The first bespoke Lexus electric car, which arrives in the first half of 2022, will be a sleek, performance-driven SUV called the RZ.
Shown in near production-ready form as Toyota and Lexus unboxed 15 all-new electric cars, it is based on Toyota’s e-TNGA platform but with tailor-made modifications to convey the ‘experience of’ driving to the next level ”. It’s a similar size – and is a close visual relationship – to the existing NX crossover.
Brand vice president Europe Pascal Ruch told Autocar that a priority for Lexus is to deliver “exhilarating driving performance” and hinted that it will offer variants of future electric vehicles that “will support the sporting position of the brand “.
The RZ will feature fully variable all-wheel drive and cable steering technology and promise “incredible cornering and handling.”
The bespoke modifications – including “lighter, more compact engines”, increased body stiffness and Lexus’ Direct4 fully variable all-wheel drive technology – aim to deliver “an engaging and rewarding on-road driving experience.”
The Direct4 system allows the RZ to distribute power across both axles “in the blink of an eye,” essentially instantly switching between front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive as the situation requires. Lexus will use this setup on all future bespoke EVs, suggesting that each will use a dual-engine setup.
As predicted by the LF-Z Electrified Concept, the RZ takes on proportions recognizable as an SUV, but like its siblings Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra, it’s closer to the ground. It also features a number of new design elements first seen on this concept.
The concept’s slim rear light bar and spelled out brand name are among the features that might define Lexus’ bespoke EVs, for example, but it’s already clear that the LF-Z’s prominent roof spoiler will not reach. not production.
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Source: www.autocar.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-12-14 09:09:24
