Lexus’ answer to the Toyota bZ4X teased

Lexus’ answer to the Toyota bZ4X has been teased, with the model to act as the first Lexus vehicle to adopt Toyota’s e-TNGA platform.

A sportier-looking answer to Toyota bZX4, the new Lexus RZ will also feature a technology the brand is calling Direct 4, which is acts as an AWD system that can switch between front, rear or AWD power (thanks to an electric motor at each axle) almost instantaneously when required.

Details remain thin on the ground for now, though we do expect the model to join the Lexus line-up in 2023, and will be badged the RZ450e.

In an interview with US outlet Automotive News, Lexus Europe head, Spiros Fotinos, said the new model would put the focus on drive experience and dynamics, establishing a new benchmark in the premium EV segment.

“(It will) deliver an engaging and rewarding on-road driving experience, establishing a new reference in the segment,” he said.

“(It will deliver) incredible cornering and road holding performance” he added.

Helping achieve that goal will be a new steer-by-wire system (which Toyotas is also using in the bZ4X), paired with a a new-shape of steering wheel, with ratios that adjust automatically at slow and high speeds.

Power and battery details are yet to be revealed, but we do know that the Toyota bZX4 two-wheel drive uses a single 150kW motor that is claimed to take the car to 100km/h in 8.4 seconds. The bZ4X all-wheel drive has two 80kW electric motors for a combined output of 160kW. The bZ4X AWD is claimed to reach 100km/h in 7.7 seconds.

The bZ4X also gets a 71.4kWh lithium-ion battery that can be charged at 6.6kW using an AC outlet and 150kW on DC fast chargers.

Whether those numbers transplant to Lexus remains to be seen, but one thing that almost certainly well is Toyota’s broader durability target, with the brand targeting 90 percent battery retention after 10 years and 240,000km, which is much higher than any other EV on the market.

Lexus has already announced an industry-leading 10-year battery warranty for its hybrid and electric models, including the just-arrived UX300e and the soon-to-arrive NX450h+.