The ALL-NEW 2024 Lexus RZ450e - PREMIUM e-SUV

[@PhilipKnopp]

I am 81 years old, and I have been driving Toyotas since 1986. Since 2008 I have driven two Prius, a Lexus 300 sedan, RX350, and NX300h. Now I own an RZ450e. It is the best of the lot so far. In spite of the range limit (which is less than competitors) I am completely satisfied with this car. It has the luxury features, technical features, and performance that I want. Of course if I were not retired and had to commute or drive long distances I would prefer a greater range. But...that is not a requirement. So for all the naysayers who complain about range, I for one am completely satisfied with this marvel. If you don't like it, find something else.

[@tychay]

Range is something people treat like HP in ICE cars but it's not the same. More HP always has a benefit (merging into traffic for instance) but range is actually a huge minus (extra cost, heavier car with lower efficiency, battery life degrades faster over time) until the moment it's a huge plus (out of battery). So if you have a home charger and don't drive more than 140mi/day you are basically paying up front and continuously for range you don't need for the car you bought instead of this because of range. Also, Toyota decided to lock out >10% of their nominal battery pack. This makes the battery good for a much longer time and keeps the user from charging it too high. No fires or massive loss of range here. No need to program your charger to only charge to 80% for daily driving either. In reality though Toyota thought that solid state batteries would be ready by 2023 so they developed this car under the assumption that the "range anxiety" would have been solved with new battery tech since that would over >500 mile range and 5 min to full charge at the same weight. This probably meant they didn't try to procure denser Li battery packs, invest in research on fast charging reliability, or fire safety when charging to 100% because, unlike Tesla, they can't hide all those battery fires behind NDAs. A single one would end the brand reputation. This is likely why this car is idiot proof in the battery and charging area and way too conservative vs. what's out there (Tesla is not a fair comparison, but Nissan Ariya would be closer to apples to apples) Of course, if you are home charging and daily driving around town or short commutes then none of that matters. Moreover, all the people not buying it because they're obsessed with the spec sheet of range and charge speed is driving down the price for prosepective RZ buyers.

[@msbgone]

This is not a game changer, it could have been, but they went the Toyota BEV way... This could have really sold a lot if they made a few other enhancements to compete more.

[@luludt]

We just got ours and honestly it's very luxe and comfy, but too many things to learn compared with the Tesla. It's a shame they didn't adopt the one peddle use like the Tesla. The app for starting is complicated. It also doesn't have a mode to leave the air going when out of the car like the Tesla. We live in the Californian desert and would really liked that function. Also...we lease ours - it was delivered with a quick lesson from the person from the LA dealer. I went into the nearest Lexus dealer in Rancho Mirage and was basically dissed when wanting to find out features as we hadn't leased through them. This I find unacceptable and am calling Lexus general to make a complaint. When our lease is up I will get another Tesla. Hate Elon Musk but love his car!

[@tychay]

One pedal was invented by Nissan not Tesla with the Leaf which came out before the Model S. Nissan's Ariya doesn't have it. This strongly implies it's probably actually bad for efficiency to offer one pedal over just a better regenerative braking system without one pedal. Unfortunately EPA doesn't have that sort of thing when estimating range or efficiency so Tesla goes with what the customer wants and what doesn't hurt in the spec sheet, but it's just another area which explains why the 300 mile Teslas can never get to it's stated range despite the large batteries and low Cd bodies while less efficient competitors seem to destroy their range figures in city driving (all EVs do terrible at highway driving). Obviously a long range Model Y or a new Model S with 100KWh will still crush it on range esp on highway even though their efficiency is actually mediocre. Given it sounds you live a decent amount inland, the driving you likely do: range, especially with highway driving, would be a big factor and a cause of anxiety. Probably you should switch to either a Model Y long range or Mustang Mach E when the lease expires (or any other manufacturers if they adopt the denser battery packs in the next couple years. I wouldn't bet on Toyota/Lexus being among them though, it doesn't fit with their philosophy, but I could imagine Genesis, BMW, or Volvo doing it). … I can't comment about the AC while out of the car but I could have sworn that the AC was on when we stepped out of both testers / was running before we stepped in ours. They were both 2024 models (RZ300e and RZ450e premiums), so maybe there's a software update that yours doesn't have? Better check with the dealer on that. Shocked that your dealer sounds terrible. How is that EVER happen with Lexus? 🤯