• Lexus' first dedicated EV model
• To launch after March 2022

Following a sneak preview in December last year's announcement of 30 Toyota / Lexus EV models, Lexus International has released more photos of the 2022 Lexus RZ, which Lexus says will be launched in the second quarter of 2022.

The Lexus RZ will be Lexus’ first electric-only model. Currently, Lexus’ only EV model is the Lexus UX 300e, which is an EV variant of the regular petrol-powered UX.

Not much is known about the Lexus RZ yet, but from the photos, it looks quite similar to the Toyota bZ4X, itself running on an e-TNGA platform co-developed with Subaru for the Soltera.

Both the Lexus UX 300e and Toyota bZ4X are heading to Malaysia in 2022 and 2023 respectively, so it’s not too farfetched to expect the Lexus RZ to joint Lexus Malaysia’s local line-up too.

Also read: UMW Toyota to launch 2 EVs starting 2022 – Lexus UX 300e and Toyota bZ4X?

While specifications of the Lexus RZ are still kept hidden, Toyota’s Master Driver and President Akio Toyoda, himself a race car driver who competes in endurance races in Japan and Germany, has given the public an early preview in a recent video, at Toyota’s Shimoyama proving ground.

Toyota’s Master Driver is a car guy, he has said many times that he loves the smell of gasoline and loud engines (yay!) – only of the few ones that dare to publically admit so, because combustion engines are now often vilified. He is also the only CEO of a car company that dares to race the cars he sells.

President Toyoda has also previously said that EVs have no soul and are boring to drive, but Koji Sato, President of Lexus International and the chief engineer who made the amazingly beautiful Lexus LC a reality, thinks otherwise. Watch the video below:

By 2030, Lexus aims to offer a full-range of EV models, and to sell 1 million battery EVs globally. That’s quite a shoot for the moon, because Lexus ended 2021 with only 760,012 cars sold.

By 2035, Lexus will be a 100 percent EV-only company.

Lexus International President / Chief Branding Officer, Koji Sato said, "In 2022, we will continue to refine Lexus’ unique design and driving taste that appeals to the sensibilities of our customers, based on our thoughts to "be the brand that people who know the real thing choose at the end of the day”.  We will also accelerate the development of electric vehicles. Starting with the BEV exclusive model "RZ" to be revealed in the Spring, we will release a series of new models that will accompany the lifestyles of a variety of customers.

"Please look forward to the future of Lexus.”