The Electricity Fairy intimidates the Lexus RZ 450e

2023-07-16 10:00:10
The Lexus RZ 450e has two engines that develop 313 horsepower.

The electric car was not part of Toyota’s plans. For the Japanese brand, the future was all-hybrid then, when it was necessary to move up a gear, hydrogen would take over. It took time for the world number one to reconsider its agenda and admit that it is the transition to the battery-powered electric car that is essential in China, Europe and now in the United States. In 2022, Toyota launched the bZ4X, its first electric car designed on a specific platform… before interrupting its marketing almost immediately for multiple development problems.

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So it’s up to the Lexus RZ 450e, the group’s high-end signature, to get the ball rolling. This SUV was designed according to a new orientation which deviates from the grimacing and angular lines which prevailed until then. The profile is athletic and the style less icy than that of the bZ4X (which will resurface at the end of 2023) while the cabin, a strong point of Lexus, appears as always of good quality. Certified animal-free leather, 14-inch screen and, above all, a stunning blackout panoramic roof. The price is salty: from 75,500 euros.

With its two engines that develop 313 horsepower, the RZ 450e is not lacking in grip, but we will always prefer to drive it gently, especially since the suspension is calibrated for such use. Too bad: to experience the “butterfly wheel”, it will be necessary to wait until 2025. The manufacturer has decided, for somewhat obscure reasons, to delay the launch of this yoke-shaped instrument (yoke, as the English say), electronically linked to the management. On the technical side, the charger can deliver 150 kilowatts in direct current on high-power motorway charging stations, which is just right, while in alternating current, we will not exceed 11 kilowatts.

Obsession with failure

The real disappointment concerns the level of consumption of the RZ 450e that we have all the difficulties to contain at the level of the homologation data. We should probably mention a still perfectible management of the power electronics of 100% electric cars on the part of the manufacturer? No doubt, but we must also consider the weight of the car, which stands at 2.1 tonnes, quite clearly above the best scores in the category. Thanks to the presence of a large 71.4 kilowatt-hour battery, autonomy should in principle not be affected too much, but this is where things get complicated.

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