The Lexus RZ 450e is still a week away from its official debut, but it looks like there was a leak in Japan that gave a first peek at the vehicle well before we’re supposed to see it.
These photos are courtesy of RZ Forums, the site that first published the photos back in February:
The RZ 450e is an all-electric SUV that serves as the luxurious sibling of the Toyota bZ4X and the Subaru Solterra. All three vehicles are built on the same platform, so all three share the same battery underpinnings and the same controversial styling cues. The Lexus, though, adds a massive hourglass-shaped pseudo-grille — though to be honest, I kind of like it. It’s not something we’ve ever really seen before in the automotive sector, and I’m willing to commend some leaps of faith.
Otherwise, the 450e has a similar two-tone color scheme, which works for some people while others totally hate it. The photos posted on the RZ Forums site don’t show us enough of the car to get a full sense of how it’s going to look — but we can start to picture it here.
We have no idea what the actual specs of this machine will be (those are coming on April 20), but base on the bZ4X and the Solterra, we can guess it’ll probably have between 200 and 250 miles of range, and the battery capacity will likely be roughly similar to its less-fancy siblings, or about 71 kWh.
Teaser photos from Lexus show a more refined interior than what you’ll find in the bZ4X, which includes a yoke steering wheel (something that will be an option on the bZ4X, though it was one I didn’t get to test). The center console also appears to be a little thinner, and — god willing — there shouldn’t be any piano black trim.