Loading a bike into the boot of a car can sometimes be a struggle, but not in our practical electric SUV
Allan Muir allan.muir@haymarket.com
Mileage 1735 List price £51,950
Target Price £49,008 Price as tested £56,125 Test range 175 miles
ONE OF THE benefits of the folding e-bike I recently purchased is that whenever I decide to head for the hills for a few hours of trail riding, loading it into the boot of a car is easier than with the conventional hybrid bike I had previously. Well, that was the theory. In practice, even when it’s folded, my e-bike is still a relatively hefty, unwieldy lump to lift and carry. So, it’s fortunate that my Toyota bZ4X’s boot is well suited to the task of accommodating cargo like this.
Even when my hands are full, the electric tailgate can be opened simply by waggling my foot under the rear bumper. As long as I’ve got the keyfob in my pocket (as opposed to inside the car, where it’s outside the detection zone), this is proving to be a reliable and convenient way of gaining access to the boot.
In addition, the load bay itself is wider and deeper than that of the Kia EV6 I ran a couple of years ago and seems to be able to swallow large objects more readily. Although the boot floor isn’t height adjustable, it’s reasonably low by SUV standards, and there’s almost no drop down to it from the boot entrance, so I can slide heavy objects in rather than having to heave them over a lip. My folded e-bike goes in neatly enough, without me having to lower the rear seatbacks or remove the retractable tonneau cover.
My decision to add the £210 Essential Protection Pack to my car is paying off, too. The sturdy boot liner that’s part of this pack (along with discreet mudflaps) means I can dispense with my usual bike-carrying practice of spreading out blankets in an effort to protect the carpet, and the lining around the sides of the boot seems pretty durable.
My e-bike doesn’t have to share space with the charging cables, either, because they can be stashed (rather untidily) in a small storage area beneath the boot floor. That said, it would be even better if the bZ4X had a second boot under its bonnet, as my EV6 did, because then I wouldn’t have to take my bike out of the boot before I can get to the cables.
More generally, I discovered recently that the opening height of my car’s electric tailgate can be adjusted – and through a surprisingly wide ra
