The Lexus RZ crossover has lost all-wheel drive and dropped in price

Sales of the front-wheel drive version of the electric car have begun in Japan: the RZ 300e version has already been added to the range. The power plant is different: the new product does not have an electric motor at the rear, but a unit with a capacity of 204 horsepower is installed at the front. The traction battery is the same (71.4 kilowatt-hours), but due to simplified design, the range has increased by 21 percent: from 494 to 599 kilometers (WLTC).

The Lexus RZ debuted a year and a half ago, but at first the crossover was available only in the all-wheel drive modification RZ 450e (313 horsepower). Now the line has been expanded, and improvements to the chassis have been reduced to installing more modest base wheels (now 18-inch) and reconfiguring the suspension.

It seems that Lexus did not seek to reduce the price of the RZ, because even the front-wheel drive crossover is available in the only rich version, Version L. For this reason, the savings on the purchase are small: only 600 thousand yen (about $4,100). The base Lexus RZ 300e can be purchased for 8.2 million yen ($56 thousand), and for the RZ 450e you will have to pay 8.8 million yen ($60 thousand).

For now, the single-wheel drive version is available only in Japan with right-hand drive, but over time the sales geography will certainly expand. The “global” status of the RZ electric car is beyond doubt: the model will soon be offered on a new continent – South America.

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