A big brother to the Lexus UX300e might be just a year away.

AS the national Lexus distributor readies to launch its first electric car, the parent brand in Japan is letting slip detail about a slightly larger sister ship with more advanced technology that’s probably set to be in production by this time next year.

The Lexus RZ places on the same e-TNGA architecture as the Toyota BZ4X and Subaru Solterra, which are expected to come on sale here in late 2022 and early 2023 respectively.

Lexus says the RZ draws inspiration from the LF-Z concept the brand unveiled earlier this year (as seen in today’s video), but with a more upright and sports utility-like profile.

That design study had a 90kWh battery feeding two electric motors, enabling combined outputs of 400kW and 700Nm, 600km of WLTP claimed range and a 0-100kmh time of three seconds.

That’s a big step up from the BZ4X and Solterra, let alone the Lexus UX300e electric about to enter New Zealand circulation in a publicly-available $79,900 Limited specification.

The latter has a single motor making 150kW and 300Nm fed by a 54kWh lithium-ion battery and delivering an approximate 360km driving range. Zero to 100kmh is 7.5 seconds and top speed is 160kmh.

Full technical detail for BZ4X and Solterra have yet to be shared by their makers, but those cars present in dual and single motor formats, with the most powerful editions under each brand pairs two 80kW electric motors to develop 160kW combined and achieve 460kms’ range on a charge. The front-drive models have a 150kW electric motor and 530 kilometres’ range. The e-TNGA models support a maximum DC fast charging rate of up to 150kW.

The RZ is already being touted as the first fully-developed Lexus electric car; a distinction the UX300e cannot claim as it is a re-engineering of the UX that was initially designed for fossil-fuelled powertrains and still configures with petrol engines here.

Teaser images of the RZ seen today confirm key concept design cues – such as the full-width tail-light bar, rear pillar graphic and front fascia design – will continue into the production equivalent.

There’s also conjecture the RZ’s fundamental dimensions will be the same as those cited for the BZ4X/Solterra and overall proportions including door placement, roof height, windscreen rake and charging port location also appear to be identical.

That suggests it will be around the same size as the current Lexus NX, a bigger brother to the UX that has just undergone a freshen-up, with the range set to expand in the first half of 2022 to include a plug-in hybrid model.

Lexus New Zealand has called NZ media to a virtual conference on Thursday to discuss the UX300e (above), whose details are already reasonably well known, the make having drip-fed out information over the past few months.

It will become the new flagship placing above the UX 200 petrol, which starts at $59,990, and the next step UX 250h hybrid variants, which hit almost $77,000 in top Limited form. These have been sold locally since early 2019.

The UX300e weighs in at a hefty 1900kg, rides 20mm lower to the ground than other UX variants and has specially designed alloy wheels and a flat underbody to improve aerodynamics.

Lexus NZ general manager Andrew Davis has previously called the UX300e the first of many new electrified Lexus models and cited that the brand will have 20 new or improved models, including more than 10 electrified BEV, PHEV or HEV models, by 2025.

Lexus’ battery-involved push until now has been with non-mains reliant hybrid electric cars, the first coming in 2006. Hybrid drivetrains account for 70 percent of Lexus NZ sales.