standard tires the certification came back at 281, twenty-one miles better than the reveal claimed.
Cargo, and a Ten-Cubic-Foot Contradiction
Toyota publishes 27.7 cubic feet behind the bZ’s second row. For the Woodland it publishes no behind-the-row figure at all, only “more than 30 cubic feet.” No exact comparison is possible there, and estimating one would mean inventing a number Toyota has chosen not to give.
Seats folded, Toyota quotes 74.3 cubic feet for the Woodland against 67.1 for the bZ, a gap of 7.2.
That 67.1 needs a footnote. Toyota’s 2027 bZ release, in a document stating the car “remains unchanged from the prior model year,” puts that measurement at 56.9 cubic feet with the parenthetical “without subwoofer,” a qualifier absent from the 2026 figures. Two Toyota documents, 10.2 cubic feet apart, describing a car the company says did not change. This article uses 67.1, because it is the figure published in a 2026-dated release and the one Toyota itself used to frame the comparison.
Size, and What Backs the Rugged Positioning
Toyota documents the bZ thoroughly and the Woodland barely. For the bZ: 184.6 inches long, 73.2 wide, 65 tall, on a 112.2-inch wheelbase, with 8.2 inches of ground clearance, 42.1 inches of front legroom and 35.3 in the rear.
For the Woodland, Toyota publishes ground clearance and nothing else. Length, width, height, wheelbase, curb weight, legroom and approach angles are all absent, replaced by two relational phrases: “nearly 6 inches of additional length” and “just under one inch of additional height in the rear.”
Ground clearance is 8.4 inches, which Toyota states twice in the February 2026 on-sale release. Its May 2025 reveal said 8.3. Against the bZ’s 8.2, the advantage is two tenths of an inch.
The hardware that separates them is more convincing than the ride height.
| Feature | bZ | bZ Woodland |
|---|---|---|
| X-MODE with Grip Control | AWD grades only | Standard |
| Roof rails | Not published | Standard |
| All-terrain tires | Not published | Available, both grades |
| Multi-Terrain Monitor | Not published | Standard |
| Towing | Not published | 3,500 lb |
| Wheel sizes listed | 18-inch and 20-inch | 18-inch only |
| Power liftgate | Standard from XLE | Not published |
| Heat pump | Standard | Not published |
Two entries in that table deserve attention because they cut against the price. A power liftgate is standard on the least expensive bZ, and Toyota publishes none for the Woodland at either grade. Same for the heat pump, which the bZ’s materials name and the Woodland’s do not.
One more surprise sits in the X-MODE row. Toyota’s traction software is standard on the Woodland and available on the bZ, but only with all-wheel drive. Buy the $34,900 front-drive bZ and X-MODE is not part of it.
Charging Is Nearly the Same Car
A North American Charging Standard port is native to both, built in rather than adapted. Toyota ships J1772 and CCS1 adapters in the box, which is the opposite arrangement from the older bZ4X. Both quote roughly 30 minutes from 10 to 80 percent, both carry an 11-kW onboard charger, and the EPA lists an 8.0-hour full charge at 240 volts for every configuration except the small-battery bZ, which takes 6.0.
Toyota publishes no peak DC fast-charging figure for either car.
One asymmetry is worth knowing before a cold winter. Both cars precondition the battery, but Toyota’s footnote on the Woodland says automatic preconditioning “requires an active Drive Connect trial or subscription,” with a three-year trial included. Toyota attaches no such condition to the bZ.
The Safety Difference Is the Headlights
NHTSA has not published frontal or side crash ratings for either car. It has run the dynamic rollover test on both, and both earned four stars with a rollover probability of 11.6 percent and no tip in the dynamic test.
IIHS rates both, identically, on every crash measure: Good for driver-side small overlap, Acceptable for passenger-side small overlap, Acceptable for moderate overlap, Good for side impact, Good for both front crash prevention tests. Neither is a Top Safety Pick.
Those crash ratings are identical because IIHS assigned them from the same tests, and mostly not from these cars.
| Test | Vehicle IIHS lists as tested | Who conducted it |
|---|---|---|
| Small overlap front, driver | 2026 Subaru Solterra Touring XT | Toyota |
| Small overlap front, passenger | 2026 Subaru Solterra Touring XT | Toyota |
| Moderate overlap front | 2026 Toyota bZ XLE | IIHS |
| Side impact | 2026 Subaru Solterra Touring XT | Toyota |
One test in that table was run on one of these two cars by the Institute itself, and it produced an Acceptable. The bZ Woodland has never been crash-tested by anyone. Its four crashworthiness ratings are all assigned from other vehicles.
Headlights are measured separately, and that is where the two part company. The Woodland rates Good across all trims with no qualifier. The bZ rates Good only if it was built after May 2026. Built before June 2026, it rates Poor.
Check the build date on any bZ you are considering. The car went on sale in October 2025 and the headlight rating changes with a mid-2026 production break, so a meaningful share of the bZs on dealer lots and in the early used pipeline carry the Poor rating. The Woodland, which did not arrive until March 2026, has no such split.
Two Recalls, and Only One Is About the Car
Each has one open NHTSA campaign, and they have nothing in common.
The bZ’s is 26V393000, filed June 18, 2026, covering 20,991 vehicles. A fault in the electronic control unit governing the high-voltage battery can cause a loss of drive power. A software update is the remedy, and owner letters went out August 17, 2026. That campaign reaches beyond Toyota, covering the Lexus RZ and the Subaru Solterra on the same platform.
The Woodland’s is 26V512000, filed August 6, 2026, covering 407 vehicles. An electrical short in the tow converter’s printed circuit board can deactivate stability control and leave the brake lights illuminated. Dealers replace the converter, and owner letters are expected September 21, 2026.
Read those two together and the shape is worth noting. One defect is software on twenty-one thousand cars across three brands. The Woodland’s is hardware on four hundred, and it exists only because the Woodland is the one Toyota rated to tow. The feature that defines it produced its only recall, and as of publication the fix has not been mailed.
Warranty Is Identical, and Ordinary
Coverage matches across the two: 36 months or 36,000 miles basic, 60 months or 60,000 miles powertrain, 60 months of corrosion protection with no mileage limit, and eight years or 100,000 miles on the electric drive components including the traction battery. ToyotaCare adds two years or 25,000 miles of scheduled maintenance.
Toyota’s 2026 bZ warranty guide, which is scoped to the bZ, defines that coverage as applying below 70 percent of original capacity and states plainly that “reduction of the lithium-ion battery capacity by 30 percent or less is considered normal and not covered under warranty.” Toyota publishes no equivalent guide for the Woodland, whose release states the eight-year term without a capacity threshold. Buyers in California and fourteen other states get additional zero-emission coverage of 84 months or 70,000 miles on long-term propulsion defects.
A correction is owed to a claim that circulates about these cars. Toyota’s battery warranty here is not longer than the segment norm. The 10-year, 150,000-mile figure often attached to the brand is the hybrid battery warranty, and it does not apply to either of these.
What the Sales Figures Support
Toyota reports by model every month, and the Woodland’s history is short. It is absent from the first-quarter table entirely, having reached dealers in March 2026. The most recent model-by-model table Toyota has posted to its newsroom covers the second quarter, so the figures below run through June.
That makes most ratios meaningless. June is the one month in that table where both cars ran a full stretch, and there Toyota sold 1,953 bZs against 294 Woodlands, roughly six and a half to one.
The Woodland’s June figure exceeded its April and May combined, which totaled 260. One month is arithmetic rather than a trend, and it is the only trend line the published data supports.
The bZ, for its part, sold 17,553 through June against 9,249 a year earlier, a period covering both its rename and its October 2025 relaunch.
Which One to Buy
Buy the bZ if
You want the range, the lower price, or front-wheel drive. Its 314-mile configuration is the longest-legged thing Toyota sells on this platform, it has a published heat pump and a standard power liftgate, and it offers a 20-inch wheel the Woodland does not. Check the build date before you sign.
Buy the Woodland if
You tow, carry gear on the roof, or want the traction hardware without climbing a trim ladder. It is the only one of the two with a tow rating, roof rails come standard, X-MODE and the Multi-Terrain Monitor are standard rather than optional, and the outboard rear seats are heated from the base grade.
Ignore the range comparison if
You need all-wheel drive. Matched that way these two are seven miles apart, then three miles apart the other way, and both burn the same energy per mile. Range is not the axis this decision turns on.
Wait if
Cargo behind the second row is your deciding number, or the price of a specific grade is. Toyota publishes neither for the Woodland, and buying on a figure the manufacturer has not stated means buying on someone else’s estimate.
The Verdict
The $10,400 headline gap compares a front-drive bZ on the small battery to an all-wheel-drive SUV rated to tow, which is not a choice anyone is making. On the comparison that matters, all-wheel drive against all-wheel drive, the Woodland answers more questions than its positioning suggests: it out-ranges the equally-priced bZ Limited AWD by three miles on standard tires, burns the same energy doing it, and standardizes traction hardware the bZ makes you pay up for. What the bZ holds is a longer-range front-drive configuration, a published heat pump, a power liftgate from the base grade, and a price Toyota is willing to print. The one thing that should change what you buy today is neither range nor price: it is the headlight rating, which is Poor on any bZ built before June 2026 and Good on every Woodland.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between the Toyota bZ and the bZ Woodland?
The Woodland is the larger and more capable of the two. It comes only with all-wheel drive, makes 375 horsepower, tows 3,500 pounds, adds roof rails and standard X-MODE, and holds 74.3 cubic feet with the seats folded. The bZ starts at $34,900, offers front- or all-wheel drive and two battery sizes, and holds 67.1 cubic feet folded.
Which has more range, the bZ or the bZ Woodland?
It depends entirely on the configuration. A front-drive bZ tops the range at 314 miles. Comparing all-wheel drive, the bZ AWD is rated at 288 and the Woodland at 281 on standard tires. Against the bZ AWD Limited at 278, the Woodland is three miles farther. On all-terrain tires the Woodland drops to 260.
How much does the 2026 Toyota bZ Woodland cost?
Toyota lists the bZ Woodland at $45,300 and the Woodland Premium at $47,400, both excluding a Dealer Processing and Handling fee that currently runs $1,595 on this class of vehicle.
Can the Toyota bZ tow?
Toyota publishes no towing rating for the bZ. The bZ Woodland is rated at 3,500 pounds. An absent rating is not the same as a rating of zero, but there is no published figure to plan around.
Do the bZ and bZ Woodland use the same battery?
Partly. Both offer a 74.7-kWh pack, and the Woodland uses only that one. The bZ additionally offers a smaller 57.7-kWh pack on its entry front-drive grade, which is rated at 236 miles.
Does the Toyota bZ have X-MODE?
Only on all-wheel-drive versions. Toyota’s language is “on AWD bZ models,” so the entry front-drive grade does not have it. On the Woodland, X-MODE with Grip Control is standard at both grades.
Are the bZ and bZ Woodland safe?
Both carry identical IIHS crash ratings, but those ratings were assigned rather than measured on these cars. Only one test, an IIHS moderate overlap run on a bZ XLE, was conducted on either vehicle, and it returned Acceptable. The other three come from Toyota-conducted tests of a related model. NHTSA rates both four stars for rollover resistance and has published no frontal or side rating for either. Neither is a Top Safety Pick.
Why do some Toyota bZ models have a Poor headlight rating?
IIHS splits the bZ’s headlight rating by build date. Cars built after May 2026 rate Good; cars built before June 2026 rate Poor. Since the bZ went on sale in October 2025, a significant number of early cars fall on the Poor side. The bZ Woodland, which arrived in March 2026, rates Good across all trims.
How fast do the bZ and bZ Woodland charge?
Toyota quotes roughly 30 minutes from 10 to 80 percent on a DC fast charger for both, and does not publish a peak charging speed for either. Both use a native NACS port and an 11-kW onboard charger for home charging, and the EPA lists 8.0 hours for a full charge at 240 volts on all configurations except the small-battery bZ, at 6.0 hours.
How quick is the bZ Woodland?
Toyota estimates 4.4 seconds to 60 mph for the Woodland and quotes 4.9 seconds for the bZ AWD. Both are manufacturer figures, and neither has been independently tested. Toyota publishes no 0-60 time for front-drive bZ models.
What is the battery warranty on the Toyota bZ and bZ Woodland?
Eight years or 100,000 miles on the electric drive components including the traction battery, with coverage applying below 70 percent of original capacity. Terms match across the two. Toyota’s 10-year, 150,000-mile battery warranty applies to its hybrids, not to these electric models.
Have the bZ and bZ Woodland been recalled?
Each has one open campaign. The bZ’s covers 20,991 vehicles across three brands, the bZ plus the Lexus RZ and Subaru Solterra, for a battery control unit fault that can cause a loss of drive power. NHTSA publishes no per-model split. The remedy is a software update, and letters were mailed August 17, 2026. The Woodland’s covers 407 vehicles equipped with a tow converter, whose circuit board can short and disable stability control, with letters expected September 21, 2026.
Specifications, pricing and photography come from Toyota’s USA Newsroom, with range figures from the EPA and ratings from IIHS and NHTSA. For the versions of these cars sold with a different badge, see our guide to Subaru’s three electric SUVs. Anyone weighing how a pack like this holds up over time should read our guide to EV battery longevity, and the complaint and recall record for this platform’s 74.7-kWh pack sits on our battery reference page.
Michael Kahn
Michael Kahn is the writer, photographer, and publisher behind The Weekly Driver. He cares about how cars drive and what they're like to own. He covers automobile industry news, car shows and events, and new car reviews. The reviews come from behind the wheel: day trips that favor back routes, treating a good meal as half the reason to go. He directs and produces the visual media, matching each car to a setting and mood that fit it. When he's not reviewing new cars, Michael races paddleboards, camels, and ostriches, along with the occasional exotic car on the racetrack, and has driven in every state and country visited.
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