Lexus RX300 vs Lexus RZ450E

What's the difference?

The Lexus RX300 is luxurious but affordable, making it great value and superbly comfortable, with a high level of fit and finish. Fear not about the four-cylinder engine being small – it makes plenty of grunt and handles daily duties perfectly well.

Which would you go for: An entry level Lexus RX300 or a top-of-the-range Mazda CX-9? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

There are sportier EVs out there, there are more tech-savvy EVs out there, but few adhere to the luxury promise quite like the Lexus RZ, particularly at its price point.

It’s this primary characteristic which sets the RZ apart from the pack for me, and while it might not be for every first-time EV adopter, it nails the brief for the existing Lexus buyer while providing a ‘luxurious’ alternative to many of its firmer, sportier and less approachable rivals.

I've mentioned the Spindle grille and its jewellery-like appeal, and even the sharp edges of this SUV make the RX300 look like a carved gemstone, but I'm not the biggest fan of this vehicle's proportions. I think the door-to-window ratio is a bit off. There's just too much door for my liking.

That said, I'm intrigued by the craftmanship, the attention to detail and the use of materials, which make this SUV both pretty and intriguing.

The cabin mixes the plushness of cushioned surfaces on the dash and the armrests  with pleasing design elements, like the swooping aluminium trim, which zig-zags its way from the instrument cluster to the passenger's side of the centre console.

The giant media display is impressive, but the functionality is awkward, to say the least, but more on that in the practicality section below.

The Luxury is the entry grade into the RX model and so comes with smaller wheels than the F Sport and Sports Luxury above it, but it does score roof rails, dual chrome exhausts, a roof-top spoiler and rear privacy glass.

How big is the RX300 Luxury? The dimensions show it to be 4890mm long, 1895mm wide and 1690mm tall.

How do the looks compare with rivals such as a Jeep Grand Cherokee, a Mazda CX-9 or a Land Rover Discovery? Hmm, each has its own distinctive styling, with the Jeep having brutish American looks, the Discovery boasting prestige British off-roader personality and the Mazda an elegant air that's way beyond its price point.

So why haven't I mentioned the Mercedes-Benz GLE or BMW X5? Because they're at least $20K more than the RX300 Luxury, which costs around $72K. If, however, you can stretch the budget to an RX 350 Sports Luxury then you will be crossing the $100K threshold into Benz and Bimmer territory. So let's talk about price.

I don’t think the RZ will be for everyone, but it has some very cool details and interesting angles, regardless.

It maintains the signature Lexus face, but this time has sunk the ‘spindle’ pattern deep into its plastic grille, making for a clean nose, but perhaps one which is a little too blank for some. No doubt it needs this smooth look to maintain as low a drag coefficient as possible.

Closer inspection reveals clever detailing, like the way the spindle pattern fades into the corners, and the whole look is lifted by how wide the car is. 

Sports Luxury versions are lifted further with contrast panels accentuating the width and shape.

My favourite angle of the RZ is the rear three-quarter. The coupe window line, split spoiler design, and cool strip tail-light, complete with three-dimensional Lexus branding, looks as contemporary as it gets, not to mention sportier and more intriguing than even some of its rivals.

Savvy EV buyers might know the RZ shares its platform and overall shape with the upcoming Toyota bZ4X and its Subaru Solterra spin-off, and while those two cars look near-identical from the outside, Lexus has clearly had a lot more creative licence with the design of its take on the formula.

Inside is perhaps where this car feels the most Lexus, however. The interior design is almost entirely unrecognisable when compared to the bZ4X, with Lexus going to town with its curvy, intricate design language, and plush detailing throughout.

Padded synthetic leather trims, which match the seats, adorn the doors, which are swapped out for ultrasuede in the case of the higher-grade Sports Luxury.

And Lexus has opted for a deep-set digital dash and massive touchscreen in place of the small column-mounted screen and tablet multimedia of its Toyota and Subaru relations. 

Everywhere you look, though, there’s attention to detail, with interesting material choices from the wacky carpet to the detailing on the centre console and in the door cards. It’s unmistakably Lexus, and feels premium.

The RX300 is a five-seater SUV and, while it would be even more practical if there was a third row, the cabin is impressively spacious.

Have a look at my photo of the entry to the RX300's back seat – that's a big doorway  for a car. Parents will understand the value of wide-opening doors and these ones made it easy for my child to climb into his car seat and for me to buckle him up. Head and legroom in the back seats are also good, even for me at 191cm tall, while the flat floor makes it easy to 'scoot' across from one side to the other.

There are two cupholders in the fold-down centre armrest in the back and small door pockets, but storage up front is better, with huge pull-out door pockets, two more cupholders and a large centre-console bin.

There's a wireless charger in the hidey hole in front of the shifter, plus six USB ports on board - the rear passengers have two of their own in the back of the centre console and the rest are up front.

The second row doesn't come with climate control, but the directional air vents back there got a workout over the 40C days we had over summer.

The RX300's boot has a cargo capacity of 506 litres, measured to the top of the second-row seat back.

Now,  the media system. Yes, it's a tech thing, but I'm calling out it out as impractical. The functionality of the trackpad used to navigate around the screen is frustratingly awkward. I think 12 swear words in a row came out of me on one occasion (no child on board, obviously), just trying to use the sat nav. The layout of the display menu is also confusing and non-intuitive.

The RZ benefits from its electric-from-the-ground-up 'e-TNGA' platform, which offers an almost flat floor, wide, spacious cabin (despite its coupe-look rear) and there are plenty of clever touches throughout to enhance practicality.

The doors each offer a pocket with integrated bottle holder up front, there’s a wide centre console with a set of large bottle holders, and the clever dual-hinged armrest console which appears in other Lexus products, and a large bay under the multimedia unit which houses additional storage alongside the wireless charger.

Interestingly, the RZ doesn’t have a glove box on the passenger side, as this area is reserved for the infra-red projector in the Sports Luxury grade. 

Instead, the car has a cutaway underneath the bridge-design centre console for additional storage. It’s a welcome and surprisingly large area which also houses a 12V power outlet. However it’s a little tricky to reach when seated up front.

Adjustability feels good for the driver with decent leg and headroom, alongside a tilt and telescopic steering column.

There are dials for the climate controls and a centre dial for the volume adjustment, although there are still many functions - from drive mode to essential safety toggles - that are buried more than one menu deep in the touchscreen, and therefore a little clumsy to jab at while you’re driving.

The back seat offers excellent space for someone my size. At 182cm tall I had leagues of knee room and decent headroom, and of course all the soft trims continue. 

Bottle holders appear in the doors and drop-down centre armrest, and rear passengers score dual adjustable air vents and two USB-C power outlets. 

There are map pockets on the back of the front seats, and the higher-end Sports Luxury grade offers dual heated seats and a separate fixed sunroof panel for the enjoyment of rear passengers.

One interesting piece, however, is the high floor. Designed to facilitate the batteries, the high floor means you feel tilted back in the rear seats, like your knees are far off the ground.

The boot, meanwhile, is also surprisingly spacious given the raked rear window. At 522 litres it outranks most mid-size SUVs, and while it seems deeper than it is tall, it should be more than sufficient for the airport run or trips to the local Golf course.

An underfloor storage area is convenient for the stowage of your charging cables.

The RZ arrives in Australia in just one 450e all-wheel drive variant, with two trim levels to pick from. Either the entry-point Luxury grade ($123,000, before on-road costs), or the top-spec Sports Luxury ($135,000, before on-roads). 

It’s entering a hot market, which every luxury brand wants a slice of. Rivals include the outgoing Audi e-tron, ($138,323) which is set to be replaced by the presumably more expensive Q8 e-tron imminently, base BMW iX ($135,900), Genesis GV70 Electrified ($127,800) or the smaller GV60 ($107,700).

Soon it will also have to duke it out with the Polestar 3 which is higher performance, starting from $132,900, and there’s always the spectre of the Tesla Model Y, which is a comparative bargain at $98,415 for the go-fast Performance version.

In terms of premium-badged rivals, though, it’s at the lower end of the price-scale, following the Lexus model of providing relative value in its space.

The entry-level Luxury grade comes standard with 18-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights and tail-lights, a massive 14.0-inch multimedia touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, built-in sat-nav, connected services, wireless charging, a digital instrument cluster, synthetic leather interior trim, dual-zone climate control, push-start ignition with keyless entry, a 360-degree parking camera, a 10-speaker premium audio system, and the full safety suite. More on that later.

For the extra spend to get into the Sports Luxury grade, the wheels are upgraded to massive 20-inch units, then you can count on adaptive headlights, acoustic glass, contrast styling panels on the exterior (with a two-tone paint option), ‘ultrasuede’ interior trim with ‘Tsuyasumi’ ornamentation, interior LED ambient lighting, an electrochromatic sunroof, ventilated and heated front seats with infra-red ambient heating for front passengers, rear outboard heated seats, memory driver’s seat, a head-up display, touch-sensitive wheel controls, and a 13-speaker Mark Levinson audio system.

Some of these features are very cool. The sunroof and ultrasuede interior trim options with the detailed ornamentation, and even wacky carpet trim in the Sports Luxury grade, are enough to take you aback, helping this Lexus make its mark on the luxury mid-size EV market. 

Will it be enough to offset some notable omissions like the lack of vehicle-to-load systems or household power outlets on the interior?

This will depend on the buyer, but I think objectively this Lexus is playing into its existing loyal customer base more than it is the new-age tech savvy buyer.

The RX300 has a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine making 175kW and 350Nm, with a six-speed automatic transmission. This peppy four-cylinder gives the RX300 a completely different feel to the lethargic-but-powerful oomph of the RX350 and its naturally aspirated V6, even though it doesn't make a great deal more grunt, at 221kw and 370Nm. There's a difference in fuel consumption, too – find out how different below.

Is the RX300 all-wheel drive? Nope, it's a front-wheel drive. Only the RX350 and RX450h are AWD.

The RZ is only available with one powertrain choice, a dual-motor all-wheel drive set-up dubbed the 450e.

Unlike some systems, this dual-motor arrangement is far from symmetrical, with by far the majority of power sent to the front wheels.

Total system output is rated at 230kW/435Nm, consisting of 150kW/266Nm from the front, and just 80kW/169Nm from the rear.

Interestingly, this is significantly more punch than the Toyota bZ4X, further setting this Lexus apart.

The RZ uses a clever torque-vectoring system to make the most of this set-up when cornering, and debuts some interesting new tech like computer-balanced brakes to keep the car level under heavy deceleration as well as new adaptive pistons in the suspension to help the car adjust to different surfaces.

Lexus says the RX300, with its 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine, should use 8.1L/100km of premium unleaded after a combination of open and urban roads. My own testing over 375.4km - taking in motorways, city and suburban call-of-daycare drop-off-duties - had our RX300 using 11.79L/100km, measured at the petrol pump. The real-world results almost always exceed that of the manufacturer's claims so you can expect the V6-powered RX350, with its claimed 9.6L/100km, to have a much higher mileage again after the same kind of usage.

Quoted range for the RZ is 470km, however this is to the more lenient NEDC testing cycle, as accepted by the Australian Design Rules. 

However, its real-world range is more like 400km, which is as it is more accurately measured to the WLTP standard.

The 71.4kWh battery pack is supported by a 150kW max DC charging speed, allowing a 10-80 per cent top-up in 30 minutes.

On a slower public AC charger, the RZ can pull a maximum speed of 11kW for charging in around six and a half hours, while single-phase charging, as you might get from a home wallbox system, at a rate of 7.0kW allows a charge time in around 10 hours.

Lexus throws in a public Type 2 charging cable, home wallbox installation, and a three-year Chargefox subscription (covering free fast charging) as part of an RZ purchase. Clever.

Officially the RZ consumes 18.7kWh/100km on the combined cycle according to the WLTP standard and I was surprised to find our car consumed 18.6kWh/100km during the test drive loop. 

For context, anything under 20kWh/100km is reasonably impressive in the premium EV space.

Good seats are the start of a good driving experience and I've not met a Lexus that doesn't have superb pews – from the uber luxury models, such as the LS500 and ES300, to sports cars such as the RCF or LC500, they all have supportive and comfy ones. Lexus somehow manages to  combine the comfort of a lounge chair yet still holds you firmly, all while placing you in a great driving position. The RX300 is no different. Large enough to fit me and my 191cm frame, yet bolstered enough to feel snug.

As for performance, the RX300, with its four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine with its six-speed automatic, is responsive and a bit hyperactive feeling. It's a very different sensation to piloting the RX350, which has a V6 and delivers its grunt in a more linear and lethargic fashion. Having driven both back-to-back I'd say the V6 and its eight-speed auto suits the RX personality better, but the 300 is a car that would have had a school report card that read: "Lots of potential, but lazy".

That said, plant the right foot and the RX350 will get the message to hurry up and can do the 0-100km/h sprint in eight seconds flat. The RX300 is keen but can't match it, with  a time of 9.2 seconds.

Either way, the ride comfort is excellent, although body control could be better - the speed bump and roundabout route I take to do the preschool drop off caused it to  get the wobbles, but give the RX300 a motorway and it'll cruise beautifully.

Forward visibility is good but vision through the tiny rear-quarter window (it's even smaller than it looks) while reverse parking isn't great.

Usually EVs, even premium ones, have a particular formula to the way they drive. 

Hefty, firm, and usually break-neck fast is the default position, with seemingly every manufacturer trying to remind buyers they too can be as fast as a Tesla.

However, the RZ breaks with the premium pack, offering a car which leans more into the luxury promise than maybe any other right now.

It’s a relatively serene space in the cabin, with notably limited wind or tyre noise, and a gentle steering tune which makes the car effortless to pivot into corners. 

This combines with the clever torque vectoring system, and lenient suspension to have the RZ simply wafting through corners.

The ride is interesting in that it is so far from the norm for the EV space. It is the opposite of firm and aggressive, with the car gently leaning into bends and barely feeling the texture of the road.

Small, rough bumps and high-frequency corrugations are dispatched with ease, the car simply floating over them, even when loaded up in corners, although, on the flip-side, longer undulations have it bouncing up and down a bit after-the-fact, perhaps a consequence of the doughy ride having to deal with the well-hidden weight of its batteries.

Despite efforts to deal with body-roll, there’s a notable amount, a consequence of the forgiving ride.

While these characteristics make the RZ a far more luxurious proposition on the road than many of its rivals, it is notable in how much it lacks a feel for the road. 

The steering is so electrically augmented it feels almost simulated, no matter which drive mode you select, and little of the road surface is communicated well to the driver. 

Even the brake pedal feels lifeless and distant, as it combines regenerative braking with the actual discs in a purely digitised progression.

The steering, acceleration and regenerative braking are all heavily altered by drive mode, with the car lacking a single-pedal drive setting, instead being fairly hands-off with the system. 

Some, looking for a particular EV drive experience, may be happy with this, others will appreciate how ‘normal’ the RZ feels in this department.

While the car feels disconnected in a sense, there’s no doubt the brakes work, the steering is effective, and it is deceptively quick. 

Its soft character might have you assuming it's slow, but a hot-hatch baiting 5.3 second 0-100km/h sprint time seems alarmingly achievable in the Sport mode.

One thing is for sure - everything described here is deliberate. Lexus has made a choice to go against the grain and do something different when it comes to the way this mid-size EV feels. 

To many existing Lexus loyalists, there will be a lot which is familiar, while providing a slice of the future, yet it might be far from the most engaging EV to drive. It certainly provides a gentler and more luxurious - if a little lifeless - alternative to the sporty status quo.

Safety comes standard on the Lexus RZ, with even the base Luxury trim-level scoring high-speed radar-based auto emergency braking (which detects vulnerable road users at night), lane keep assist (with lane departure warning), blind-spot monitoring (with rear cross-traffic alert), as well as driver attention alert, adaptive cruise control, and a tyre-pressure monitoring system as standard.

The only item reserved for the higher-grade Sports Luxury is the advanced adaptive high-beam suite.

The RZ also scores an impressive complement of 10 airbags, as well as the most recent crash structures in its fresh e-TNGA frame, however the EV mid-sizer is yet to be rated by either ANCAP or Euro NCAP.

Lexus recommends servicing the RX300 annually or every 15,000km, with the first three services capped at $595.

The duration of Lexus's factory warranty is four years/100,000km, which is a bit longer than BMW and Benz's coverage, but behind the five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranties of the mainstream brands.

One of the key Lexus selling points is its ‘Encore’ ownership promise, which is at its best on its EV models.

For the RZ this includes a complementary 7.0kW home wallbox charger installation for those with garages, the inclusion of a wall socket and public Type 2 charging cables, a three-year Chargefox subscription keeping even your high-speed charging free for the duration.

The warranty is five years, unlimited kilometres, with roadside assist included.

Capped price servicing is available over five years, weighing in at $395 per 12 month or 15,000km interval, whichever comes first.

Lexus will also organise to pick up and drop off a loan vehicle at service time, while the high-voltage battery is covered by up to 10 years of warranty if the logbook is adhered to at an authorised Lexus workshop.

The brand also offers extra benefits through its ownership program, like deals at hotels and restaurants, as well as invites to events like track or golf days.

This is an impressive above-and-beyond suite of offerings befitting a premium brand, although it should be pointed out some premium EV rivals offer service intervals which are twice as long, and even free servicing for the entire warranty period.