THE LEXUS RZ-450e
A Charge To The Future
While electric vehicles have become increasingly ubiquitous on our city streets, giving up the gas pump remains problematic. Living in a single-family house with a garage certainly makes it a more manageable proposition with the installation of an in-garage standard household charger that runs on 120 voltages, allowing for overnight charging.
But that option is only sometimes available for apartment / brownstone / condominium / townhome big city dwellers, so planning to get juiced up is more of a project. There are apps to help you pinpoint public EV charging stations (like Electrify America, ChargePoint, EVgo, and PlugShare), which also show how many charge stations are at a given location and if those stations are in use or available.
FOR LOCAL AND SHORT ROAD TRIPS
We tested the new 2024 Lexus RZ 450e luxury all-wheel drive model, that marque’s top-tier all-electric SUV, and found much to like about the vehicle. With a price tag starting at $65,580, this elegant 313 horsepower that comfortably seats five has plenty of bells and whistles, including an aerodynamically designed exterior that makes it look more like a sports car than a sport utility vehicle. The luxury model is blinged with 20-inch split 10-spoke alloy wheels and a blade taillamp that slices through the darkness, giving it a cool, burnished look.
Inside, the front seats adjust eight ways with a button, and the driver’s seat adds a two-way lumbar adjustment, creating a bespoke comfort cockpit. They’ll heat up, too, if you’d like (and so will the steering wheel). Meanwhile, the second-row seats are also comfortable, with good legroom and drop-down abilities that allow plenty of added cargo space when needed.
This Lexus EV drives with pep and verve, quick acceleration, a silent interior ride, and all the safety features one expects in a 2024 vehicle. That means nine airbags, blind-spot mirror indicators, headlights that sense the road and automatically switch from low to high, parking assist, and more.
Lexus says the RZ 450e has a range of 196 miles when using 20-inch wheels (220 miles with 18-inch wheels), which means it can easily do all your local errands and short road trips on a single charge.
LONG ROAD TRIPS TAKE PLANNING
Experience proves that taking a big road trip is problematic in many of the EVs on the road today, for when a manufacturer lists a mileage range, you’ll only get 80 percent of that at a public charging station in about 30 minutes. So, with an average range of about 200 miles in the Lexus, your charge only fills up to 160 miles when you are traveling.
If you’re heading to Philadelphia from midtown Manhattan, you will most likely make it on a single charge, but Boston or Washington, D.C.? It’s not even close unless you leave with a fully charged battery. So, driving an electric car on a road trip means factoring in the times you must stop to get more juice, which inherently takes longer than filling up a gas tank.
Consider extremely cold weather as well. When contemplating any electric vehicle, below-freezing temperatures significantly affect charging times. In freezing weather, the car may refuse to take a charge at all.
The range is also affected by excessive heat, as well as by the speed you drive (faster equals less range) and the use of things like the audio system and the heating and air conditioning. Hence, it helps to be vigilant about the factors that suck energy from the vehicle.
The plus side is that electricity costs much less than gasoline and does not give off the climate-altering emissions that burning gas does. That winning combination is why most car manufacturers are phasing out gas-powered vehicles, with many planning to produce only electric versions by 2030. This means that now is the time to get used to using an electric car, and the Lexus RZ 450e is a lovely way to make that happen in 2024. Just don’t try to go too far in a hurry!
For more information about the Lexus RZ 450e, visit lexus.com/models/RZ