How the Lexus RZ will kickstart the brand’s electric journey

Lexus aims to begin catching with premium rivals’ growing pure electric line-ups with its first ground-up battery electric vehicle (BEV) – the RZ. Positioned between the smaller NX and larger RX, the new RZ crossover is built on the same e-TNGA architecture as the Toyota BZ4X (and Subaru Solterra) and arrives in the UK in the spring, with prices from £62,600.

Lexus is no stranger to electrification. It launched the original RX 400h back in 2004, the first premium hybrid on the market (by some margin). For years, nearly every new Lexus sold has been a hybrid; retailers are expert at selling them, and customers are used to driving them. The company has, however, faced criticism it is late to the EV party. The RZ begins its plan to narrow the gap. 

“We are in the middle of a very active roll-out of new models, based around three pillars,” said Lexus UK director Chris Hayes, at the launch of the new RZ in Marseille. “We are strengthening core models, with new NX and RX, and model year updates to UX and ES. We are strengthening our electrified proposition, with plug-in hybrid versions of NX and RX, and a high-performance RX500h hybrid. RZ is part of this too, as is the updated UX300e, which gets a 40% range increase.”

He also said the brand plans to expand into more new segments – and we should expect to hear more on this later in 2023.

The RZ therefore marks a distinct shift for Lexus, says Hayes, “as we become even more focused on electrified drivetrains and evolve our customer approach in response to changing markets”.

The UK RZ line-up is consistent with Lexus NX and RX: Premium, Premium Plus and high-end Takumi. Entry-level Premium (from £62,600 – a BMW iX3 costs from just over £64k) is planned to take 20% of sales; in early pre-ordering, however, it accounts for just 10%. Premium Plus costs £4k more and is planned to take 45% of the volume, but again is down on this, at 30%. It’s Takumi, the top grade with premium fabric upholstery and Mark Levinson audio (plus a £9,900 price hike over standard Premium), that’s currently accounting for 6 in 10 of pre-orders – longer term, Hayes sees this settling down to 35%.

To help it stand out alongside rivals such as the BMW iX3 and Audi Q4 e-tron, the new RZ has a novel feature, as standard on all but base grade: radiant heaters. These work like regular convector heaters, warming up the driver and front passenger’s knees while consuming far less power than normal climate control. They are a neat, unique luxury feature that retailers will be able to impress customers with, even in showrooms.

As for range, Lexus is clearly sensitive about the RZ’s estimated official figure of around 245 miles, and keen to stress, despite headline figures, how competitive the RZ is against rivals. Although competitors all have a range of over 300 miles, in terms of miles per kWh of charge, the Lexus is indeed better than all its rivals, thanks to its greater overall efficiency; it will be up to retailers to educate customers about this.  

Lexus also has a distinct USP – a warranty of up to 10 years. Retailers are key to delivering this; after the initial three-year warranty, an extra year is added free of charge with every service at a Lexus Centre, up to 10 years. What’s more, the battery warranty also extends to 10 years, or a remarkable one million kilometres (620,000 miles); Lexus guarantees at least 70% capacity, but engineers are actually confident more than 90% of the original capacity should remain.

While not universally well received by reviewers, the brand’s first pure electric car, the UX 300e [rolled out in 2020 during the pandemic] has still performed a key role for Lexus. “It’s allowed us, Lexus Centres and our customers to explore and learn about BEV life.” Now, with the RZ, Lexus is accelerating its EV strategy.

And the UK market will be a leader here: Hayes’ aim is for it to become Lexus’ first 100% pure electric market in the world, hitting the 100% BEV target by 2030. Hybrid, up to now, has defined Lexus in the UK. Almost 20 years on, attention now switches to BEVs – and, in less than seven years, Lexus retailers will be transformed once again.