2023 Lexus RZ450e Review
2023 Lexus RZ450e
Base Price: $59,650
63.4 kWh Dual Motor
308 HP / 320 TQ
Real World as Tested Range: 180 Miles
0-60: 4.6 Seconds
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Guy who did stuff: Yousef Alvi
Welcome to the first ever Lexus EV, the RZ450e! Yes, you read that right. In a world where everyone has had an EV out in the market for years, the ToMoCo juggernaut was hedging their bets on Hybrids instead. Unfortunately, even with all the issues that full EVs have (infrastructure, real world range, real world charge times, reliability etc), the world seems to pivoting straight to full electrification. That left Lexus without a real choice…either stick with what actually works in the real world or get left behind in the winds of their consumer’s newfound sentiment.
That gives us this RZ450e and hopefully the above can put some of its shortcomings into context for you. First, let’s get this straight, the RZ is not bad vehicle overall. Heck if this was a ‘sportback’ version of the RX using the RX’s hybrid drivetrain, this thing would be excellent! The drive, ride, interior, comfort, infotainment and handling are fantastic!
The RZ though, is an EV, so while the above attributes are still important, the electron only drivetrain forces us to add a few more items to that list…and in an EV, those items can make or break it. Those are:
Items like the
Real world range
Real world charge times and capabilities
Charging infrastructure and accessbility as a whole
This is where the RZ gets lost.
Let’s break it down for you:
The Great
Looks, Interior and Handling
Looks
This is one of the most striking and yet beautiful vehicles on the road today. As of late, Lexus has finally nailed their origami and angular design language and this RZ is a testament of the errrr nailing of it? It’s modern without being ostentatious, it’s sleek without being bulbous and it’s contemporary without scaring away older drivers.
Interior/Comfort
A Lexus interior through and through. Which means it’s equipped with squishy leather, comfortable seating, plenty of space and is beautifully put together. Comes with great ‘look at me’ gadgets like the frosted moonroof that becomes clear with a push of a button!
It’s just a damn nice place to be with its blue interior, airy cabin and thoughtfully designed (yay buttons!) controls.
Handling
This isn’t even a ‘F Sport’ or any ‘F variant’ but this sucker is just plain fun to fling around the corners! It’s flat (yay center of gravity) with excellent steering and uber amounts of grip! Pair that with strong brakes and you have a fantastic recipe for some corner carving action!
The Good
Acceleration
Acceleration
The RZ450e drop kicks away from a stop to 60mph in 4.6 seconds! That’s just not ‘quick’ it’s borderline fast! The throttle modulation is excellent and that power (thankfully) doesn’t relent on highway passing either. Just ride that wave of EV torque until you run out of electrons…which is sooner rather than later
:(
The Bad
Jiggly Ride
Jiggly Ride
Remember all of that awesome handling I talked about earlier? Yeah, that comes at the sacrifice of ride quality. It’s not uncomfortable, if anything, it’s damped brilliantly, just the low profile tires causes a jiggly ride that you can never get away from and while doesn’t completely ruin the comfort…it surely doesn’t add to it.
The Ugly
Range, Lack of Charging options and Charging Infrastructure
Real World Range
Yeah, here where things fall apart. The Real World Range (aka what I got) was around 180 miles. That was good about 5 years ago but now it’s just not competitive at all. It wouldn’t be so bad (I suppose) if the charging was quick and effortless. But it isn’t.
Charging Capabilities (or lack thereof)
So the aforementioned charging is confusingly baffling to me. It comes with a standard 120v wall outlet, you know like the one your blender uses, which means it’s damn well 20 hours or so to ‘fill it up’ with electrons at home!
Not a Lexus fault but the Charging Infrastructure
Using a public charger is no better since the charging infrastructure is horrendous and finding a compatible ‘DC Fast Charger’ that works is like finding Waldo. So that leaves one with a textbook case of Range Anxiety
Overall
If the RZ450e, wasn’t an ‘e’ and just a RZ450 powered by the same drivetrain as the RX, then what we would have is one of the best ‘Sportback’ crossovers that you can buy today! Unfortunately…it is not. Burdened by it’s EV shortcomings, the RZ just doesn’t compete with any of its rivals, which is heart breaking because taking the EV out of the equation…
I would absolutely love this thing!
