2026 Lexus RZ EV First Look: More Range and a Powerful New F-Sport Trim

The Lexus RZ is the Japanese luxury automaker's first foray into fully electric vehicles, launching in 2023 with all-wheel drive only but later adapting to include a front-drive version with more range. Now, for the 2026 model year, the RZ will see more changes, including a upgraded battery pack, more efficient systems, and a new top-trim F Sport model. The luxury EV's debut is happening for Europe first, but we expect these changes to come stateside as well by the end of 2025.

First up, let's get that hot new RZ F Sport model out of the way. It comes with the automaker's Direct4 dual-motor all-wheel drive setup, generating 402 horsepower, and now comes with the option to simulate gear shifts. The system simulates an eight-speed range of artificial gears and tunes the torque and power accordingly, based on driver inputs using paddles behind the steering wheel, as if you were down- or upshifting a traditional car.

Well, when we say "steering wheel," we mean the funky Lexus electronic steering setup, which comes with more of a handle than a wheel—at least in Europe; U.S. availability (it's pictured here with a traditional wheel) is forthcoming. The RZ F Sport now also gets lightweight 20-inch wheels and a two-tone (black and another color) paint job with a special new coat of metallic grey available, while lesser versions can be had with 20s but come standard with 18s.

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Bigger Batteries, More Range

There's a range of other improvements that come to the entire RZ lineup, not just the new F Sport trim. That includes a new 77-kWh battery pack with changed chemistry for more efficiency and range, as well as a redeveloped Lexus e-axle setup that also affords greater efficiency; water cooling has also now been employed for battery and motor temperature management, which should be an improvement. Lexus claims up to 100 km or just more than 60 additional miles of range has been added over the existing RZ, depending on configuration, a welcome development given how the U.S.-market RZ currently tops out at a mediocre 266 miles of range (and as low as 196!).

There are three available configurations now, including the RZ350e front-wheel drive trim good for 221 hp, RZ450e with 380 hp, and again now 402 hp for the new RZ550e F Sport—enough to chop the RZ's zero-to-60-mph time down to only 4.1 seconds, per Lexus. (The RZ350e is good for a so-so 7.2-second run to 60 mph, while the RZ450e can nail the run in 4.9 seconds, according to Lexus.) The lower two trims get a 74.7-kWh battery, while the F Sport indulges in the larger 77-kWh unit.

Lexus says the U.S.-market RZs will deliver up to 300 miles of range in front-wheel-drive, single-motor RZ350e guise. That number drops to 260 miles on the RZ450e when you add a second electric motor for all-wheel-drive. Finally, there's that 408-hp RZ550e F Sport variant, which Lexus estimates is only capable of a piddling 225 miles of range.

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Better Charging, New Port

Additionally, the two all-wheel-drive trims of the updated RZ can tow double what the old model could, which is now just more than 3,300 pounds. There's also a new 11 kW onboard AC charger to help juice up the battery quicker than before on Level 2 chargers, and the new battery temperature management system should also improve charge times and especially in varied or extreme climate conditions like cold weather. Other changes include an effort to minimize more vibrations in the cabin to reduce NVH, as well as the additional of more sound deadening under the rear seats and in the tonneau cover. Oh, and the 2026 RZ adopts a North American Charging Standard (NACS) charge port design, like Tesla's.

As we said before, the new RZ is launching in Europe first, with a timeline for America placing its on-sale date later in 2025, likely pending the rapidly shifting climate of U.S. tariffs on goods crossing the borders, as the RZ is assembled in Japan for now.

This story was initially published in March 2025 and has since been updated with U.S.-market-specific imagery, power figures, trim levels, and range estimates.