How does the Lexus RZ fare in the actual world? We put the electrical SUV by its paces

My first expertise of the Lexus RZ was at Château La Coste within the South of France. Patrick McKillen’s storied winery, arts complicated and lodge performs host to the likes of Damien Hirst, Richard Rogers, Oscar Niemeyer, and modern artists like Tia-Thuy Nguyen throughout its 200 hectares.

In consequence, it is also more and more the go-to vacation spot for automobile corporations searching for an ideal mix of tradition, hospitality, good roads, clear skies and a very good wine record. Not lengthy after, Wallpaper* have been company of Rolls-Royce in the identical elegant rooms on the Villa la Coste, a collection of suites that nestle into the Provençal hillside, designed by Inexperienced + Companions with interiors by André Fu.

This selection of location explicitly signalled the place Lexus considers itself to be on the planet of artwork, structure and design. Away from all of the distractions and diversions, how does the RZ really feel in the actual world? Eighteen months in the past, it the RZ was one of many higher blends of electrical crossover and SUV, at the moment a comparatively small outcrop on a fast-changing automotive panorama.

Nowadays, most manufacturers have made the SUV-esque physique type their first level of name on the highway to electrification. Even the RZ’s finer factors – its glorious construct high quality, famed Lexus reliability and nice consideration to element – are in peril of being usurped by the general glow-up utilized to each new automobile in an effort to face out in a crowded, aggressive market.

There’s nonetheless a component of excellent worth within the Lexus method, with a formidable gear spec straight out of the field, not like many German rivals. Contemplating that the Audi Q6 e-tron quattro begins the place the RZ’s record value finishes, and that’s earlier than you’ve delved into Audi’s well-curated extras record, the Japanese model nonetheless has the benefit.

One aspect that was lacking from the UK-spec automobile was the steering yoke, a substitute for a standard wheel that makes use of Lexus’s One Movement Grip steer-by-wire system. On the open roads of Provence, this was fairly simple to get accustomed to, however it might be attention-grabbing to see the way it fared in London’s tight streets with infinite necessities to reverse and park.

On the capital’s harried streets, the Lexus was a spot of refuge, even when a number of the interface decisions felt extra intrusive the longer you hung out with them (particularly the sonic ones). There’s a single monotone bong for each warning, besides when parking, and the automobile erupts in a cacophony of noisy sensors, all attempting to shout over each other.

You even have to show off the satnav voice each time you begin the automobile and the pace warning alert is so nicely buried within the menu system that I by no means discovered it. The huge, shallow display affords comparatively sparse mapping and the icon units lack element and verve, slightly than showing elegant and refined. Regardless of these quibbles, the first controls are in any other case good and intuitive, with temperature dials, a quantity knob and well-placed energy factors.

As we beforehand famous, the RZ’s sister automobile is the Toyota bZ4X, and the platform and proportions are additionally deployed on the Subaru Solterra. All are considerably totally different, in fact, from bodywork to specs to vary, however there’s one thing a little bit extra trustworthy and hard-wearing concerning the Toyota and Subaru that will get misplaced within the translation to Lexus.

One other attainable flipside within the transition to metropolis life is the creased and rumpled nature of Lexus’s signature design language. Greater than as soon as, we did a double-take, with the sunshine falling in simply the best solution to indicate that somebody had side-swiped the RZ and left an enormous dent in it.

Though the RZ is probably the best- ever trying Lexus SUV, current ideas have favoured sleeker, extra low-slung futuristic designs just like the Lexus LF-ZC and LF-ZL. The home type definitely advantages from these extra beneficiant proportions.

As is so typically the case with electrical automobile specs, the extra energy you pay for, the shorter the vary you get. The only-motor RZ 300E goes up in opposition to the twin-motor RZ 450E, and though the latter has punchier acceleration, the vary varies by as a lot as 46 miles, with 297 miles being the headline determine for the 300E. Actual world situations can range wildly. With the 300E we drove, you may get much more whoosh by turning on sport mode, but it surely’s a slightly artificial type of increase, one which feels programmed and inorganic.

A Lexus remains to be a nice cocoon from modern life, with idiosyncrasies that create true character compared to different, extra cookie cutter manufacturers. The RZ could have misplaced a little bit of the lustre from its launch, but it surely’s nonetheless a cossetting conveyance that might give service for many years.

Lexus RZ, from £49,995, all the best way as much as £66,695 for the RZ 450E Takumi Bi-Tone version, Lexus.co.uk, @LexusUK