Base $65K Lexus TZ Makes Less Power Than Its Toyota And Subaru Twins

When it comes to cross-brand badge-engineered cars, you'd typically expect the fancier, more expensive version to come with more stuff than its cheaper counterparts. More toys, more leather, more range... more car. In the case of the upcoming Lexus TZ, however, it's weirdly offering less when compared to its Toyota and Subaru siblings in one key area: horsepower.

When it drops later this year, the Lexus three-row electric crossover will start at $64,050 for the base TZ 450e Premium AWD, which is now confirmed to make 308 horsepower from two electric motors. All three trims of the TZ 450e will, in fact, come with just 308 hp standard, which is notably less than what you'll get in top trims of the 2028 Toyota Highlander and Subaru Getaway platform-mates. According to Subaru, all trims of the Getaway will get 420 horses, while dual-motor AWD versions of the Toyota are set to make 338 ponies. There's also a Highlander with just 221 hp coming, but that's the single-motor model and not a fair comparison.

Granted, Lexus will give you a more powerful TZ if you pay up. The top, $80,550-to-start, Luxury trim will be available with an optional Performance Upgrade that gives it 402 total hp. More than the Toyota, at least, but still 18 hp shy of what you'd get in a base Subaru Getaway.

In practice, Subaru is touting a Getaway zero-to-60 time of less than five seconds, whereas the non-Performance TZ will take 6.2 seconds to make the same sprint in its lightest Premium trim. For what it's worth, Lexus is launching the TZ solely as the 450e, but a pre-production car I got a preview of earlier this year wore a TZ 550e badge, so perhaps a more powerful version is coming later.

As of this writing, neither Toyota nor Subaru has announced official pricing for the Highlander or Getaway. Based on badge hierarchy, they'll probably start with significantly smaller price tags than the 65 grand Lexus is asking for the TZ. All three crossovers are based on Toyota's TNGA-K platform, and all three are the first three-row EVs for their respective brands. Equipped with the bigger 95.8-kWh battery, the Toyota and Lexus can both get 315 miles of official range, whereas Subaru is saying "more than 300 miles" for now.

All that said, I can't imagine "big horsepower" is very high on the typical Lexus crossover buyer's list of priorities. "Feeling like you got your money's worth when spending 65 G's on anything" is probably a higher priority.