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Lexus RZ 450e EV to offer unique steer-by-wire technology

The RZ 450e features a 71.4kWh battery with a range of 394km with 20-inch wheels and 426km with 18-inch wheels

The RZ 450e is Lexus’ first pure battery electric vehicle (EV) for global markets and city driving.

The Nagoya, Japan-based, Toyota-owned automobile brand showed off the EV to several journalists at Château La Coste, a winery and hotel about an hour north of Marseille in France.

The automobile company reportedly stated that it believes its steer-by-wire technology aims to be the start of a new dawn for electric vehicles. For those unaware, the steer-by-wire technology seeks to do away with the physical connection between a vehicle’s steering wheel and its wheels and instead employs electrically operated motors to alter the wheels’ direction.

The RZ 450e is built on Toyota’s E-TNGA platform and boasts a 230kW power output, with a dual-motor four-wheel-drive system. While the RZ 450e’s isn’t the fastest vehicle out there, the company claims that its Direct4 system, which distributes force to ensure the car remains planted on the road, offers a better sense of driving than its rivals.

Lexus points out that the RZ 450e isn’t just a rejigged Toyota bZ4X. There are differences between the two vehicles, however. The RZ 450e’s boot is larger than the Toyota bZ4X’s, and its interior and paint job options outshine the bZ4X as well.

The RZ 450e features a 71.4kWh battery with a range of roughly 394km (about 245 miles) with 20-inch wheels and approximately about 426km (roughly 265 miles) with 18-inch wheels. However, it’s worth noting that the battery size is not variable. Further, the RZ 450e has an 11kW charger that can recharge the battery to 80 percent in 30 minutes using DC fast charging.

In Canada, as shared by autotrader, the RZ 450e will be available in three trims starting at $64,950. We’re uncertain when exactly the vehicle will release here though the automaker has said that the vehicle will go on sale “this winter.”


Image credit: Lexus

Via: Engadget

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