It’s always good to get back behind the wheel of a Lexus because you know you’re going to get a little bit of luxury to make the journey that much more enjoyable. The Lexus RZ 450e packs in plenty of that, but it also feels slightly familiar. Hardly surprising really, because the first full Lexus EV sits on the same platform as the Toyota bZ4X, which we drove last year and the Subaru Solterra too.

This dedicated e-TNGA architecture offers lots of flexibility for the manufacturer, while offering models at different ends of the pricing spectrum. The premium end of that spectrum is where you’ll find the Lexus RZ 450e, with pricing that starts from £62,600. That means you’ll be paying well over £15K more for this car compared to the Toyota – so it is worth it? Here’s our full review.

Tasty competition

When considering how good the Lexus NZ 450e is, there’s no denying it is up against some pretty stiff competition, especially from the likes of the Audi Q4 e-tron, Mercedes-Benz EQA and the BMW iX3.

There are plenty of other all-electric options too, like the impressive Volvo C40 Recharge, the Polestar 2 or even the Jaguar I-Pace. Let’s not forget the Genesis GV60 and the brilliant Kia EV6 if you want to talk of electric cars with character. In fact, most of the above-named cars have distinctive looks too, which makes them all appealing.

The Lexus does a very decent job of looking good, but maybe it should make more of a point about how good it is. The badging, for example, is pretty low-key.

Take a tour around the outside of the Lexus RZ and it’s a better looking machine than the cheaper Toyota. Fit and finish is, as you’d expect, excellent and in the right colour the Lexus RZ really works. We drove the Sonic Bronze one, which looks fabulous, while the blue, black and white versions of the same car didn’t seem to be quite as striking. The EV is available in a trio of trim levels, starting with Premium and rising to Premium Plus, while the headline Takumi model adds in all of the usual Lexus craftsman-flavoured goodies.

It’s been easy to spot a Lexus in the last few years, but even the distinctive grille design is a little bit muted on the RZ due to it being blanked off for EV duties. The SUV perks up more as you walk down the site towards the rear. There are commonly seen plastic trims over the wheel arches and colour coded door handles. Meanwhile, because it’s a SUV, the car sits quite high on its 20-inch or 18-inch wheels, depending on the model you go for. Around at the back, there’s a more purposeful stance with angular lights and a powered tailgate that lifts to reveal 522 litres of space. Pop the rear seats down and that grows to 1,451, which is more than adequate.

Luxurious interior works

Things pick up even more when you jump into the cockpit and get yourself into position thanks to the eight-way, electrically adjustable seat. Even in its most ‘basic’ guise, the RZ feels snug, refined and very well put together as is the case with every Lexus.

Go for the aforementioned goodie bag of extras though, like the Mark Levinson sound system and a head-up display and the RZ starts to feel properly snazzy. There’s a neat dimmable panoramic roof too. The high-up driving position is everything lots of people want these days, with a solid view down the road thanks to lots of glass.

Looking out the back isn’t quite as rewarding for the usual reasons, with the sloping back compromising the view somewhat. However, there’s a 360-degree camera system and decent door mirrors to help you cope.

Unsurprisingly, the RZ is the same sort of size as the bZ4X too, so it feels big but not so bulky as to be disconcerting to drive. What makes even more sense when you’re enjoying the view out the front is, in the case of some variants of the car, the yoke steering wheel. This is, in essence, a normal steering wheel with the top half missing. Yep, it’s different alright.

A different drive

If you drive the Lexus RZ with the yoke arrangement – and bear in mind cars fitted with this system aren’t going to be available until 2025 – it makes a lot more sense compared to the first time we drove the Toyota bZ4X with a conventional steering setup. This is mainly because the design of the dash that gives off almost fighter pilot vibes, and the layout of the instrumentation feels like it was designed with a yoke-style arrangement in mind, rather than a full circle, old-school wheel.

What that means is you get a better view of the dash and associated controls. What doesn’t feel as good are the stubby indicators, which are less user-friendly and took a while to get on with. In fact, driving the Lexus RZ requires time to fully appreciate due to the way it employs a One Motion Grip, drive-by-wire system to work. That means it needs less effort to steer, but the experience requires a slightly different mindset. It takes some getting used to, especially on unfamiliar roads.

Aside from the quirky yoke, the drive itself is typically Lexus, so there’s very little noise to worry about and everything else falls to hand nicely. Indeed, the quite reflective 14-inch touchscreen infotainment screen is largely great to use – save for finding the sat nav voice volume ‘up’ option – and the radiant heaters allow you to bask in just the right amount of warmth while also working more efficiently. Always a bonus in an EV.

For a biggish, high-up car, the Lexus RZ 450e rides nicely too. It’s got enough power rather than too much, with a Direct4, all-wheel drive arrangement that provides an electric motor on each axle. That gives you 201bhp at the front and 107bhp at the rear, which combined means there’s a total torque quota of 321 1b ft. Put your foot down for overtaking and for getting way from the lights and the RZ shifts in typically zesty EV fashion. It’s not bad through the corners either, while a 0-62 mph time of 5.3 puts in into the not-too-shabby performance department too.

Dependable range and charging

In terms of range, the Lexus RZ 450e promises to deliver around 245 miles if you’ve got a car with the 20-inch wheels, but if you’re looking for more then pick the 18-inch rims, which offers 270 miles.

There’s 150kWh charging capability, so in other words about a 10-to-80 per cent charge time of 30 minutes, give or take. Naturally, if you switch driving modes from the everyday Normal setting, range ultimately suffers. To be honest though, the Lexus RZ 450e doesn’t really benefit all much that from being put into Sport mode, so you might as well stick to Normal, keep the range and enjoy the ride.

You can also attempt to squeeze a little more from the range thanks to the paddles on the column that allow more, or less regeneration, although the various levels didn’t seem all that different during the drive. Perhaps Lexus has made this feature just as silky smooth as everything else that comes with the car?

Verdict

While the Lexus RZ 450e does have that yoke wheel as its main party trick, there are other impressive little things hiding within the car.

The suite of driving aids is topped with Safe Exit Assist, for example, which stops you from inadvertently opening the door on a passing cyclist or vehicles going by. It’s a neat idea. Meanwhile, the interior layout works way better than older Lexus models too, and maximises the space benefits of a dedicated EV platform.

Time will tell on the yoke idea. It offers a very different driving experience, and we suspect that will be especially true in the UK, when navigating horrible road surfaces is part of everyday life. In the meantime though, the Lexuz RZ 450e is a success story. It just needs to shout about it a little bit more. But that, we suppose, isn’t really the Japanese way, is it?