RZ begins Lexus EV onslaught
Electric mid-size SUV adds a new dual-motor powertrain to Toyota’s BZ4X formula
The new Lexus RZ 450e is the Japanese premium marque’s first bespoke electric car, serving as a spearhead for a new family of dynamically oriented EVS.
Available to pre-order now ahead of deliveries beginning at the end of this year, it is a similar size to the best-selling NX. However, Lexus bosses are keen to emphasise that it is not intended as an electric successor to or replacement for that SUV, which only recently entered its second generation and gained a plug-in hybrid option.
The electric RZ will no doubt command a premium over its combustion-engined sibling, but Lexus’s European boss, Spiros Fotinos, would only go so far as to confirm the brand is considering the cost of “other Bev-relevant vehicles” in this segment when determining pricing.
The RZ is based on the same Ev-specific E-TNGA platform as the closely related new Toyota BZ4X and Subaru Solterra, but it places a more overt emphasis on premium appeal and performance, giving clues as to how Lexus EVS will be marked out from other vehicles that use the same architecture.
Design links to current Lexus models are evident in the silhouette and defining cues, but many elements have been reimagined to mark out the RZ as the first in a new line of products.
Most obvious is the front end, where Lexus’s trademark spindle grille makes way for a new, more minimalist, flush front end that references the previous design in its shape but is said to express “the BEV’S powerful character and seamless acceleration”.
Lexus calls the new design language Spindle Body and highlights the lower bonnet, reduced number of air intakes and more muscular wings as its defining elements. Power is stored in a 71.4kwh lithium ion battery pack, which, like that used by the BZ4X, is expected to yield more than 250 miles of range and offer 90% of its usable capacity after 10 years of use.
Lexus has yet to confirm charging times, but the bz4x can be rapid-charged at rates of up to 150kw.
Lexus has touted the low centre of gravity afforded by this underfloor battery as a bonus for driving dynamics, adding that “advanced construction processes” make the chassis as stiff as possible, ensuring “precise handling and response and ride comfort”.
It said a focus on accentuating its Lexus Driving Signature played a fundamental role in the development process and that it was able to exploit the inherent traits of an EV powertrain, namely “fast response and high precision”, to emphasise it further.
The RZ 450e brings a new four-wheel-drive powertrain, named Direct4, comprising a pair of compact electric motors – one with 201bhp at the front and another with 107bhp at the rear, giving combined outputs of 308bhp and 321lb ft.
The RZ 450e will get from 0-62mph in 5.6sec, beating the four-wheel-drive Audi Q4 E-tron 50 Quattro, and tops out at a limited 99mph.
As for whether future RZ variants could adopt a singlemotor configuration, like the entry-level BZ4X, Fotinos said that “to really feel the true potential of the vehicle, it has to be a twin-motor configuration”,
adding: “We need the two e-axles to really deliver that kind of driving comfort.”
However, he said that a single-motor model could be possible, so long as it offered more range without too drastic a “trade-off in terms of the driving feeling we’re trying to deliver with the car”.
Lexus, like Toyota, is planning to bring its first bespoke EV to market with an unusual yoke-style steering wheel and a steer-by-wire system that eliminates the mechanical linkage between the front wheels and the driver.
This new electronic set-up is claimed to improve response and control while minimising movement of the ‘wheel’ over rough roads and maintaining a sense of “connection between driver and car”.
It also gives a better view of the gauge cluster and out of the windscreen, according to Lexus – all part of its Tazuna (Japanese for ‘horse reins’) approach to driver ergonomics.
This ethos manifests in a similar cabin treatment to that of the new NX, with the central 14.0in infotainment touchscreen, head-up display and digital instrument binnacle carefully positioned to improve forward vision and minimise distraction.
It’s a minimalist cabin overall, with most functions controlled through the touch interface, rather than physical buttons, and a rotary drive selector featuring in place of a conventional shifter item.