Just got an email from Lexus with a link to the RZ450e reveal.
You have to really dig to find it, but near the bottom, Lexus admits that the range will be "Up to 225 miles."
225 miles? Who is impressed by that? Certainly not folks who use their RX for highway trips.
I can go over 500 miles in my 2021 RX 450h on a single tank of fuel.

 

Name an EV that is great for long highway hauls.

 

Yes and that is 225 miles with everything turned off and in the summer!
In real life you're looking at 50% of that. EV are only good in an urban environment so far.
There will be improvements, but I don't thing that will happen for another 10 or more years and by then who knows what other form of energy we'll have.

 

Such a bold and completely wrong statement. Thankfully someone has done their homework:
https://insideevs.com/reviews/443791...-test-results/

The average is -1.4% and median is -7.1%. 50% less range is something you obviously pulled out of somewhere.

Gas engines have been around 200 years and electric engines over 100 years. While the rate of tech advancing is astonishing, there's a good chance we'll still be using gas and electric 10 years from now.

Majority of Americans don't make 500 mile trips regularly (also who the heck would want to?).

 

I do not understand which part is wrong, I KNOW that all testing is done when the drain & performance of the battery is at its best, after all they have to sell the idea.
Are you saying that with A/C on and radio in summer and with heather, heated seats and radio in the winter one gets 225?

 

While most of us don't routinely make 500 mile trips, what happens when you have to make just one - the EV is just not a great option for it.

 

EV is definitely not for everyone at the moment, if you do any kind of towing, like even a jetski, the range drops significantly. I'll do a hybrid for my next ride, will see where EVs and charging infrastructure is after that.

 

One trip we make frequently (monthly) is to visit family who live about 220 miles away. They have no EVs themselves, so the RZ would require us to find a commercial charging station before we arrive at their home. Supposed "fast chargers" take 30 minutes to give you 90 miles of range. So, getting 225 miles of range would take at least 75 minutes (I understand charging above 80% takes longer per kW added). At 30 cents per minute, that's $22.50, or, 10 cents per mile of range added. As a bonus, we'd extend the time of our trip and spend those extra 75 minutes at a delightful gas station. Uh, no!

 

This thread has taken a different direction, but I’ll add my thoughts as well. My wife and I have two vehicles, so we have thought seriously about getting an electric car for just one of them, while keeping a hybrid for any road trips. Our plan would be to use the electric car merely for commuter duty. We just aren’t “all in” on electric yet because the infrastructure and charging technology needs to mature before we are ready. As it stands today, we are very intrigued but not ready to take the leap yet. It sounds like the RZ is likely to be too expensive for my comfort anyway.

 

IMO, I think hybrids are best solution for longer range and saving fuel. Of course government doesn't know what's going on and hybrid isn't on their future list of vehicles. The electric technology needs improvement to the range, charge time and safer batteries before it's a good option. Not sure when Solid State batteries will come to the market.

 

Your statement about losing 50% of range in real-life is 100% wrong. You can do your own learning as the article discloses the conditions in which they test, but for example in 30F-40F weather the ipace was down 16.7% range. In fact if you want to look at extremes, the Ioniq was down 24% in range but the Taycan outperformed by 37% range. And these are all at constant highway speeds, which people regard as the worst for EVs.

You would be surprised to learn that A/C, heater, radio, and heated seats don't use much energy, especially when compared to moving a several ton EV. For example, when the insulated car reaches it's specified temp, the A/C or heater cycle on and off to maintain the temp only.

If the charging infrastructure is not set up in your area, take your second car if that is an option. Best of both worlds.

If you don't have a second car, simply rent a car. Think of the cost savings of not having to own a second car.

Back to topic, while I agree 225mi range is low, the RZ will probably work for a lot of people just as many people are able to get away with using only the plug-in range in their hybrids. Though as luxury car owners, we are spoiled by no-compromise solutions. Lexus has been slowly moving away from the luxury market and toward the premium market anyway.

 

I think we just learned the V6 is out; see article below on the 2023 Highlander;

2023 Toyota Highlander drops the V6 for a turbo inline-four | Autoblog
2023 Toyota Highlander First Look: Less Horsepower, Fewer Cylinders, More Torque (motortrend.com)

 

No surprise if this is confirmed.

 

Have there been Turbo problems with the NX or any other Toyota?

 

Doesn’t that engine require premium gas? Once you adjust for that, the so-called economy savings of the smaller engine is pretty much gone.