My first experience with the Lexus RZ at Château La Coste, in the south of France. Patrick McKillen’s famous vineyard, art complex and hotel is home to Damien Hirst, Richard Rogers, Oscar Niemeyer and emerging artists like Tia-Thuy Nguyen on its two hundred hectares.
As a result, it’s also increasingly the go-to destination for car companies looking for a perfect blend of culture, hospitality, good roads, clear skies and an excellent wine list. Not long after, Wallpaper* were guests of Rolls-Royce in the same elegant rooms at the Villa la Coste, a selection of suites that nestle into the Provençal hillside, designed by Green + Partners with interiors by André Fu.
The Lexus RZ 450E
This location selection explicitly indicates where Lexus is considered in the world of art, architecture, and design. Away from all distractions and detours, how does RZ feel in the genuine world?Eighteen months ago, the RZ was one of the most productive. mixtures of electric crossover and SUV, at the time a small outcrop in a rapidly changing automotive landscape.
These days, most brands have made the SUV-esque body style their first point of call on the road to electrification. Even the RZ’s finer points – its excellent build quality, famed Lexus reliability and fine attention to detail – are in danger of being usurped by the overall glow-up applied to every new car in an effort to stand out in a crowded, competitive marketplace.
The Lexus RZ 450E
There’s still an element of good value in the Lexus approach, with an impressive equipment spec straight out of the box, unlike many German rivals. Considering that the Audi Q6 e-tron quattro starts where the RZ’s list price finishes, and that’s before you’ve delved into Audi’s well-curated extras list, the Japanese brand still has the advantage.
One item missing from the UK-spec car was the guide yoke, which replaces a traditional guide wheel using Lexus’ One Motion Grip electric guidance system. On the roads of Provence it was easy to get used to, but it would be interesting to see how it would perform on the narrow streets of London with endless demands for reversing and parking.
The Lexus RZ 450E doubles the brand’s design language
On the bustling streets of the capital, the Lexus was a haven, some potential interface options seeming more intrusive the more time you spent with them (especially the sounds). There’s a single monotonous pop for one and both of them to warn unless they’re parking, and the car explodes into a cacophony of noisy sensors, all looking to shout at each other.
You also have to turn off the GPS voice every time you start the car, and the speed caution alert is so well hidden in the menu formula that I never discovered it. The wide, shallow screen offers relatively sparse maps and the icon sets lack detail and oomph, instead going for something sleek and refined. Despite those quibbles, the main controls are otherwise smart and intuitive, with temperature dials, a volume knob and well-placed power outputs.
The dashboard of the Lexus RZ 450E
As we’ve discussed before, the RZ’s sister car is the Toyota bZ4X, and the platform and proportions are also deployed in the Subaru Solterra. They’re all different, of course, from the bodywork to the specs and range, but there’s something a little fairer and harder on Toyota and Subaru that gets lost in translation to Lexus.
Lexus RZ450E
Another imaginable setback in the transition to urban living is the wrinkled nature of Lexus’ iconic design language. More than once we looked at it twice, and the gentle drop just in the right direction meant someone had slid the RZ to the side and left a big dent.
Although the RZ is perhaps the best- ever looking Lexus SUV, recent concepts have favoured sleeker, more low-slung futuristic designs like the Lexus LF-ZC and LF-ZL. The house style certainly benefits from these more generous proportions.
Premium practicality, inside the Lexus RZ 450E
As is the case with electric vehicle specifications, the more power you pay for, the less diversity there will be. The single-engine RZ 300E is compared to the dual-engine RZ 450E, and while the latter has harsher acceleration, the range ranges up to 46 miles, with 297 miles being the 300E’s top figure. Actual global situations may vary greatly. With the 300E we drove, you can get a lot more noise through the engaging gameplay, but it’s a fairly artificial type of drive, which feels programmed and inorganic.
A Lexus is still a fine cocoon from contemporary life, with idiosyncrasies that create true character in comparison to other, more cookie cutter brands. The RZ may have lost a little of the lustre from its launch, but it’s still a cossetting conveyance that could give service for decades.
Lexus RZ 450E
Lexus RZ, from £49,995, all the way up to £66,695 for the RZ 450E Takumi Bi-Tone edition, Lexus.co.uk, @LexusUK
Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.