The 2027 Toyota bZ Woodland is back for its second model year wearing the look of a trail rig, with matte black fender trim, roof rails, and an outdoor-oriented stance. Reviewers who have crawled underneath, though, keep pointing out the same thing: the rugged hardware down there is mostly cosmetic. The Autopian noted after a drive that there are no actual skid plates under the car, and Gearjunkie flatly called the styling pieces “fake skid plates.” For a vehicle marketed to the outdoorsy crowd, that sounds like a concern for off-roaders. We reached out to our contacts at Toyota and they have confirmed to Torque News it is not.
Let’s define a term first. Nobody is planning to truly “off-road” the bZ Woodland. It’s not a competitor for the 4Runner Trailhunter. It’s not a desert racer type Tacoma TRD Pro. This is a vehicle intended to be brilliant off-pavement. Headed to the cabin via a private, unmaintained dirt road. Bringing your kayaks down an access trail. That sort of duty. And the bZ Woodland looks more than capable of doing all of that and more.
Toyota’s argument is that the bZ Woodland does not need bolt-on armor because the part of primary concern the high-voltage battery, is already well shielded by the vehicle’s structure. A Toyota spokesperson laid out the reasoning in a statement to Torque News:
The battery in the bZ Woodland is well protected by the undercarriage of the vehicle. There is no need for additional skid plates. In short, it’s installed inside of the unibody frame with an aluminum panel underneath and reinforced structural elements on the sides (protecting it from front, side, and rear impact). Inside the battery unit there are also cross members made of ultra-high strength materials.
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Toyota’s launch material backs that up. The press release describes the 74.7 kWh pack as placed flat under the floor, with a battery cross-framing structure that adds to overall vehicle rigidity. In plain terms, the pack is not a vulnerable box hanging below the car covered in tin foil. It sits within the floor of the unibody, so the surrounding body takes the first hit in a side or corner strike. The flat aluminum panel underneath spreads and deflects impacts from rocks and trail debris, while the internal cross members give the pack rigidity and a second line of defense against intrusion. The protection is distributed across the whole lower body instead of concentrated in a single bolt-on plate.
The official spec sheet frames this EV as a light-duty off-pavement adventure vehicle rather than a Wrangler-esque rock crawler. The bZ Woodland offers a very generous 8.4 inches of ground clearance and comes standard with dual-motor all-wheel drive. Packing 375 horsepower, it can deliver a brisk 4.5-second sprint to 60 mph. Toyota’s X-MODE traction system (OK, Subaru’s) manages power and braking on loose surfaces, and a low-speed Grip Control function handles throttle and brake on tricky descents. Range lands at a manufacturer-estimated 281 miles on its standard all-season tires, dropping to 260 miles with the available all-terrain rubber. The mission is clearly weekend-adventure duty and gravel-road confidence, not aggressive rock-hopping.
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In that context, the absence of heavy skid plates is a smart design decision, not an oversight. Real steel or heavy, thick aluminum plates add mass, and weight is the enemy of range in an EV that already trades efficiency for its longer body and standard all-wheel drive. Engineering the protection into the structure, where it does double duty as part of the body and even helps lower the center of gravity, is the best path to the same goal. It also helps the Woodland hold onto its 3,500-pound towing rating without piling on pounds most buyers would never put to use.
There is a fair counterpoint. Buyers who plan to venture beyond maintained trails, or who worry about a stray rock catching the leading edge of the pack, may still want to get a 4Runner. Toyota’s position is simply that the bZ as delivered will capably handle the terrain it was designed for, and that a factory skid plate would be redundant for that use.
For those buyers cross-shopping the bZ Woodland, which starts around $47K, against its Subaru Trailseeker sibling or rivals like the Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally and Hyundai Ioniq 5 XRT, the abilities of all of these EVs is worth keeping in perspective. The Woodland is a lifestyle EV with respectable all-weather capability and a protected battery, not a mud-whomper. If your idea of off-road is a trailhead, Toyota’s bZ is ready for action. If it involves scraping the belly over granite, the shopping list changes, and still points you directly at a Toyota dealer who has electrified 4Runners, Tacomas, and RAV4s in stock with more survivability if high-spotting on a granite ledge is in the cards.
About the Author:
John Goreham is a 14-year veteran of Torque News. An accomplished writer and a long-time expert in vehicle testing, Goreham also serves as the Vice President of the New England Motor Press Association and has a growing social media presence. He’s also a 10-year staff writer and community moderator for Car Talk. Goreham holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an undergraduate Certificate in Marketing. In addition to vehicle and tire content, he offers deep dives into market trends and opinion pieces. You can follow John Goreham on X and TikTok, and connect with him on LinkedIn.
Images courtesy of Toyota
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