Featured The Toyota bZ4X AWD Sets A New Low Record In Our 10% EV Road Trip Challenge (US Spec / CATL Battery)

I certainly buy it in the case of the BMW. The teardown video of the bx4z posted in this forum points out that the heating system (heat pump and other resistive heat) is diverted to the battery in really cold temperatures, hence the necessary inclusion of the radiant heaters (note, it has two... one on the drivers side as well).

That's a lot of redundant cost which may have been eliminated by speccing a proper heating system.

 

That's what Tesla does for battery heating in cars with a heat pump. If I'm thinking of the same video, the host even makes a comparison between Toyota's valve arrangement and Tesla's octovalve. It saves costs and weight, as otherwise the car would need two separate heating systems. Pretty sure everybody does this.

The radiant heaters weren't added because Toyota put in an under specced HVAC system. They aren't even standard on the Limited, and are only for the front seats. It's an option for the same reason car makers started putting in power windows. It's a new shiny to get people to part with more money.

Now, the radiant heaters have the potential of helping with winter range loss in the same manner as heated seats do. By directly heating the person, the cabin air heater can be set lower or left off. Constantly heating all that air, specially for just a driver, is a waste of energy that sucks down range. Most of the people that pay extra for it are doing so in the hopes of not using the heat pump for the cabin. The criticism with Toyota's radiant heater is over the loss of the glove box.