The 2023 Lexus RZ 450e presents a paradox. On the one hand, the compact crossover is a landmark vehicle for Lexus — their first electric car. It debuts some of the brand’s latest tech. And it kicks off what will be a full-court press on the electric vehicle market later this decade, as Lexus goes all-electric in America by 2030.
On the other, it took until 2023 for Lexus to launch an electric car. On paper, the RZ pales compared to a proliferation of offerings from Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW. And Toyota is enacting a massive overhaul of its EV plans as a tacit acknowledgment that the pace of the EV transition and e-TNGA efforts thus far — haven’t been ambitious enough. So, the RZ 450e can be construed simultaneously as a great leap forward and an evolutionary dead end.
Lexus brought me out to Provence with other journalists to sample the 2023 RZ 450e over a day of driving. And irrespective of what it says about Lexus’s broader ambitions, the RZ 450e feels very much like a Lexus. It’s comfortable, luxurious and quiet — what luxury buyers want. It more or less replicates the RX’s broad practicality in electric form. But one massive weakness makes that feat a qualified and limited success.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
The 2023 Lexus RZ 450e
Tyler Duffy
Pros: Smooth ride, luxurious and spacious interior
The RZ 450e looks a lot like a rebadged Toyota bZ4X with some Lexus spindlework. But like Subaru did with the related Solterra, Lexus successfully differentiated the RZ 450e from its Toyota twin. The RZ is dramatically more powerful, packing 308 horsepower to the bZ4X’s 215 hp. And it comes standard with Lexus’s new Direct 4 AWD system.
I spent a day driving the roads around Aix-en-Provence. Our routes ran the gamut from serene highway cruising to sweating bullets and tucking in mirrors as a French construction worker in a high-vis vest waved us through a gap with about a half-inch clearance on either side.
The RZ handled everything very much like a Lexus crossover. It was exceptionally smooth and quiet. It provided a very comfortable and compliant ride even when I came in too hot for the massive, inevitable “lying policeman” speedbumps seemingly around every corner.
The RZ 450e didn’t seem exceptionally sporty — to the extent that I could test that with French 80 km/h speed limits. But it handled its weight well in corners and had more than enough pop to make highway passes. If the brief was to make the RZ feel brand-consistent, Lexus nailed it.
The one annoyance was trying to shift drive modes. The RZ uses the new Lexus Interface system with the 14-inch screen — so no touchpad of doom. But the only way to switch drive modes — and test out the Eco and Range (super-eco) settings — was to tap and flip through multiple touchscreen menus. That could and should have been a dial. However, you could argue the RZ 450e would not have been a proper Lexus without some quibble related to the middle screen.
The RZ 450e interior is surprisingly roomy
Lexus
Lexus used RZs to chauffeur us to dinner in the evening. That allowed me to sample the backseat and appreciate the cavern of space back there. I’m 5’11” and could extend my legs reverse plank-style in the back. The experience was similar up front. Colleagues much taller than I am noted how their legs weren’t hitting the wheel, and their heads weren’t brushing the ceiling.
The RZ 450e does not have a frunk; it packages the electric components where the combustion engine would be. But it does have a substantial 34.9 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats. We didn’t hit le supermarché or le grand magasin but there was more than enough space for that not to be an issue.
Interior materials were up to Lexus standards, especially if you level up to the Luxury trim with the Ultrasuede seats. The RZ 450e also has a nifty radiant heating system. Engaged with a button tap, it blasts heat at the knees and works in concert with the heated seats to heat the occupants efficiently and spare having to devote more power to heating the entire cabin. I didn’t engage the system — it was in the mid-60s out, and I run hot — but I did feel the almost instant wave of hot air when my colleague in the passenger seat did.
Don’t let Lexus hear you calling that steering apparatus a yoke.
Lexus
For the 2024 model year, the Lexus RZ will offer the brand's new "Steer-by-Wire" system; the rest of the world will call it One-Motion Grip, but Lexus worried Americans would shorten it to "OMG" — not very Lexus-like behavior.
The system does not just use a steering device that looks like Tesla's yoke. There is no mechanical connection between the steering column and the wheels. It's all handled electrically. And the system automatically adjusts the ratio, so full lock happens at about 90 degrees with no hand-over-hand movement.
I found Steer-by-Wire mostly intuitive and pleasant to drive with. It required a few minutes of recalibration to adjust; the first noticeable trait is biting harder into slow corners than you're used to. And that added some spice to the blind corners on the one-lane roads out of our hotel. But once acclimated, the car reacts with minimal movement.
My quibble was with the "not yoke" apparatus. It forces your hands into a 9 and 3 position, and you must grip hard rather than rest your hands on the pillars and hook your thumbs like you would on a steering wheel. Going full F1-style feels neither comfortable nor natural to hold for long periods. It was more fatiguing than the regular system, even if my hands moved less.
Lexus offered a potpourri of justifications for why they couldn't just use a wheel with Steer-by-Wire — better visibility, ease of ingress and egress, convenient shape for folding away for autonomous driving moving forward — but none seemed especially compelling.
The Lexus RZ 450e range is disappointing
Tyler Duffy
The Lexus RZ 450e has a max range of 220 miles. If you level up to 20-inch wheels, that dips to 196 miles. That’s before you factor in the effective range of about 80% of that with normal charging patterns. That’s more than almost anyone would use in a day. But it’s low enough to have you thinking about it and planning around it. And it’s a tough sell when multiple competitors offer more than 300 miles.
It was hard for me to track the range while driving. The RZ doesn’t give a percentage readout of the battery — only the distance remaining. And as much as I aspire to be a cultured and cosmopolitan citizen of the world, my parochial American driving brain thinks in miles.
Having 135 km of range remaining felt like more rance than it was. Lexus also worked in an extended morning coffee break and a protracted multiple-course lunch to buy the RZs time on the charger between stints.
Lexus did recognize the range would be an issue. And they are providing 2023 RZ 450e buyers 30 complimentary days of gas loaners — spread over a three-year window — to take that 1-2 road trips per year where you might need the added range.
How much does the Lexus RZ 450e cost?
Lexus
The Lexus RZ starts at $58,500 or $59,650 when you factor in the destination, processing and handling charge. You can level up from 18 to 20-inch wheels with the base Premium AWD trim. The Luxury AWD trim starts at $65,150. In Lexus terms, the RZ costs about the same as a loaded-up version of the new RX 350h Hybrid.
What are some Lexus RZ competitors?
Will Sabel Courtney
Lexus named the “near lux” vehicles they view as the RZ 450e's competitors: the Tesla Model Y, the Audi eTron, the Jaguar I-Pace and the Volvo XC40 Recharge. We’ll note that all four of those vehicles debuted in the 2018-20 range — not 2023 — which highlights where Lexus’s ambition was.
Modern competitors starting for about the same price Lexus probably doesn’t want me to mention with the RZ include the Genesis GV60 and Cadillac Lyriq. The Kia EV6 GT is also about the same price and range but with about 270 more hp.
Verdict: the 2023 Lexus RZ 450e
Tyler Duffy
Lexus did a great job making the RZ 450e a Lexus. And Lexus typically nails the core of what luxury buyers are looking for. The RZ 450e more or less replicates the RX — the Lexus most people buy — in electric form. And it's not that much more expensive.
That said, the poor range is a bummer and will prevent the RZ 450e from being more than just a stopgap to keep otherwise loyal "Lexus guests" who want an EV from leaving the fold to buy a Tesla.
The 33 Electric Cars We're Most Excited to Drive in the Future
Kia
The next few years will be packed with new EVs. These are the ones that have us jazzed the most.
