Lexus RZ 2026 review: Updated luxury electric car targets BMW iX3 & Audi Q6 e-tron family car buyers
When the Lexus RZ launched in Australia just over two years ago, Cars Guide questioned the Japanese luxury brand’s relatively late arrival at the EV party. And since then, this car has proved something of a niche player with less than 100 sold in 2024 and the same number tracking for 2025. But there’s been movement at the RZ station. This comprehensively updated model features a revised powertrain, retuned suspension, tweaked all-wheel drive system, and the availability of things like driveby wire, and a tricky manual mode in the auto transmission. And yes, Lexus claims it’s more refined than its already smooth and near silent predecessor. Scheduled to hit local showrooms in the first half of 2026, we’ve been invited to take a first drive of this large premium battery electric 5-seat SUV at its global launch. So stay with us to see if this could be your next electrically propelled performance luxury family favorite. Lexus says final price and specification for the car will be confirmed closer to its local arrival in the first part of next year, but as a guide, the current RZ450E in luxury spec costs around $120,000 before on-road costs. Go for the full fat sport luxury and you can add $10,000 for $130k MSRP. Let’s take an educated guess and add a not outrageous 5% price increase for this update, which would bump the new RZ 500e past 125K and move the RZ 550e flagship close to 140K. If that was the case, rivals will include the Audi Q8 Ron, BMW iX, Genesis GV70 Electrified, and Pstar 3. Worth noting, you could buy two Tesla Model Y dual motor long ranges for the same money. In this part of the market, it’s fair to expect a healthy list of included features, and the RZ doesn’t disappoint. For a full rundown, go to our detailed written review at carsguide.com.au. But aside from the performance and safety tech we’ll get to shortly, standard feature highlights include a 14-in multimedia touchcreen, a dimable panoramic roof, ambient cabin lighting, 20-in alloy rims, synthetic leather trim, power adjustable heated front seats, multiszone climate control, and more. Not a tremendous amount of change in terms of exterior design, but you still do get this angular treatment with prominent nose and 20-in rims on both variants of the car, 550 and 500E. This F-S Sport picks up extra aerrow focused kind of bits and pieces, particularly around the lower bumper at the front. Arrow covers on the wheels and at the back you’ve got this spoiler on the tailgate and a special treatment around the lower section of the bumper at the back. Not much has changed inside here either, except for this steering wheelshaped elephant in the room. It is a yolk that goes with the steer by wire. So a definite departure there. However, the curved binnacle for instruments and this central multimedia screen as well as the design of the center console remains unchanged. Having said that, there are some new dynamic inserts that are available, illuminated moving graphics in the doors uh that will um certainly stand the car apart. Lexus has also refined the functionality of the touch dimmable panoramic roof which works beautifully. Both versions of the new RZ are powered by dual permanent magnet synchronous motors. One in the front, one down at the back. Each produces around 170 kW and close to 270 newm. Total output is 280 kW for the 500E, up from 230 kW in the 450E with a little more juice released for the 550e. A single-speed transmission sends drive to both axles. And the RZ 550 EF Sport features interactive manual drive designed to give the sensation of manual gear shifts in a battery electric vehicle. More on that in the driving section. In terms of practicality, in the front, no conventional glove box, but there is a large box between the front seats, which doubles as the armrest, and it has that Lexus trick of being able to open both ways. two cup holders here, a wireless charging pad, decent door uh bins for bottles and other bits and pieces, and then when it comes to power and connectivity, you’ve got USBC for charging and media. You’ve got a 12vt down here and an additional tray underneath this kind of flying buttress console. So, plenty of room to be storing your bits and pieces and powering up devices. Here we are in the back of the car and I’m sitting behind the driver’s seat set for my 183 cm position. I’ve just got hectares of room. So much distance between my knees and the back of the front seat. Good headroom, too. Shoulder room, I think two fulls size adults is better than three. You can have someone in here for at a squeeze, but it’s going to be three up to teenage kids would be fine. Then in terms of storage, pockets on the front seat backs, bins in the doors. There are a couple of cup holders in this fold down armrest. You’ve got individual ventilation control for the rear seat passengers, which is always welcome. And then for power, you’ve got two USBC outlets and what will be a three pin socket uh when this car comes to Australia. We’re in the F-S Sport, so you’ve also got heating controls for the outer positions in the back here. So, I think you’re pretty well taken care of back here. Lower rear axle packaging enhances boot space with a generous 500 plus L on offer, expanding to more than 1,400 with the 60/40 split folding second row lowered. The standard power tailgate is nice, while a repair inflator kit instead of a proper spare isn’t. Brake trailer towing capacity is a handy 1.5 tons. The RZ 500E and 550E are fitted with a higher capacity 77 kWh lithium ion battery delivering a claimed WLTP range of 4550 and 456 km respectively. Claimed 10 to 80% charge time using its full 150 kW DC fast charge capacity is 30 minutes or a handy 3 1/2 hours at maximum 22 kW AC capacity. Energy consumption on the combined urban extra urban cycle is 18.2 kwatt hours per 100 km WLTP for the RZ 500E and 18.4 for the 550E. Over several hundred km of B-roll and freeway running as well as pottering through slow speed villages on the launch. We saw an average of 19.3 kwatt hours per 100 km in the 500e and 20.1 in the 550e F Sport which is pretty handy. And the very good news is two AC charging cables, installation of a home charger and 3 years complimentary charging across the charge fox network is included. Nice. So, we’re in the Lexus RZ 550e F Sport, and Lexus says that it will accelerate from 0 to 100 kmh in 4.4 seconds, and the 500 is a couple of ten slower. It’s a fairly hefty machine, but it certainly is quick. Apply your right foot at just about any speed, and you will rock it ahead with genuine enthusiasm. And in this F-S Sport model, you’ve got the manual mode on the transmission, which allows you to shift through eight virtual ratios. So, just press M here, and bingo, you’ve got these steering wheel mounted little toggles. As much as they are paddles, they’re very Formula 1 style. And when you start to apply some acceleration, you can feel it. So, here we go. And it gives you quite an unpleasant jog. You want there to be some sense of a gear change, I suppose, but when you are going through the gears, you can feel it in your core. It’s um it’s not particularly nice. A synthetic soundtrack Lexus refers to as the BEV sound, vaguely echoing an internal combustion engine, is fed through the audio system, and it feels thin and brittle to our ears. Suspension is strut front, double wishbones at the rear, and it’s been given a thorough going over in both the 500e and the 550e. We are in the F-S Sport now which gets that little bit more attention to uh the dampers and springs and it rides pretty well especially for what uh you know what is not um unusual in the sense that it is a heavy car. The battery is quite low down but these roads that we’re on in um Portugal, southern Portugal are pretty Aussie compliant in that they’re not at all perfect. There are lots of bumps and little ruts and things and it’s coping with those pretty well. There’s also been some extra attention paid to body rigidity in this updated RZ um around the front frame section and particularly in the rear around the boot to try and keep the car more torsionally stiff and um it seems to have achieved that objective. In cornering, the drive distribution ratio is between 80/20 front to rear to rear wheel drive only, according to vehicle speed and steering angle, helping to manage the car’s roughly 2.1 ton weight. The F Sport, of course, also features the steer by wire system, and we’re using this yolk rather than a conventional steering wheel. And the ratio is such that all you have to do is turn the wheel a little bit and you are cornering. And having said that, it is quite smooth. It’s progressive but quick at the same time if that makes sense. And you soon become used to it. It is a little unusual just seeing a little tiny yolk in your hands rather than a steering wheel. does mean you get uninterrupted view through to the instruments which is a side benefit but just turning in it’s smooth but quick. Yeah, that’s the best way to describe it. However, much like the Infiniti Q50 system before it, there is no mechanical link between the driver’s hands and front wheels. Steering inputs are relayed by electric signals from a torque actuator to a control actuator. So, while Lexus says important feedback filters through without the unpleasant vibration effects of a mechanical connection, by definition, there is no road feel and the wheel feels numb from that point of view. Worth noting the mechanically steered 500e is pretty much the same. Braking is by ventilated discs all around and when you’re not using the manual mode in this F-S Sport grade, the steering wheel paddles will help you adjust the level of regenerative braking. So the physical brakes work nicely, but then you do have four levels of regen. The most aggressive will slow you quite marketkedly, so it’s pretty useful. Additional sound insulation includes an underseat rear floor silencer, soundproofing in the door trims, as well as liberal use of damping sheets, foam, silencer pads, insulators, and extra seals. In terms of miscellaneous observations, the sport seats in this F-S Sport model are good. We’ve spent a good long while behind the wheel and they’ve remained comfortable and nice and supportive. Also, when you’re maneuvering at slow speed, you’ve got the 360° overhead view with kind of a translucent trace of the car to show you where you are, as well as a high quality reversing camera. Vision across the car and and and through to the back is pretty good anyway, but they really help you in um slow speed stuff. There’s a sensible mix of physical tiles and onscreen controls, and the touchscreen menus are easy to use. Especially handy when you’re racing to the function that turns off the intensely annoying oversp speeded warning. The RZ received a maximum five-star ANCAP assessment in 2022, scoring 80% plus results in all areas. As you’d expect, a full suite of driver assistance tech is on board, including AEB, adaptive cruise, lane keeping assist, lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, driver fatigue monitoring, tire pressure monitoring, and more. The airbag count runs to nine, including side curtains, knee bags for the driver and front passenger, as well as a front center airbag. There are three top tethers for child restraints across the second row with ISOIX anchors in the two outer positions. That’s a comprehensive safety package. The RZ is covered by Lexus Australia’s 5-year unlimited km warranty, and there’s an 8-year, 160,000 km warranty on the drive battery. That general warranty is in line with the RZ’s key competitors. Although, it’s worth noting an increasing number in the mainstream market are stepping up to longer terms, including 10 years. Recommended maintenance interval is 12 months, 15,000 km, which is relatively brief for an EV. Cap price servicing is yet to be confirmed, but for reference, the outgoing 450e runs to $395 for each workshop visit up to a maximum of 5 years 75,000 km. That’s sharp pricing in this part of the market. The RZ also qualifies its owner for platinum electrified benefits under the Lexus Encore ownership program. That means everything from access to exclusive offers and events to a complimentary service loan car, 5 years roadside assistance, valet parking at selected locations, airport lounge access, and heaps more, including the charging benefits mentioned earlier. Hard to argue with that. Smooth, quiet quality sums up this new and improved Lexus RZ. But will tricky new tech like steer by wire and a manual mode in the auto transmission be enough to sway more premium electric SUV buyers its way? When you think about the value proposition and the ownership package, I think it just might be Venina Deni. [Music]
Is the 2026 Lexus RZ the luxury EV Australia has been waiting for? In this detailed review, CarsGuide puts the all-electric Lexus RZ through its paces to see if it lives up to the premium expectations of the brand.
With its sleek coupe-inspired design, refined cabin and advanced tech features, the RZ aims to offer a quiet, comfortable and eco-friendly driving experience.
We take a close look at the performance from its dual-motor AWD setup, explore real-world range and charging practicality, and assess how it stacks up against rivals like the Audi Q6 e-tron and BMW iX3.
Inside, the RZ boasts Lexus’ latest infotainment system, quality finishes and a surprisingly roomy layout for a mid-size SUV. Is it worth the price, and how does it handle Portuguese roads? Join us as we explore whether this electric SUV delivers the luxury and innovation that buyers should expect ahead of its Australian release date.
#Lexus #RZ #Review
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Timecodes:
00:00 Intro
01:03 Pricing and features
02:26 Design
03:37 Under the bonnet
04:17 Practicality
06:14 Efficiency
07:25 Driving
12:44 Safety
13:23 Ownership
14:31 Verdict
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Read James’ full review: https://bit.ly/44BbHUh
Check out our Lexus RZ hub: https://bit.ly/4iLajUu
Find more SUVs: https://bit.ly/3mXXb6P
Visit our EV Guide: https://bit.ly/3DjhPTX
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