In Toyotas drive to invest more deeply in an electric future, Lexus is hitting close to home in the market with its 2023 Lexus RZ 450e. The new Lexus RZ 450e Electric is not quite as big as the typical SUV, sitting squarely on the compact crossover market.
The 2023 Lexus RZ 450e may not be the first EV that goes on sale, but it is part of a larger plan by Toyota to increase Toyotas presence in the electric vehicle segment. With an ambition of becoming a 100% EV brand worldwide by 2035, the Lexus RZ 450e is one of Lexuss big steps toward this goal. Tomorrow, The Lexus RZ, is set to launch. We have seen a Lexus UX 300e before, which is based off of the Lexus UX and is also available in a hybrid form, but with the launch of the Lexus RZ, the Lexus RZ marks a new chapter, with Lexus rolling out an all-electric model.
Expected to hit the US market at the end of 2022 after its debut during spring, the 2023 Lexus RZ will be the first car of the new chapter for Lexus. The RS450e will be a brand-new entry to the Lexus range in 2023, and Lexuss first fully electric offering. The 2023 Lexus RZ will be the brands first all-electric global SUV, and it is likely to share its E-TNGA platform with Toyotas bZ4x and Subarus Solterra. The new Lexus RZ EV crossover will be built at Toyotas Motomachi Assembly Plant, the same assembly line used for both Toyotas mass-market bZ4x and the Subaru Solterra.
Its first fully electric car shares its platform with Toyotas bZ4X, but offers a more conventional style consistent with current Lexus SUVs. Its first all-electric car is the first nameplate launched as part of Toyotas Lexus Electrified Vision, a concept of an upcoming all-electric vehicle from Lexus. Its first-ever battery-electric vehicle will feature the same Lexus Interface media system and 14-inch touchscreen found on the latest versions of the brands NX compact crossover and LX flagship utility. Its first-ever battery-electric vehicle also will feature a new all-wheel-drive DIRECT4 system, as well as a choice of five exterior colors, including one called Ether, whichevokes the agile driving characteristics of EVs, according to Toyotas Lexus.
Toyotas luxury brand will immediately offer its new steer-by-wire system in other markets, but when the 2023 Lexus RZ 450e goes on sale for the first time in North America later this year, it will feature a more conventional steering system, including conventional circular wheels. It is not clear whether Lexus will keep that wheel, or swap it out for the steering-by-wire-yoke design found in Toyotas BZ4X (expect the steering wheel), but Lexus is getting a psychokinetic fix. It is not clear when (or if) the yoke will become an available option on its first fully electric car in the U.S., but if so, that could align with Lexus promises of a future steering-by-wire system, which uses electrical signals to communicate information between the steering wheel and tires. The 2023 Lexus RZ 450e is similarly offered with four-wheel drive, which is new for Lexus and is called Direct4, but the four-wheel-drive essentially appears to be the same on-road system found in its Toyota and Subaru cousins.
While the Toyota luxury brand has long been the leader in the electrification space thanks to its hybrid models, the 2023 Lexus RZ 450e is effectively the brands first all-electric car, as well as the first fully electric car to carry a Lexus nameplate in North America. The 2023 Lexus RZ 450e includes a large, 14-inch touchscreen running a Lexus Interface infotainment system, which has recently debuted in Toyotas luxury brands NX and LX SUVs. Lexus is proud to reveal details about the newest RZ, the luxury brands first global-available all-electric, battery-electric vehicle (BEV). As the first globally-available Lexus-exclusive BEV model, the new RZ marks Lexus shift into a brand focused on the battery, while exemplifying Lexus signature automotive design and driving experience brought to life by cutting-edge EV technologies.
Lexus will be offering the all-new RZ model to the global market, with its foundations likely becoming the foundation for additional EV models in the future. We could see up to seven new Lexus electric vehicles on the market by the end of the decade. The first electric Lexusathe RZ 450eawill launch at the end of 2022, but the brand plans to have an electric car for every segment by 2030. The RZ 450e would be the first of many EVs from Lexus; indeed, by 2035, Lexus is making a brand exclusively made of EVs.a As of spring 2022, an all-new, fully electricA is not out yet,a but the model in 2023 is.
The all-new Lexus RZ 450e includes four-wheel drive and a 308-hp twin-motor drivetrain.A The eagerly anticipated RZ Wagon-SUV-Crossover maintains the recognisable body styling and Lexus signature body styling, and is topped off by a floating roof and a ducktail hood scoop. The 2023 Lexus RZ 450e features a 71.4-kWh battery pack and dual electric motors, the front motors producing 150 kW, the rear motors producing 80 kW. The Lexus RZ 450e, which will have a driving range of about 450km per single charge, has a steering wheel yoke, similar to that seen in Teslas Model S plaid, or Model X. The Model X is similar to Teslas Model S plaid. Of these three, the Lexus model will be the most luxurious, giving consumers high-end features and standard all-wheel drive, as opposed to Toyotas BZ4x.