The first electric car from LEXUS! It seems that even just this one wording is already able to attract the attention of a part of the financial customers who are fans of the brand. What will they get for their money, what are the advantages and disadvantages of the new LEXUS RZ 450e electric car? Now I will tell you everything.

Positioning LEXUS RZ

The general positioning of the LEXUS RZ has already been mentioned above: it is the first electric car from LEXUS, and at once in the format of a rather large crossover and also with a dynamic design. You can remember the existence of the LEXUS UX 300e – but it was an intermediate model created by converting the usual gasoline/hybrid crossover into an electric car, also offered in a limited number of markets. Instead, the LEXUS RZ crossover was originally an electric car, plus it should become more global in terms of geography.

The first photos LEXUS RZ appeared at the end of 2021, but the full debut of the electric car took place in 2022. That’s when all the information and specs for the version were announced LEXUS RZ 450e with two electric motors and four-wheel drive – this is what became the hero of the material.

How the LEXUS RZ electric car drives

As you expect from LEXUS: very soft and careful even on bad roads, very quiet when driving around town. Only at high speed on highways does a noticeable hum appear in the cabin, but in other cases – phenomenal silence! In general, the electric car LEXUS RZ 450e adjusts to a calm movement, which is also facilitated by its light steering wheel with medium sharpness: about 2.7 revolutions from stop to stop. The roll is quite noticeable, which is explained by the soft suspension, and in a tight turn, the LEXUS RZ 450e crossover sometimes tries to slip out. Because of this, you want to slow down and relax a little – it turns out better that way.

However, what is the nuance: this is exactly the case when “calm does not mean slow”. After all, the LEXUS RZ 450e crossover demonstrates good acceleration even in ECO mode, and this acceleration is very smooth, which perfectly corresponds to the general suspension settings. In normal or sports modes, an even greater intensity of responses to the accelerator pedal is added, but still, LEXUS RZ 450e does not lose its softness and smoothness in behavior, and it does not think of turning into a hard hot hatchback. Although according to the numbers, it shows such acceleration dynamics that the same “hot hatchback” can envy. Here’s an interim summary of how the LEXUS RZ 450e drives: it’s not in a hurry, but it’s on time everywhere.

In my opinion, the design of the new LEXUS models has clearly succeeded recently – and the LEXUS RZ electric car is no exception: a fast crossover with a dynamic tilt of the rear window, many sharp corners, numerous notches and slots, two “fins” at the back, a solid lamp with an inscription on the cover trunk Looks like a real spaceship from the future! The test electric car was presented in two-tone Bi-Tone: pay attention to the black painting of not only the upper part of the body, but also the hood. Plus luxurious 20-inch wheels with variable-width rubber: 235 mm at the front and 255 mm at the rear. Acceleration to “hundreds” takes 5.3 super seconds! But this happens only if the battery is fully or almost fully charged. When the charge level drops to half the battery capacity, the crossover loses almost a second. Charging port (CCS2 Type2 Mennekes) is placed in the front wing.

According to its driving class, the LEXUS RZ electric car corresponds well to what LEXUS customers want to see: comfort and softness, power and dynamics. It is the same with the interior: the driver and passengers are greeted by a good supply of space, excellent finishing materials, and a modern architecture of the front panel with large displays. Want to find comments? Easy: there is no usual “glove” here, the digital instrument panel is actually built around a relatively small display, and you’d like to add some physical buttons to the central 14-inch display.

However, don’t forget about similar little things-advantages: a two-story central console-niche, a convenient round joystick installed on top of it, dedicated temperature control rings. For rear passengers, ventilation deflectors and backrest tilt adjustment are offered, and heated seats are added as a bonus. An infrared leg warmer is installed for the driver and front passenger. Finally, I would like to note the functional touch-physical buttons on the steering wheel: they are activated when touched, their icons appear on the projection display, but for final switching, these buttons must be pressed.

Inner world LEXUS RZ 450e it turns out to be difficult, but there are many points worked out for the comfort of the driver and passengers; he seems to care about the people in the cabin. Milk blue color with suede finish is another space! But the trunk is completely earthly: large and conveniently rectangular, with practical hooks and niches.

LEXUS RZ technologies

The electric car is built on the basis of the e-TNGA platform. This is an electrified version of the famous TNGA platform, which is already well known in Japanese cars. The main features of the e-TNGA platform can be called the integration of the battery into the power structure of the body, as well as two e-Axle modules (electric motor, inverter, gearbox) at the front and rear. Thanks to these two electric motors, DIRECT4 permanent all-wheel drive is realized. Plus, we will add a supporting body and fully independent wheel suspensions – MacPherson struts in front and multi-link in the rear.

In general, the design is modern, but there are no techno-revolutions or ultra-high performance here. The Li-Ion battery has a nominal capacity of 71.4 kWh. and consists of 96 blocks, it works with the usual voltage of 355 volts for electric cars. Shock absorbers can change stiffness depending on the frequency/magnitude of vibrations of the body and suspension, but there is no full-fledged pneumatic. The body is mainly made of different grades of steel, aluminum is found only sporadically: for example, the hood is made of it. The front electric motor develops a power of 150 kW, the rear electric motor produces 80 kW – together it turns out 230 kW or 313 hp. power The torque of the front electric motor is 266.3 Nm, the rear electric motor produces 168.5 Nm – a total of 435 Nm of torque is obtained. Not bad, but not record power/torque either.

In the end, I will note the possibilities of charging and recuperation. Yes, the LEXUS RZ 450e electric car can accept three-phase alternating current (AC) with a capacity of up to 11 kW – in this case, it takes 6.5 hours to fully charge the battery. There is also the possibility of direct current (DC) charging with a power of up to 150 kW: in this case, the battery can be charged to 80% of its capacity in half an hour. These are not bad indicators, but they are revolutionary.

The general design is expected and understandable: the body and the battery carrying it in the base, four-wheel drive with two electric motors (front and rear), independent wheel suspensions. The details have already been discussed above, but it is important to add one more thing: the LEXUS RZ 300e crossover was recently introduced – it has front-wheel drive (one electric motor with a capacity of 150 kW or 204 hp) and a similar battery. Of course, such an electric car loses in dynamics, but wins in overall lightness and range: minus 100 kg and plus about 100 km, respectively. However, such electric car LEXUS RZ 300e is not presented in Ukraine; I hope not presented yet. And what is presented now?

The cost of LEXUS RZ 450e in Ukraine and possible rivals

The LEXUS RZ electric crossover is offered in Ukraine only in the RZ 450e version (two electric motors, all-wheel drive) and only in the Luxury configuration; plus an additional two-tone Bi-Tone option.

After all, the Luxury equipment is the maximum. There are adaptive LED headlights, a panoramic glass roof, an all-round view system, adaptive cruise control, an electric drive for adjustments and steering wheel heating, electric drives for adjusting the front seats with a position memory function, heating and ventilation of the front seats, heating of the rear seats, LINK PRO touch, separate climate control, 13-speaker Mark Levinson audio, 20-inch alloy wheels, suede interior trim, 64-color background lighting, mirror blind spot monitoring, forward collision avoidance system, lane departure warning system, and automatic braking, front and side airbags, curtain airbags, central driver/passenger airbag, E-Latch door locks and keyless entry, etc. Cost LEXUS RZ 450e Luxury – From UAH 2.75 million. or $71 thousand

Electric crossover LEXUS RZ offers only one configuration, but the most complete: PVM all-round view with the function of a translucent car, a projection system on the windshield, adaptive headlights, many safety and driver assistance systems, a panoramic glass roof with the ability to adjust transparency, premium sound Mark Levinsonheating and ventilation of the front seats, heating of the rear seats, etc.

Now about competitors. The Tesla Model Y crossover should be noted as the first competitor: the well-known dynamic silhouette, quite spacious interior, good dynamics and power reserve. Next, I will definitely mention the classic representatives of the premium world – for example, Audi e-tron (Audi Q8 e-tron) or Jaguar i-Pace: they offer more battery and power, comparable or greater range, air suspension, spacious salons with good decoration .

After all, if you are interested in more originality for less money, then in Ukraine you can find electric cars Audi Q4 e-tron, Volvo C40 (Volvo EC40), Hyundai IONIQ 5. Despite the fact that they are nominally a class lower, they can still offer considerable batteries and power reserve, sufficient power and interior space. At the same time, they will be significantly cheaper.

Almost all rivals of the electric car LEXUS RZ are “in years” against him. However, from the point of view of technology — battery capacity, power of electric motors, suspension capabilities, list of equipment — they are clearly not inferior, and some may even surpass a beginner. Therefore, in the case of a crossover LEXUS RZ it is worth emphasizing precisely the feeling of novelty of the model. And it is also very desirable to bring a more affordable version with front-wheel drive and a larger power reserve.

LEXUS RZ 450e range and energy consumption

Probably, this is the most painful question for LEXUS RX 450e. So, in the company booklet for an electric car, you can find a range of 470 km and an energy consumption of 15.2 kWh. for 100 km; but this is according to the NEDC measurement cycle, which was very optimistic. Other sources of information give us figures of 435 km (version with 18-inch wheels) or 395 km (version with 20-inch wheels). This is according to the WLTP measurement cycle, which is more realistic. Energy consumption is declared only at the level of 16.8-18.7 kWh. per 100 km according to a similar measuring cycle. Now we count further. The battery capacity is stated at 71.4 kWh; however, be aware that the battery is usually not completely discharged. Even when the power reserve counter reads “0”, in fact, there is still about 8% of charge left in the battery: it turns out that 92% of its capacity is actually used, or 65-66 kWh.

By the way, during charging, the actual charging power used also differs from the declared one: a maximum of 150 kW can only be provided that the battery is charged within certain limits of its capacity, and then the power gradually decreases so as not to overheat the battery. Such careful and safe operation of the battery should significantly extend its service life and health after many years. The LEXUS company guarantees the retention of 70% of the nominal capacity after 10 years of service and clarifies that this indicator will probably be closer to 90% of the nominal capacity – not bad!

But consider that we have a rather heavy (minimum 2100 kg) and powerful crossover – with corresponding energy consumption. My minimum in the city was about 19-20 kWh, the maximum I saw was 32 kWh. per 100 km run. On average, you can aim for 22-25 kW * h in the city. for 100 km. mileage That is, you can realistically count on 250-260 km, ideally you can reach about 300 km of mileage. On the track, when driving at a speed of 80-90 km/h, the energy consumption was an average of 23 kWh. for 100 km. This gives us just under 300km of mileage. While driving at a speed of 110-120 km/h. energy consumption was about 30 kWh. for 100 km. This gives us a little more than 200 km of mileage.

As for recuperation, it changes depending on the selected driving mode, or the intensity of its activation can be adjusted with the paddles under the steering wheel – only four positions. On a long long descent (Olena Teliga St. in Kyiv), you can collect 1-2 km of reserve mileage: not a record for electric cars, but a good indicator for a large and heavy crossover with considerable energy consumption.

An interesting photo: average energy consumption of 15.2 kWh, full battery charge, the meter should have written 400 km of range. But he knows that the reality is close to 300 km. Yes, with nuances: I turned on the air conditioner or heater for comfortable conditions – and immediately paid for it with 70 km of mileage: the meter already has 230 km of power reserve. Four levels of recuperation are provided, which can be changed by the petals under the steering wheel. The real minimum energy consumption is about 19-20 kWh. for 100 km. If you allow yourself to relax and drive at a normal pace, it will be 22-23-25 ​​kWh. for 100 km. And if you completely forget about energy consumption and drive as dynamically as possible, you will get 30+ kWh. for 100 km. mileage Taking into account the actual used capacity of the battery, it turns out that LEXUS RX 450e can drive 200-250-300 km depending on driving style, speed and traffic conditions (city/highway)

Safety LEXUS RZ

Euro NCAP crash tests for the LEXUS RZ electric car ended with the maximum rating of five stars. There were comments about mediocre protection for the driver in a side impact and weak protection for the rear passenger in a frontal impact. In general, the protection of adults, the level of protection of children, and the operation of driver assistance systems are at the highest level.

Results of the LEXUS RZ test drive

In one phrase, the LEXUS RZ crossover is a very good LEXUS, but not a very good electric car. After all, from the point of view of today’s world of electric cars, it clearly lacks a larger battery and lower energy consumption. Part of the answer to this remark may be the appearance in Ukraine of a version with front-wheel drive, which will also reduce the price by chance. But at that time, most electric car competitors will win at least in terms of range.

At the same time, the LEXUS RZ crossover is definitely a very cool LEXUS: comfortable and soft on the move, spacious and comfortable in the cabin, with the most complete equipment and good finishing materials. But then why not take the LEXUS RX: it offers similar benefits and costs similar money, while not requiring compromises in terms of range.

Here is the general conclusion: the request for a LEXUS RZ crossover will only work if you want a LEXUS with all its characteristic advantages, and at the same time you need an electric car (not even an HEV or PHEV-hybrid). Probably, such a niche is very small; however, there may still be inquiries from customers. And now they have something to offer as LEXUS RZ.

Pros:

+ Spacious interior and good finishing materials

+ High power and good maximum acceleration

+ The maximum equipment according to the principle of “all inclusive” “all inclusive

Cons:

— A small battery and at the same time rather high energy consumption

– There is no choice of versions/completions – it must be added

The car is provided by LEXUS Ukraine

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