2026 Tesla Model Y vs. 2026 Toyota bZ Comparison Test: Two Bestsellers, One Winner
Key takeaways
- Can Toyota's refreshed and renamed EV SUV topple Tesla's similarly improved global superstar?
- Andi Hedrick|Car and Driver Tesla created the EV template that legacy automakers have spent years trying to imitate, with results ranging from genuinely impressive to painfully derivative.
- Despite the half-baked result, Team Toyobaru eventually did their homework and turned in a much more competitive product.
Why this matters: an automotive development that could shape industry direction or buying decisions.
Can Toyota's refreshed and renamed EV SUV topple Tesla's similarly improved global superstar?
Andi Hedrick|Car and Driver Tesla created the EV template that legacy automakers have spent years trying to imitate, with results ranging from genuinely impressive to painfully derivative. When the Model Y became a global bestseller, it helped make electric vehicles mainstream and desirable. Meanwhile, Toyota was watching the EV revolution from the sidelines until it was forced to get in the game. Its first mass-produced attempt was the clumsily named bZ4X, which was codeveloped with Subaru and felt like what happens when two inexperienced lab partners try an experiment by copying someone else's work.
Despite the half-baked result, Team Toyobaru eventually did their homework and turned in a much more competitive product. Surprisingly, Toyota's refreshed and renamed bZ has outsold every non-Tesla EV in America through the first quarter of 2026, though the Model Y remains entrenched atop the sales charts. What's interesting is how these two corporate Goliaths have taken very different paths to get here. While Tesla-stans and Toyota truthers will likely remain loyal to their respective brands, they share an audience who wants an electric SUV for less than $45,000. So, we put the most affordable versions of the new Tesla Model Y and the Toyota bZ head to head to find out which bestseller is better.