Thoughts on the Toyota bZ4X from Gavin Larsen

Our long standing Community Partnership with the NBS Nelson Giants stretches for more than 40 years. This year we decided to put their Commercial Manager Gavin Larsen into the new Toyota bZ4X, the fully electric vehicle Toyota recently released. His thoughts?

Gavin is no stranger to high performance. After a lengthy and legendary International Cricket career, he moved into Cricket Management, and wider sports management, eventually ending up here in Nelson working with the NBS Nelson Giants. Our arrangement with the Giants covers the transportation needs of key members of the team, and the imports, so when presented with the opportunity to put Gavin into a vehicle we immediately thought of the newly released Toyota EV, the bZ4X. We wanted to hear all about what it was like to live with one in the real world. Would he get Range Anxiety travelling to and from Mapua? How would he handle the charging? All important questions to get answers to so that our Sales Team could easily pass this onto future customers. 

After 6 months with the Toyota bZ4X, here is what Gavin though. 

"As a former Blackcaps selector, I know the value of data, but also the power of gut feel. Sometimes the best calls aren’t made by spreadsheets — they come down to intuition and experience.

That’s exactly how I’d describe my experience with the Toyota BZ4X. I’m no EV or carbon footprint expert, but I know a great car the moment I drive one. Smooth, quiet, effortless — the driving experience is second to none.

Living in Mapua and making the 50k round trip into Nelson, I expected “range anxiety” might creep in. It hasn’t. ~420km of battery range. Plug in at home, plug in in Nelson if needed. Easy.

A massive shout-out to Tony and the team at Bowater Toyota — awesome supporters of the NBS Nelson Giants and many other Nelson Tasman community and sports organisations.

Sometimes you just know."

Check out our BMG socials, where you can keep up to date with what's happening across all of our businesses and community partnerships.