2023 Lexus RZ450e review: Australian first drive

The 2023 Lexus RZ is great to drive, let's get that out of the way first – but it’s too expensive and misses out on many innovations we’ve come to expect from electric cars.

Starting at $123,000 before on-road costs, the RZ is built on the same all-new, dedicated electric vehicle (EV) platform as the incoming Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra. It’s not the first electric Lexus, that honour going to the UX300e compact SUV. But when the world’s biggest car manufacturer Toyota enters the new-age EV race after years of sitting on the sidelines, you pay attention.

We’ve been waiting to see, too, how the Japanese interpret this new EV thing. We’ve seen how the Americans, Britons, Germans and South Koreans imagine the electric vehicle of the future. How might the Japanese, a powerhouse nation of automotive design and engineering, move the EV game forward? What fresh thinking might they bring?

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In order to find out, we headed to Adelaide to drive the new Lexus RZ. Just 500 are coming initially, and Lexus said 150 are already sold.

The RZ measures 4910mm long, 1895mm wide and 1635mm high, making it almost as big as its RX large SUV stablemate. Aerodynamics matter a lot in the world of EVs and so the RZ’s drag coefficient of 0.28Cd hardly has us falling off our chair. A Tesla Model Y, while admittedly almost egg-shaped, is 0.23Cd.

Styling is of course subjective, so maybe we’ll keep to ourselves that we think the RZ’s narrow daytime running lights (DRLs) make it look a bit cross-eyed; or that its little bulging bonnet forehead reminds us of a beluga whale; or that in the metal, the beltline looks a bit too high and the headlights too low. Let us know in the comments if you agree…

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JUMP AHEAD

• How much is it, and what do you get?
• How do rivals compare on value?
• What's the Lexus RZ like inside?
• What is it like to drive?
• How economical is it?
• How safe is it?
• How long is the warranty and what are the running costs like?
• Would you recommend it?

How much is it, and what do you get?

For now, there are two RZ450e variants – the $123,000 Luxury and $135,000 Sport Luxury – both prices excluding on-road costs.

Both are powered by the same 230kW/435Nm, dual-motor, all-wheel-drive electric powertrain. There’s a single 71.4kWh lithium-ion battery option granting about 400 kilometres of WLTP range. The RZ’s platform could technically support a cheaper, single-motor model but Lexus said there were no plans for such a vehicle in Australia.

Each of the RZ450e grades comes with Lexus’s advanced Safety Sense tech, which we’ve outlined in detail below.

The Sport and Sport Luxury are packed to the brim with standard equipment. There’s a giant 14.0-inch central touchscreen infotainment system with wireless Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto, LED lighting galore, eight-way adjustable powered front seats, electric rear tailgate and, in the Sport’s case, vegan upholstery – although we wouldn’t recommend eating it.

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For an extra $12,000 the Sport Luxury gives you 20-inch wheels (to the Luxury’s 18s), much nicer Ultrasuede interior trim, twin-opening sunroof, head-up display, auto-levelling and cornering headlights, front and rear acoustic glass (making it quieter inside), ventilated front seats, front radiant heating panels and heated outboard rear seats. The driver’s seat also gets three memory settings, while a 13-speaker Mark Levinson audio system replaces the 10-speaker Panasonic system of the Luxury.

The Sport Luxury grants the (sort of gaudy) $4200 option of two-tone, copper and black hero paintwork.

For both grades, the price includes a free 7kW home charger (and installation), three years' free subscription to the Chargefox public charger network and a three-year membership to the Lexus Encore Platinum program.

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Over three years, Encore Platinum grants you four loans of vehicles within the Lexus range, for up to eight days at a time.

This includes the LC500 sports coupe, LS luxury sedan or LX off-roader. Very cool.

For up to five years, Lexus will also come to your home or workplace and swap your RZ with a loan vehicle when services are due. Five years of roadside assistance is also included.

While the RZ’s e-TNGA platform can offer vehicle-to-load (where you can plug in a 240-volt appliance like a laptop) it’s not available on the RZ.

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How do rivals compare on value?

Lexus fancies the RZ as a competitor against premium electric vehicles such as the Audi E-Tron, BMW iX and Mercedes-Benz EQC. All are about the same price, or a bit more expensive.

Built on a conventional vehicle platform and retrofitted with electric motors and batteries, the Audi E-Tron 55 Quattro has 436km of range from its 95kWh of energy storage. It can do 0-100km/h in 5.7 seconds thanks to its dual motors producing 300kW/664Nm. It costs $147,400 before on-road costs. There was a cheaper E-Tron 50 Quattro but it was dropped.

The BMW iX is built on a dedicated electric vehicle architecture and in entry-level xDrive40 guise is $135,900 before on-road costs. Its dual electric motors produce 240kW/630Nm and can propel the big Bimmer from zero to 100km/h in 6.1 seconds. ADR claimed range from its 74.1kWh battery is 426km.

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The Mercedes-Benz EQC is another vehicle built on a conventional internal combustion platform, retrofitted with EV gear. The entry-level EQC 400 uses twin motors producing 300kW/760Nm – good for zero to 100km/h in 5.1 seconds. At $128,000 before on-road costs, it comes with an 80kWh battery that provides an ADR range of 445km.

While Lexus undoubtedly loves being mentioned in the same breath as Audi, BMW and Mercedes, it’s difficult not to compare the RZ to the (significantly cheaper) Genesis GV60 Performance AWD.

At $110,700 before on-road costs, the GV60 Performance packs a 360kW/700Nm dual-motor powertrain good for 0-100km/h in a scalding 4.0 seconds, while its 77.4kWh battery offers up to 466km of range. The boot is a bit smaller, but the interior is just as nice as the Lexus – and it’s just as richly equipped. It’s just as safe, offers vehicle-to-load capability, 350kW DC fast-charging capability (versus the RZ’s 150kW) and a seven-year full vehicle warranty to five years from Lexus.

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What's the Lexus RZ like inside?

It’s really nice – especially the Sport Luxury which ditches the vegan upholstery for the lovely Ultrasuede.

The vegan upholstery almost looks and feels like the kind of cheap vinyl you’d get in a Toyota Corolla. You’d shell out the extra $12K for the nicer upholstery alone.

The front seats are superb – Lexus does amazing seats – while the steering wheel is pleasantly upholstered. The floor mats are so deep pile and plush, you could just about lose your phone in them. Indeed, Lexus also does the best floor mats in the business.

Both variants get the statement-making 14.0-inch central touchscreen. Pleasingly, Apple CarPlay (wireless) fills the entire screen, save for some climate controls along the bottom.

Sort of cheaply, the Sport gets a small 4.2-inch digital instrument display screen whereas the Sport Luxury gets a that’s-more-like-it 7.0-inch screen.

Perched on top of the steering column – almost blocking the bottom of the digital instrument display depending on your seating position – is a poorly integrated driver monitor.

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It’s constantly in your line of sight, which is unfortunate, as it’s hideous. It’s kind of weird as well that it uses facial recognition and is unceasingly ‘watching’ you, but that’s beside the point.

Two cool interior highlights are the Sport Luxury’s sunroof which can instantly switch from transparent to opaque just by pressing a button; and the same grade’s radiant heating which uses infrared panels under the steering column – and where the glovebox lid would be – to gently warm your knees. This saves having to blast the heater on cold days, reducing overall energy consumption, says Lexus.

Overall, though, the RZ interior is pleasant.

In the back seat, meanwhile, there’s plenty of knee-room but the seat base is perched low so you feel to be sitting more on a milk crate than an armchair. With limited under-thigh support, you want to stretch out your legs but toe-room, with no under-seat ‘foot garage’, is limited.

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Overall, though, the RZ interior is pleasant.

An adult sitting in the back on a long journey may begin to resent any adult sitting in the front. Luckily, there are two USB-C outlets, two AC vents with flow control only, and the Sport Luxury offers outboard rear seat heaters.

Practicality is okay. The rear seat itself is not tilt or slide adjustable and offers only a 40:60 split-fold with no ski port. There are no boot-situated buttons or levers to fold the rear seats down. At 522 litres the boot is decent – by internal combustion vehicle standards. There’s some underfloor storage, but it’s taken up by the charging cable. And the user manual, oddly, as there’s no glovebox. At all.

There’s also no under-bonnet storage, either, unlike many other electric models.

Much has been made about the Formula One-style Lexus steering ‘yoke’ which replaces a conventional wheel and uses steer-by-wire – with no mechanical connection to the front wheels – to make things like U-turns a mere flick of the wrists. Lexus said it was still 12-18 months away from Australia and would be offered on the RZ as a cost option.

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What is it like to drive?

Surprisingly easy – even fun. As you get in, you thumb the starter button, select Drive and you’re good to go. The electric motors are smooth and responsive, and when driving at lower speeds it’s almost eerily quiet.

As the speed increases, so does the tyre noise and a bit of wind noise from the A-pillars, but you’re bound to notice things like this in a car with no engine whatsoever.

The Lexus RZ doesn’t use adaptive dampers, but the ride quality is still good. Unlike a lot of other newer electric vehicles – which use quite stiff springs, resulting in a skateboard-like ride – the RZ is fairly soft, making for great bump absorbency. That said, it can get a little pogo-stick-like over bigger undulations and bob around before settling.

While the base Sport uses 18-inch wheels to the Sport Luxury’s 20s, there is minimal difference in ride quality as the 18s use a 60-profile tyre and the 20s, a 50-profile.

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The RZ couldn’t be easier to operate around town.

The steering is light and fast, while forward visibility is excellent courtesy of the thin A-pillars, little quarter-light windows and door-mounted side mirrors. Rearward visibility is a bit more slit-like but still fine.

The electric motors make this a fun vehicle to drive around urban centres, with more than enough power and traction to pounce from the front row of traffic lights – and silently. Lexus claims the RZ can do 0-100km/h in 5.3 seconds; we are yet to independently verify this. The acceleration is strong and brisk – about that of a hot hatch – if not explosive.

Find yourself on a winding road and the RZ is surprisingly engaging. While there’s obvious body roll – requiring a bit of patience at times – the weight feels relatively low. Pleasingly, the RZ feels to pivot around its centre almost like a coupe. The steering and brakes offer decent feel, while the electric motors punch nicely out of corners, even if there’s an initial skerrick of front wheelspin before the rear motor tidies things up.

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Pop it into Sport, which also heavies up the steering, and the RZ pumps a polite, almost Jetsons-like artificial noise through the speakers.

The front motor having more power than the rear is obvious; the torque is noticeably front-biased. The RZ is not permanently all-wheel-drive, instead reserving the right to constantly vary motor output as needed.

Under full throttle in Normal mode, there is merely a bit of electric motor whine and the steadily increasing sound of tyres and wind. But pop it into Sport – which also heavies up the steering – and the RZ pumps a polite, almost Jetsons-like artificial noise through the speakers. Unlike other manufacturers, Lexus certainly hasn’t overdone it in this department.

The RZ offers four levels of regenerative braking, adjustable using steering wheel paddles. There’s no ‘one-pedal’ mode like many other electric models, although the strongest setting gets you about halfway there and should be fine for most.

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How economical is it?

Compared to rivals, the RZ’s range is merely okay. Both Lexus RZ variants claim up to 400km of WLTP range from their 71.4kWh batteries.

Depending on use, owners can realistically expect to get between 300km and 400km from a full charge.

All RZs come with a built-in 11kW charger and use a CCS Type 2 plug. Recharging at 11kW takes 6.5 hours when using three-phase power. The maximum DC fast-charging speed is 150kW which can recharge the car from near flat to 80 per cent in as little as 30 minutes.

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How safe is it?

About as safe and advanced as modern cars come, as far as features go. All RZs come with 10 airbags and a full high-tech suite of safety features.

The autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system can automatically slow or stop the vehicle at interurban speeds to try to avoid or mitigate a collision. It also can detect cyclists (day and night) and pedestrians. The RZ also has reverse AEB up to 15km/h and rear-cross traffic alert. It’s as good as AEB systems get.

Another piece of cyclist detection tech can warn the driver before opening the door into the path of an oncoming bike after parking.

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Like Toyota models, Lexus Connected Services can automatically contact an emergency call centre in the event of airbag deployment, and the RZ has a ceiling-mounted SOS call button that can connect occupants to the same call centre at the press of a button.

This all works provided there is mobile reception and the system uses the Telstra network.

When the cruise control and lane-tracing functions are active, the RZ can brake itself to a halt automatically with the hazard lights on, and unlock the doors when stopped, in the event that the driver monitor detects the driver is incapacitated.

A curious safety omission is the lack of external speakers, front or rear, warning pedestrians with a low hum (like other electric models) that the RZ is approaching. Selecting reverse activates a loud, continuously chiming interior noise but there is no external speaker warning that the near-silent vehicle is moving.

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How long is the warranty and what are the running costs like?

Lexus offers a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty with an additional five years (unlimited kilometres) on the battery, subject to an annual battery ‘health check’.

Lexus said customers can expect a 90 per cent battery capacity retention after 10 years but does not warrant against degradation.

Capped-price servicing of $395 per interval is offered over five years. Service intervals are every 12 months or 15,000 kilometres.

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Would you recommend the Lexus RZ?

We would – but with a few catches.

By replacing the internal combustion engine with smooth, quiet, responsive electric motors, Lexus has made a better Lexus. The RZ is surprisingly well-sorted to drive, especially its handling. The interior, in Sport Luxury trim at least, is lovely – making it the grade to get. If you’re happy to stump up the not-inconsiderable asking price, you’re unlikely to be too disappointed.

We did hope for a bit more. The 400km claimed range is hardly class-leading, while the lack of glovebox seems a missed opportunity. The RZ, for a vehicle built on an all-new electric platform, doesn’t really move the electric vehicle game forward in any meaningful way.

There’s no vehicle-to-load capability and 150kW DC fast-charging falls short of the 350kW available from the much cheaper E-GMP platform EVs from Genesis, Hyundai and Kia. The back seat packaging feels a bit compromised for adults and the lack of external speakers to warn pedestrians seems a safety oversight (especially reversing).

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There are simply better, more forward-thinking and innovative electric models.

A Tesla Model Y, for example, is built on a dedicated electric vehicle platform and is about the same size as the RZ – shorter, in fact. But it packages a 117-litre front boot in addition to a huge 854-litre rear boot. Why couldn’t Toyota – the world’s biggest car manufacturer – manage something similar with its e-TNGA platform, on which the RZ is built?

Popping the bonnet to see only an electric motor makes the RZ feel like it was produced on a conventional internal combustion architecture, like the UX300e. It’s not like the RZ packages a full-size spare wheel, either. Like a Tesla Model Y, it uses a puncture repair kit.

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The RZ could have been an Ioniq 5 moment for Lexus, but it isn’t.

Driving the Lexus RZ reminded us a lot of the Genesis GV60. It’s worth checking out the Genesis if you’re considering an RZ, and not just because you stand to save $25K.

Much like other first EV efforts from manufacturers like the BMW i3 and Jaguar I-Pace, the RZ is likely to be a niche blip in the greater electric vehicle revolution, if for no other reason than its price.

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