ONE FOR THE ROAD

Some might say that Lexus has arrived a little late to the EV party, especially considering Toyota’s global dominance and unrivaled experience with hybrid technology. But for Lexus, they have an unspoken philosophy about these things — better late than mediocre.
See at Lexus it’s not about being first. It’s about being the best. And that takes time. And patience. And a team of disturbingly passionate engineers that have devoted themselves to pursuing perfection. It’s never been about jumping on a bandwagon, either; it’s more like a hold-my-beer type of culture when it comes to redefining a space — be it the luxury space in 1989 when they released the LS400, or the super car space when they launched the LFA in 2010, and now the EV space in 2023.
In each of these milestones, Lexus didn’t just move the goalposts; they uprooted them and placed them in a different playing field altogether. They basically changed the game. And decades after, these models still remain as a technological and cultural benchmark in their respective segments and a defining moment in automotive history.
And today, as the world goes into hyper electrification, their approach has been no different. They sat out the early hysteria. Because despite their unmatched experience and dominance in hybrid technology, rather than just fielding an early entry to show people how much they already know, Lexus sat back and just listened. They listened to the people who matter most in this revolution: you. And they learned from it.
They learned that while you wanted to save the environment and drive something sustainable, you also wanted to still feel connected and in control. And the problem that a lot of these EVs were having was that they anesthetized the experience so much, that for the driver, it robbed them of any involvement. It felt like having someone chew your food for you.
This is why they went through painful lengths to incorporate the Lexus driving signature into the new RZ450e, such as DIRECT 4, which uses four different electric motors attached to each wheel that not only balances the vehicle instantly by delivering torque seamlessly to the front and rear e-axles, but more importantly, to allow the driver to remain completely involved in the experience. Because ultimately, no matter how impressive any technology can get, at Lexus, they understand that at the heart of it all is you.
This also explains why they went through extraordinary lengths to improve the sound quality inside the vehicle, and by that I don’t mean just by cancelling it out. That’s the easy part. With no more combustion engine and drive train noise to worry about,  this presented a new level of quiet, and Lexus needed to engineer a way for the right sounds to make its way through the cabin while eliminating the unwanted ones so the driver doesn’t lose connection with the driving environment around them. If you’ve ever tried to run or bike with noise cancelling ear buds on you’ll know what I mean. It can be unnerving. So the challenge was to not blur the line between being the driver or the passenger, which they have done masterfully.
And lastly, to complete the driving signature, they developed One Motion Grip, which is a steer-by-wire system that dispenses with the mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the front wheels and transforms the driving experience by eliminating the need for hand-over-hand turns of the wheel.
The steering wheel, or should I say steering yoke, is something straight out of a fighter jet or PlayStation. It is so audacious that I had to ask RZ Assistant Chief Engineer, Yushi Higashiyama what problem they were trying to solve with this technology. He explained that to be able to get the full benefit of an EV, the steering, brakes and accelerator all need to be speaking the same language. Before one motion, only the brakes and accelerator were speaking in digital, while the steering was still talking in analog. By creating a steer by wire system, he explains that it forms a holy trinity that syncs it all up.
The result is absolute precision at any speed. In terms of accuracy, it’s like going from a sundial to a digital watch. Which is a fitting analogy because at Lexus it’s always about timing. Again, not necessarily to be first, but to be the best. And that’s why this new RZ450e is so significant. Because in many ways you’re not just driving a car; you’re driving change.