2026 Toyota bZ Woodland Is For Normal Outdoorsy People Who Just Want A Good Car

In a nice contrast to its behind-the-curve EV plans in recent years, Toyota is launching three new electric crossovers in 2026, augmenting the existing bZ, the sole EV in its lineup. One of those EVs continues the bZ naming scheme, though in a less-annoying way than the direction Toyota would've gone if it had stuck with bZ4X. As you may have guessed from said name, the new 2026 Toyota bZ Woodland is, in the automaker's words, "made for life in the great outdoors."

But Toyota says the bZ Woodland isn't aimed at people who want to do serious off-roading or long trips out into the middle of nowhere — instead the focus is people who want to do regular outdoorsy things, like kayaking or camping or skiing, that lots of cargo space and more than a semblance of off-road capability would be a benefit for. That's a bit of a refreshing stance these days, when many automakers have started producing absurdly over-capable off-roaders in pursuit of buyers who likely won't be nearly that hardcore in reality.

To that end, I think Toyota's done well here. The bZ Woodland is well-packaged, nice to drive, and should easily be able to handle any of the off-roading its owners will actually throw at it, and then some. Plus, it's a win for the wagon-lover community.

Full disclosure: Toyota invited me to Ojai, California, for a few days so I could drive the bZ Woodland and new C-HR, as well as check out the new Highlander.

People are gonna call the bZ Woodland an SUV, but it's really not. I'll allow the phrase crossover to be thrown around, because that's so broad these days, but to my eyes this thing is simply a wagon. Yes, it's lifted, kinda rugged and is essentially just a bZ with a longer butt, but that doesn't make it not a wagon. The two bZs share a 112.2-inch wheelbase, but the Woodland is 5.6 inches longer overall and almost an inch taller. It has 8.3 inches of ground clearance, a mere tenth more than a bZ.

Instead of the body-color or gloss-black cladding of the facelifted bZ, the Woodland has matte black plastic fenders and panels. The Woodland's bumpers have skid plate designs, there are tall roof rails, and its taillights and light bar are different. Along with the different roofline those are the extent of the changes; I think it's more of a looker than the normal bZ. And you can actually get it in a couple of real colors. Literally a couple: Stepping Stone (a subtle brown) and Trueno Blue. The other four paint options are greyscale, sadly.

Toyota really improved the bZ's interior with the facelift, and the Woodland's two front passengers will be greeted by that same view. Its weirdly shaped and positioned steering wheel and weirdly shaped and positioned 7-inch digital gauge cluster won't be for everyone, but I actually like how the setup looks and feels, and the view out in general. The new dashboard is a lot more attractive, the center console has a better layout and a pair of wireless chargers, and there are improved cupholders and storage spaces. I like the soft-touch materials on the dashboard, but the armrests are pretty hard and uncomfortable. The best upgrade is the 14-inch touchscreen running Toyota's new infotainment system, which is legitimately great. And you can get the interior in brown!

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Legroom for both rows of seats is the same as in the bZ, but the Woodland's longer, taller roofline affords rear passengers 1.3 inches more headroom (or only 0.4 inch more with the panoramic sunroof), plus slightly more shoulder room. But the more important stat is the space for non-human things. With the rear seats up the Woodland has 33.8 cubic feet of cargo room, 6.1 cubic feet more than the bZ; that expands to 74.3 cubic feet with the second row folded, more than in a RAV4. The seats fold almost flat, and there's a bunch of cargo hooks and power outlets back there. You won't find a frunk under the hood, though.

While the C-HR, new Highlander and regular bZ make do with only 338 horsepower in all-wheel-drive forms, Toyota decided to give the AWD-only bZ Woodland a whopping 375 horsepower; there's no total combined torque figure, but each motor has a maximum output of 198 pound-feet. The automaker says it'll sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds, half a second quicker than the bZ (and GR Corolla!) and nearly as quick as a manual GR Supra. And it definitely feels pretty quick, both off the line and when accelerating from speed, but there isn't as prominent of a torque gut-punch like you get in some more performance-oriented EVs.

Don't think that means the bZ Woodland feels particularly sporty to drive, though. For one thing, it's certainly undertired if you want to drive even slightly quickly on a twisty backroad. Its 18-inch wheels wear Bridgestone Turanza all-season tires sized 235/60 that have a meaty sidewall. They're great for comfort and noise — the Woodland's interior feels seriously quiet — but not great when you try and make the most of those 375 horses. But who's trying to push it in a car like this, anyway? The steering is pretty numb and quick, which is fine. It rides well, which is more important. There's no true one-pedal driving, but the adjustable regen gets fairly strong. Oh, and unlike the normal bZ, which can't tow at all, the bZ Woodland is able to tow up to 3,500 pounds. Not bad for a small EV.

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Offered as a no-cost option are all-terrain tires, specifically Dunlop Grandtrek A/T 30Ts sized 235/65. On the road, there's no noticeable difference in noise, comfort or handling compared to the standard road tires, which is certainly not the case for other cars with all-terrains. EPA-estimated range does take a hit, going down to 260 miles from 281 miles with the normal tires.

One of the bZ Woodland's biggest pain points is its charging speeds, which wouldn't be as much of a pain point if the range was a bit better. Its 74.7-kWh battery pack can accept a maximum of 150 kW when DC fast-charging, which means it'll take at best 30 minutes to go from 10% to 80%. There's no bi-directional charging capability, either, but the bZ Woodland does come with an NACS port.

To test out the bZ Woodland's capabilities more than the vast majority of owners will, Toyota has us drive up a mountain trail to a ranch sitting at about 2,000 feet above sea level. For the fifteen-minute journey up, we turn on the standard X-Mode to its Snow/Dirt setting, optimizing power delivery for better traction. The dirt road is a total breeze. It probably would be in most crossovers with all-terrain tires, too, but off-roading in an EV is just plain great, and the Woodland feels calm and sure-footed.

Once we've made it to the ranch and have eaten some snacks, Toyota has us try out a few obstacles it's created. We go over a series of bumps to max out the articulation, and drive on a few steeply banked dirt mounds. Then we continue onto another of the ranch's trails, this one a lot rockier and more serious, so on goes the Deep Snow/Mud setting for X-Mode. We also turn on the Grip Control feature, which helps maintain a consistent low speed on rough terrain. Again, it's a totally low-stress drive in the Woodland, even when going up the steepest, rockiest climbs. A 360-degree camera system is standard and has views that are helpful when off-roading, but it turns off once you hit around 10 mph, which is annoying.

The base bZ Woodland starts at $46,750 including destination, $5,400 more than the cheapest all-wheel-drive bZ. For that price it has dual-zone automatic climate control, 8-way power-adjustable front seats, heated front and outboard rear seats, a heated steering wheel, digital key capability, LED headlights and taillights, a power tailgate with a foot sensors, four USB-C ports, 64-color ambient lighting, rain-sensing wipers, and basically all the active-safety features you could think of. Spend another $2,100 on the bZ Woodland Premium and you get ventilated front seats, radiant foot and leg heaters for front passengers, a digital rear-view mirror, a 9-speaker JBL sound system, a fixed panoramic glass roof, memory for the driver's seat, and auto tilt mirrors.

There's not much else like the bZ Woodland on the market, whether you're looking at gas-powered wagons or electric ones — well, aside from the Subaru Trailseeker, its version of the Woodland. The Trailseeker has a cheaper base price than the bZ Woodland, but its base trim comes with fewer features. Otherwise, if you want an EV and need some amount of ruggedness, but you're at least slightly interesting and thus don't just want a basic crossover, the bZ Woodland could be the wagon-y thing for you. Thankfully it's a pretty good one.