Lexus today revealed an updated RZ, but it’s not the only electric vehicle (EV) launch it has planned for this year.
“The RZ will be one of three new BEVs Lexus will launch in the next 12 months,” reads a press release from Lexus Europe, suggesting the other two will arrive before the end of the 2025 Japanese fiscal year that ends on March 31.
That appears to rebut earlier reports that the brand’s next-generation EVs would be delayed from 2026 to mid-2027.
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LF-ZC concept
In its latest announcement, Lexus didn’t confirm which other EVs it has coming.
However, the last concepts it revealed were the LF-ZC mid-sized sedan and LF-ZL large SUV at the 2023 Tokyo motor show, which it said would launch in 2026.
Both were said to be based on a “completely new” modular structure produced using gigacasting, and use “advanced high-performance batteries”, all-wheel drive, and steer-by-wire.
Measuring in at 4750mm long, 1880mm wide, and 1390mm tall, with a 2890mm wheelbase, the LF-ZC concept is very similar dimensionally to the IS sedan which was discontinued in Australia in 2021.
However, it has a shape that’s more like a liftback than a conventional three-box sedan.
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LF-ZL concept
The four-seater LF-ZL defies categorisation even more, blurring the lines between SUV, sedan, wagon and even people mover. It features sliding rear doors but no B-pillar or rear window.
It measures in at 5300mm long, 2020mm wide, and 1700mm tall, with a 3350mm wheelbase. For context, this is slightly larger than the LS which is currently the brand’s flagship luxury sedan.
The designs of this duo, with their sharp exterior creases, are considerably different to the array of concept cars revealed by Lexus in 2021, when it pledged to only sell EVs by 2035.
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Lexus teaser from 2021; EVs are in the foreground
These included the following:
- The RZ
- The Electrified Sedan concept, which appeared to preview an IS replacement with a similarly conventional sedan silhouette
- A wagon version of the Electrified Sedan
- The Electrified SUV concept, a large, three-row SUV
- The Electrified Sport concept, a supercar with a 0-100km/h time in the low two-second range
- A convertible resembling the combustion-powered LC
None of these have reached production yet.
Lexus currently offers just two EVs: the RZ, which uses the e-TNGA EV architecture; and the UX300e, which shares its underpinnings with the petrol and hybrid UX range.