The 2026 Toyota bZ Woodland Is Like L.L. Bean Boots, But a Car

With an updated version of the bZ4X addressing some of the more glaring shortcomings of Toyota's first mainstream EV, it seems Toyota isn't done with its newly reminted "bZ." There is now a new spinoff, dubbed the bZ Woodland, and while it enjoys the same upgrades that bestow more range, power, and charging speed upon the regular bZ neé bZ4X, it also enjoys a larger footprint and a more off-roady image. It's also technically a different vehicle—even though it borrows almost all of its running gear from the smaller bZ, it gets a unique and boxier body.

Toyota seems to be banking on the idea that some bZ owners might want to take their all-electric SUVs off-road. It also just so happened to have Subaru's all-new Trailseeker sitting nearby, a mechanically identical electric SUV co-developed with Toyota and just recently released that, you guessed it, shares its battery and other bits with the Subaru Solterra, itself essentially Subaru's version of the regular bZ. To summarize: the bZ, Solterra, Trailseeker, and this, the Woodland, are all essentially the same vehicle, only with the former pair sized a little smaller and less adventurous looking.

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Toyota's Been bZ

To wit, the 2026 bZ Woodland gets nearly the same dual-motor all-wheel-drive powertrain as the 2026 bZ standard, with the same 74.7-kWh battery pack under the floorboards. Past this point, things get a little more exciting with more power to the wheels. While dual-motor bZs deliver 338 hp total, the Woodland bumps that peak figure to 375 hp. This increase is achieved the old-school way with a larger motor driving the rear wheels over the standard bZ AWD. That also means that the bZ Woodland has the biggest electric motors across the bZ lineup.

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More power also means more grunt and the bZ Woodland comes with a 3,500-pound towing capacity. And while it's possible the extra power quickens the Woodland's acceleration relative to the regular bZ, remember it also is larger and likely heavier, so those power gains could be offset.

Unfortunately, the Woodland's power bump comes at a cost of range, which drops from a maximum of 288 miles on the bZ XLE AWD (or 314 miles on single-motor versions) to just 260 here. Thankfully, you’ll have plenty of options to refill thanks to that NACS charger port and Tesla Supercharger access.

Just expect to sit there a while as Toyota still limits DC fast charging to just 150 kW; some competitors boast about double that rate. But with a new battery preconditioning scheme in place and improving charge times relative to the original bZ4X, you’ll only wait there for about 30 minutes or so for a quick rip from low charge to 80 percent.

One clear differentiator between the Woodland and regular bZs is X-Mode, a drive setting that changes the brake and power delivery to match the terrain that a driver selects, including low speed with its Grip-Control function that maintains constant speed with minimal wheel slip. It's joined by slightly increased ground clearance, which is possibly thanks to a set of all-terrain tires, which takes the bZ's 8.2 inches of clearance up to 8.3 inches. That’s not a lot of lift, even when compared to the outgoing bZ4Xs 8.1 inches.

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You’ll also gain the Panoramic View Monitor with Multi-Terrain Monitor to make sure you don’t clip a rock or bump into a curb or wall when parking. That comes courtesy of the new 14-inch infotainment screen while the Premium Package adds JBL Premium Audio, ventilated seats with SofTex materials, memory driver’s seat, panoramic moonroof, and dual wireless charging pads. Ambient lighting will spruce up the interior while in the dark of the nighttime wilderness, too.

Bigger, Boxier bZ

Outside, the profile of the bZ Woodland isn’t far removed from the standard bZ, though the roofline is clearly boxier and adds notable roof rails. It also sticks with the same black overfenders you would find on the old bZ4X (and only a few versions of the new, otherwise all body-color bZ) to create a tougher look. It is also six inches longer and will appear even taller thanks to those roof rails we mentioned.

The Woodland will also gain unique 18-inch wheels with removable covers, perfect for those who want to change the look or just don’t want to scratch up their hubcaps while on trails. Finally, the bZ Woodland will come in colors that match its “outdoor spirit,” as Toyota put it, with an all-new Stepping Stone color joining Halo, Stell, Pavement, Raven Black, and Trueno Blue.

The one thing you might notice looking over all these specs is that the 2026 Toyota bZ Woodland is, again, just the 2026 Subaru Trailseeker with Toyota features and badges. The biggest differentiating features are how the bodies are done and some interior trim parts. Then again, this isn’t exactly abnormal for these two Japanese makes, given the relationship—visual and otherwise—between the normal bZ and the Solterra, but it really makes you wonder how each brand can justify one or the other when they are this close in spec. Suppose we’ll all find out as 2026 Toyota bZ Woodland is slated to arrive in early 2026.