2026 Lexus RZ Isn’t Quite There Yet

Life has been hard for the Lexus RZ since it first came on the electric vehicle scene back in 2023. It was hampered by controversial-at-best styling and performance that was uninspiring to say the least. While the RZ was fabulous at everything buyers expected a Lexus to be — comfort, refinement and exceptional build quality — that’s only half of the equation. It had to be a good EV if it wanted to be noticed in a very crowded and very competitive market. As we said when the car first launched, it wasn’t.

Well, for 2026, Lexus decided to spruce up the RZ with a reworked vehicle lineup that gives buyers more power and more range. Though many of these improvements did move the RZ in the right direction, it still falls pretty well short of where other comparable EVs are in the market. Hell, it even loses out to some far cheaper options. That’s too bad, because the 2026 RZ remains quite a good Lexus.

Full Disclosure: Lexus flew me out to Portugal, put me up in a couple of swanky hotels and fed me an ungodly amount of delicious food all so I could drive the 2026 RZ lineup.

The biggest addition to the RZ for 2026 is the introduction of a high-ish performance variant called the RZ 550e F Sport. With its dual-motor all-wheel-drive system, this RZ puts out 408 horsepower and an unknowable amount of torque. (Lexus hasn’t released those numbers yet.) My butt dyno says it’s somewhere in the 500-550 pound-feet range. Regardless, it’s got enough oomph to get the car from 0 to 60 mph in just 4.1 seconds. That is quicker than any luxury-oriented Lexus has any right to be. I could feel the power on the road, too. It’s not the most fun EV money can buy, but the RZ 500e has a knack for hustling down an empty backroad if you don’t mind a serious lack of steering feel. It’s a Lexus, what did you expect?

Juice comes courtesy of a new 77-kWh battery pack that Lexus says will give the RZ 550e F Sport a total of 228 miles of range. Folks, if I can be so for real for a second, that’s just not enough for today’s day and age. This is an expensive ahh luxury EV — I’d expect better range. Of course, you can go down to the RZ 350e and RZ 450e, and those will give you 302 and 261 miles of range, respectively, but even those figures are nothing to write home about. The numbers also go down if you swap the 18-inch wheels for optional 20s. Regardless of which model you go with, you’re going to have to make some concessions when it comes to charging, too. When DC fast charging at 150 kW, the highest power the RZ will accept, going from 10% to 80% battery takes about 30 minutes. That’s not a great number, but hey, it’s an improvement over the 35 minutes it used to take.

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One feature the RZ 550e F Sport has that sets it far apart from the vast majority of its competition is eight-speed M Mode. That’s Lexus’ simulated EV gear system that works similarly to the one in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. It’s certainly a goofy feature to have, but it adds a certain amount of enjoyment to driving the RZ that wouldn’t be there otherwise. I’ll always welcome silly stuff in a new car. There’s nowhere near enough of it. To me, the most fun way to use the system is to let the motor bounce off the “redline” and then pull the paddle. It creates a seriously fun sensation as if you’re being kicked in the back by an old single-clutch automated manual. If this isn’t for you, it’s fine. You never have to touch M Mode if you don’t want to, but you’ll be missing out on what sort of sounds like straight-cut gears mixed in with EV motor noises. I’m not sure if it’s the best sound ever, but it’s at least interesting. 550e F Sports also come with a slew of “F” badging, blue stitching, blue brake calipers, 20-inch wheels, more heavily bolstered seats and a very goofy wing on the back that I sort of adore.

Not everyone wants or needs all of the power the RZ 550e F Sport provides, and that’s why the 350e and 450e AWD exist. The former uses a front-mounted 221-hp motor. Acceleration is a less-than-brisk 7.1 seconds, but I’ll be real, it felt fine for everyday driving and merging onto highways. I think sometimes we get a bit jaded when it comes to 0-60 times. This is fine. It is enough. Still, if you want a bit more power, step up to the 450e AWD. That gets buyers a similar dual-motor setup to the 550e, but in this application, the driver is working with 313 hp and a 0-60 time of 4.9 seconds, according to Lexus. Both of these cars store juice in the same 74.7-kWh battery pack. Unfortunately, the 450e was the only variant in the lineup I wasn’t able to test. Instead, we were given similar RZ 500e AWDs to drive, since all of the cars we drove were Euro-spec vehicles. Don’t worry, though, I still got the gist.

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Something every RZ still lacks is one-pedal driving, which I really like having in the EVs I get behind the wheel of. Instead, you’ve got three levels of regen braking — none of which feel strong enough — or you can turn it off completely. I think this is a huge mistake. At the very least, the regen and the traditional rotor braking are blended together very smoothly.

One big bonus for the 2026 RZ is the fact that it now comes standard with a NACS charging port on the passenger side front fender of the vehicle. That means you’ll be able to juice up at any Tesla Supercharger, provided the owners aren’t holding some sort of Elon Musk support rally in front of it. That’s not something you’ll want to get involved with.

Not only was the 500e I sampled a trim level that isn’t coming to the U.S., it also featured Lexus’s crackpot steer-by-wire system. Don’t worry, it’s not coming to the States just yet. Between you and me, it’s not going to show up here until 2027 at the earliest, but I promise you’re not going to miss it.

It’s a very weird system to use. Sure, it’s kinda neat, but for the most part, I just found myself asking “why” the entire time. I mean, I can guess why. It’s for packaging and saving money. Wires are a hell of a lot cheaper to produce than a mechanical steering system, and the lack of one means you can change the way you package the vehicle. Still, I don’t think these are good enough reasons for this thing to exist. Maybe if I drove it more, I’d get used to it, but I just kept finding myself either over- or under-steering, meaning I’d have to make lots of corrections in the middle of a turn, not something exactly ideal for performance driving (or any driving for that matter).

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Aside from the characteristics of the system, the yoke steering “wheel” also left a bit to be desired. Everything is mounted to it, including your turn signals. Finding the button you want can be a bit of a chore. Do you know what’s really disorienting? Having your turn signal stalk not be in the same place you left it. Listen, the saying is “don’t reinvent the wheel.” Perhaps we should all listen.

Unfortunately, the U.S. also doesn’t get this really cool light-brown suede interior option. That’s a damn shame, because it both looks and feels fabulous.

I know I’ve been ragging on the 2026 RZ quite a bit, but it’s got plenty of good attributes as well. This crossover is an excellent Lexus. It’s comfortable and luxurious enough that even the most discerning Lexus buyer would be pleased with it. Inside, it feels very similar to your run-of-the-mill Lexus crossover, and that’s sort of on purpose. Lexus wants to entice its current buyers to make the move to the RZ, so its goal was to make this thing feel as normal as possible. Designers and engineers met their targets when it comes to that.

Like all Lexuses, there’s plenty of interesting patterns and material choices to be found throughout, and you’re also going to find oodles of space. At 6-foot-1, I was able to sit very comfortably in the rear seat behind my driving position. I suppose that’s the miracle of EV packaging. Inside, the car feels much bigger than its 189.2-inch length would suggest.

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There’s also plenty of tech, but in typical Lexus fashion (at least since ditching the touchpad), it’s all very easy to use. A real highlight is the RZ’s 14-inch touchscreen, which is laid out very clearly and is very responsive. If you’re not into the whole homegrown infotainment system thing, you can always hook up wireless Android Auto or Apple CarPlay to play some music through the optional and lovely-sounding Mark Levinson stereo system.

One interior lowlight is the tiny digital gauge cluster, which seems a bit blurry and out of focus all of the time. Its small size also means it’s not very customizable and can’t display a map. It looks and feels a generation or two behind the infotainment system.

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The RZ also comes with Lexus’ latest suite of safety tech that includes good adaptive cruise and lane-keeping assist programs. It makes driving down the highway a real breeze in this car, and it further accentuates the relaxed nature of the RZ. That’s where it thrives. Like most Lexuses, it’s not a driver’s car, but it is a fantastic, comfortable cruiser. Unfortunately, you’ve got to stop cruising a bit too often to charge up for my liking.

Right now, pricing is still a question mark, as Lexus hasn’t announced where the 2026 RZ will end up. Just for reference, the front-wheel-drive 2025 RZ 300e, which the 350e replaces, starts at $43,975 including destination. Stepping up to the RZ 450e will set you back $48,675. As for the 550e F Sport — who the hell knows? Only our future selves are blessed with that knowledge.

I know the RZ isn’t a bad car. I mean, it’s pretty good, and certainly better than before. Here’s the thing, though. This is Toyota — the biggest automaker in the world. It’s the company that made hybrids mainstream in the early 2000s. I know that the company isn’t super into the whole EV thing as a concept, and unfortunately, that half-hearted ethos trickles down to the RZ.

I can tell that there’s a good car in here somewhere. It just needs a bit of a going-over tech-wise. More range and faster charging times will go a long way to achieving that. EVs are just getting better and better, so if Lexus doesn’t start taking this stuff seriously, it’s going to find itself falling farther and farther behind.

Andy Kalmowitz / Jalopnik

Andy Kalmowitz / Jalopnik

Andy Kalmowitz / Jalopnik

Andy Kalmowitz / Jalopnik