2023 Lexus RZ Reviews, Pricing & Specs

With the all-new RZ electric car, Lexus takes its spindle grille to the next level by introducing the “spindle body.” The available bi-tone paint option emphasizes the SUV’s contours by swathing the front fascia, hood, and roof in black, creating a sharp-looking bowtie shape extending from the car’s chin to its wipers. We especially liked this execution paired with the new Ether colour, a light but certainly not weak blue which Lexus says was inspired by a cloudless sky. Ether is offered at an extra cost of $500, as are Iridium, Cloudburst Gray, and Eminent White Pearl. Only the black Caviar colour is free of charge.

Whether or not you opt to include the Onyx Black as a second shade, every Lexus RZ also comes with black fender flares which visually elide into the tires in some lights and from some angles. The effect makes the wheels look smaller, but we don’t hate it—it also contributes to the RZ’s concept-car-like looks, which is a very good thing.

And the RZ’s wheels are not in fact small at all. The base RZ 450e Signature trim comes with 18-inch aluminum wheels in a five-spoke design; they’re finished in Dark Metallic Gray and highlighted by silver-coloured machined accents. 20-inch wheels are standard on the Luxury and Executive trims.

An illuminated logo is available on the RZ, the first Lexus to get this feature. It mimics the behaviour of the headlights and also functions as a charging indicator if optioned on either trim.

Three interior colour options are available for the RZ: Thunderstorm (a combo of blue-gray and cream), Palomino (a tan), or Dapple Gray (self-explanatory). All are offered in either NuLuxe or Ultra-suede rather than a true leather, which Lexus says was an intentional choice meant to appeal to likely-eco-conscious RZ shoppers. Similarly, rather than decorating the vehicle’s interior with leather or wood, the automaker has chosen “shadow illumination,” which uses a light nestled inside the doors to project patterns on the door panels. In theory, this is a great idea. However, we did not get to appreciate the result: A challenge with launch programs like the one in which we experienced the RZ is that you typically do not get to drive the car in the dark (we reserve comment on headlights and adaptive high beams until we spend a week with the vehicle). On the sunny San Diego day we enjoyed with the RZ, we were unable to observe the projected lighting in action. For now, our take is that it’s a cool concept, the execution needs work, but if Lexus can pull it off, it’s going to be a game-changer.

The zero-emissions 2023 Lexus RZ is powered by a 71.4-kWh battery and two electric motors, which combine to produce power specs of 308 horsepower. The RZ comes standard with Lexus’s Direct4 all-wheel drive (AWD) system, which was first seen on the Lexus RX. Here, it uses two e-Axles—a 150-kW one for the front wheels and an 80-kW for the rear—and is capable of sending up to 100% of the torque to either the front or the rear wheels if the situation calls for it.

Lexus says that the RZ can go from zero to 100 km/h in 5.3 seconds, a time which trounces the Audi e-tron and Mercedes-Benz EQB and rivals the Jaguar I-Pace. Natural Resources Canada estimates pin driving range at 354 kilometres with the smaller, 18-inch wheels and 315 kilometres of range with the larger 20-inchers. Shoppers researching EV options will note that this range is lower than that of the RZ’s corporate cousin built on the same e-TNGA platform, the Toyota BZ4X. Several factors, including the higher horsepower, the dual-motor AWD, and the tire compound come into play here, and Lexus tells us that the difference in driving experience between the two vehicles will be “night and day.”

No F Sport package is available for the RZ at this time. Lexus representatives said that the company needs to first gauge consumer response to the new model and that it may consider adding an F Sport variant at a later time.

The 2023 RZ offers drivers a choice of five drive modes: Normal, Eco, Sport, Range, and Custom. Switching between them out on the road, we were gratified to feel a noticeable difference (otherwise, what’s the point?). Eco mode impacts powertrain and air conditioning function only, leaving the AWD and steering systems untouched. Sport mode, meanwhile, implicates the powertrain, the AWD system, and the steering, but not air conditioning. Only steering is unaffected by a switch to the RWD-biased Range mode, which also turns a/c off (though it can be switched back on at the push of a button without forcing the vehicle out of Range mode). Custom mode can be configured to combine your preferences from each element of the vehicle operation experience.

The RZ’s much-ballyhooed steer-by-wire system with its yoke-style steering wheel is not available in North America at launch, though the plan is to offer it in the future. We did have the opportunity to try it out during our first drive—first on a closed, parking-lot course, and then on the road. The system varies with speed: It requires less input (making it more responsive) at lower speeds and requires more input at higher speeds. After three quick laps in the lot, totaling maybe five minutes, we felt perfectly comfortable taking to public roads. We suspect that anyone who buys the vehicle will soon feel the same way, though families or individuals who regularly swap between cars may find the adjustment experience a little tricky.

Speaking of adjustment periods, we were impressed that the RZ provided a truly natural driving experience. Lexus touted the SUV’s “minimal learning curve,” and we have no nits to pick with that descriptor. With many EVs, it can take a moment to adjust to the feel of the regenerative braking. But none of the RZ’s four regen settings were aggressive enough that even a first-time EV driver would make passengers seasick with abrupt changes to speed.

The RZ is nearly 18 centimetres longer than the Lexus NX but about 7.5 cm shorter than the Lexus RX. It nevertheless manages to beat both on leg room, which clocks in at 1,070 millimetres in the front and 953 mm in the rear. The RZ also wins on headroom thanks to its shade-less panoramic moonroof (forgoing the roller shade also shaves nearly 6 kilograms (12.8 pounds) off the RZ’s overall weight). Passengers in both the front seats and rear seats of the Lexus RZ will enjoy more than 5 cm of extra distance to the ceiling compared with either panoramic-roof-equipped sibling. Drivers who prefer not to leave the shade open all the time should be aware that it’s possible to get a dimming function for the moonroof, which adds a button you can push to instantly change the glass from transparent to opaque and back again. And even the standard RZ moonroof is designed to repel UV rays. Lexus asked that we check whether it was warm to the touch during our test drives. At times it was, but certainly not as much as a plain glass roof would’ve been.

We loved the two-way hinge setup that let the closed storage area in the centre console open to either side. The RZ also offers an open storage shelf below the cupholders. Unlike in some other vehicles, though, it’s compensatory rather than bonus space: The RZ does not have a glove compartment above the passenger’s footwell. That space is reserved for a radiant heater, which is standard on the Executive and Luxury trims.

As Lexus explains it, a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system is inherently very hard on a battery-electric vehicle. And, during traditional car HVAC operation, only about 10% of the air emitting from the vents actually hits the occupants’ faces (both this data point and the conclusion that it renders the other 90% of the hot air wasted come directly from Lexus). The radiant knee heating system is therefore both more efficient and better for the longevity of your RZ’s battery, and it is silent to boot. We weren’t taken in by the argument that the glove box space has simply moved to the centre area, since we know vehicles like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the Kia EV 6 have both, but we’d happily find another place to store our registration and insurance info if it means postponing the investment involved in replacing the battery.

The 2023 RZ comes standard with a 14-inch touchscreen running the Lexus Interface multimedia system, which debuted on the 2022 Lexus NX. (This means that the widely reviled infotainment touchpad of days gone by will never mar the RZ’s fresh new reputation.) All trims come with Bluetooth, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, SiriusXM, a subscription-based W-Fi hotspot for up to five devices, over-the-air (OTA) update capability, and five USB-C ports (three in the front and two in the rear). The 10.0-inch head-up display, Advanced Park, Digital Key, and 13-speaker Mark Levinson premium surround sound audio system are features exclusive to the Executive trim.

We don’t talk about it as much, but technology comes into play behind the scenes, too, in any modern car. And as EV technology is relatively new still, it’s particularly interesting to see how different automakers approach it. Lexus representatives told us that they are confident in the longevity of the RZ’s 96-cell lithium-ion battery pack by Prime Planet Energy & Solutions (PPES) in part because of the water-based cooling and heating systems the automaker’s engineers have devised to manage the battery’s temperature.

The Lexus Safety System+ 3.0, first seen in the Lexus NX, is standard on the 2023 Lexus RZ. This means every RZ gets a host of advanced driver-assistance features that includes adaptive cruise control, lane-tracing assist, lane-departure alert, road-sign assist, and a pre-collision system with pedestrian detection. Blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and parking assist with auto braking and rear pedestrian detection are also standard. The Luxury trim adds a traffic-jam assist feature, which kicks in at speeds below 40 km/h, and a camera that monitors the driver for signs of fatigue or distraction.

The 2023 Lexus RZ has not yet been evaluated by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), which is not surprising given that production just started at the end of January. It’s worth noting that the 2023 Lexus NX and the 2023 Lexus RX both earned Top Safety Pick+ awards, and the Toyota bZ4X performed well in crash-testing (though headlights on the bZ4X XLE trim were rated “Poor”). Add to this the fact that the RZ’s vertically stacked front e-axle configuration improves the front crash zone, and we’re thinking it will likely test well.

In Canada, the 2023 Lexus RZ starts at a new car price of $68,225 for the Signature trim with 18-inch wheels or $84,225 for Premium with 20-inch wheels, including destination and fees. The RZ 450e Luxury trim starts at a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $76,825. Due to its starting price, the Lexus RZ does not qualify for federal or provincial EV incentive programs.

For comparison, the 2023 Jaguar I-Pace starts at $110,140 in its sole trim. The Mercedes-Benz EQB starts at around $76,000, the Tesla Model Y at $60,000, the Volvo XC40 Recharge at just over $60,000, and the Genesis GV60 at $71,000 all-in. That puts the Lexus RZ solidly in the middle of the pack of these electric SUVs when it comes to pricing, but for driving experience and ownership value, we’d say it’s out in front.

Note: Images show a US model.