Lexus RZ 550e F Sport 2026 Review

Generally, if a product is significantly improved the price goes up. However, Lexus has decided to slash the entry price of its electric medium SUV by about $40,000 depending on the variant.

It means the current high-grade 2026 RZ 550e F Sport we’re testing here is cheaper than the previous entry grade. At $104,920 it seems like a bargain in comparison.

If you don’t want the ‘sporty’ one, the base model 500e Luxury starts at $84,500 and the mid-spec 500e Sports Luxury will set you back $91,000 – all prices exclude on-road costs.

Lexus had to do something to ignite the fire on sales, which have been lacklustre at best. Plus, with the likes of the BMW iX3, Mercedes-Benz GLC 400 and Volvo EX60 also launching in Australia, this niche and premium genre of the medium SUV segment is about to get heated.

The RZ is covered by a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, while the battery’s coverage can be extended to 10 years if you service with Lexus. Which is something you’ll want to do for the first three years as access to the brand’s Encore program is complimentary. It includes 24/7 roadside assistance, service car loans and invites to exclusive experiences (at a price premium).

Service intervals are rather short for an EV at every 12 months or 15,000km, while a five-years (or 75,000km) capped-price plan comes to $1975 – or $395 per visit.

Visually, the 2026 Lexus RZ 550e F Sport draws on the angular lines the manufacturer has become known for, but with an added futuristic design twist.

It also leans into the performance bent with functional ducts, with the front items there for brake cooling. The ‘horns’ acting as part of the rear wing are polarising, though.

Differentiating the F Sport variant from the rest of the range are super gloss black 20-inch alloy wheels, unique front and rear spoilers, a solid roof (instead of the panoramic sunroof in the 500e Sports Luxury), painted brake calipers and F Sport-specific bumpers and grille garnish.

The cabin is cloaked in Ultrasuede upholstery, black and grey interior trim, sports front seats and aluminium pedals. We’ll get to the yoke soon.

As standard, the RZ 550e F Sport comes with dynamic, auto-levelling LED headlights, cornering fog lamps, LED tail-lights, acoustic glass, heated side mirrors, roof rails, a powered tailgate and smart key entry/start with E-Latch door handles.

The front sport seats are powered with eight-way adjustment, two-way lumbar support and three memory settings (driver only). They’re also heated and ventilated, while the rear outboard seats and the steering wheel are heated, too. The dual-zone climate control comes with nanoeX and a humidity sensor. However, the two higher grades also gain radiant heating.

Five hues are available to choose from – Sonic Selente, Graphite Black, Sonic Chrome, Neutrino Grey and Sonic Iridium, with the latter two options being a dual-tone finish for $4200. Graphite Black is the only included colour, with premium paint being $1750.

A five-star ANCAP rating from 2023 carries over, with the 2026 Lexus RZ 550e F Sport packing 10 airbags, dual ISOFIX points and a trip of top-tether anchorages.

It isn’t short on active systems either and it gains autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with cyclist and pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise control, lane trace assist with lane departure warning, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert.

Parking also shouldn’t be an issue with sensors front and rear, a reversing camera, 360-degree monitor and intelligent parking assist – which basically means it can do it largely, but not completely, by itself.

Yes, it does come with road sign recognition (with speed warnings) as well as driver monitoring. Neither are overly intrusive, although it can read speed signs incorrectly. The active lane keeping is reasonably well calibrated, too.

While not the biggest item on the market, the 2026 Lexus RZ 550e F Sport’s cabin is dominated by the 14.0-inch touchscreen for the infotainment.

It’s joined by another display for the instrument cluster. Thanks to the yoke steering wheel, the 12.3-inch screen sits higher and further away to be more in the driver’s eye line, though the resolution is quite poor.

Being a Lexus, it features a 13-speaker Mark Levinson premium sound system, which lives up to the acoustic benchmark set by the brand. There is also wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a Qi wireless charge pad, five USB-C ports and three (yes, three) 12V outlets.

Native sat-nav, DAB+ digital radio, Bluetooth and voice activation are all part of the deal. So is Lexus Connected Services with an inbuilt Data Communication Module.

The facelifted RZ is so heavily upgraded it's almost a new car and it comes with renewed resolve under the ‘bonnet’, too. The 2026 Lexus RZ 550e F Sport packs dual electric motors, one on each axle, to create all-wheel drive – otherwise known as DIRECT4.

The e-motors now combine for a total of 300kW and 537Nm, which isn’t too shabby. Especially when you consider it can launch from zero to 100km/h in just 4.4 seconds.

On paper, that’s more than enough grunt, though the straight-line performance doesn’t feel quite as rapid from the seat of your pants. The dual e-motors can also mimic a variable torque split, ranging anywhere from 80:20 to 0:100 or even 50:50 – and everything in between.

Lexus is also taking inspiration from Hyundai’s N Division, too. The F Sport gains an M Mode – or Lexus ‘Interactive Manual Drive’. And you guessed it, that means ‘manual gear changes’ with eight theoretical ratios to play with. Like the 5 and 6 N, the RZ 550e will also hit a fake limiter.

However, it isn’t quite as well done as the Hyundai version. The main reason for this is the synthetic sound that tries to be a mishmash of spaceship and a traditional internal combustion engine. It doesn’t work. And the placement of the paddles on the yoke isn’t ergonomically friendly, either.

It’s a gimmick you’ll use to show passengers at best.

This is an area that needed work. Hence, Lexus upped the battery pack to a 104-cell lithium-ion unit with water cooling to not only facilitate the extra oomph but also increase the charging rate and decrease degradation.

While the 500 variants use a 74.7kWh battery (up from 71.4kWh), the 2026 Lexus RZ 550e F Sport houses a 77kWh item for a driving range of 437km. That’s 23km less than the entry-level variants, which are fitted with low-rolling-resistance tyres.

AC charging doubles to 22kW, while the maximum DC rate is 150kW. That equates to a 10-100 per cent replenishment in 3.5 hours for the former and a 10-80 per cent fill of about 30 minutes for the latter.

Lexus claims an energy consumption of 18.8kWh/100km. Throughout city, suburban, highway and road-testing conditions, we came close to that figure with 19.4kWh/100km. Those ‘flappy’ paddles for gear changes also manipulate the regenerative braking level when not in the sportier modes.

Odd... That’s the simplest way of describing the feeling behind the wheel (sorry, we mean yoke) of the 2026 Lexus RZ 550e F Sport. And even after a week living with it, the oddities remain. Getting used to it is a slow burn.

However, the yoke isn’t the whole story here, especially given this is the first battery-electric F Sport variant. So, despite using the same e-TNGA platform as the rest of the range (as well as the Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Soltera), it needs to perform dynamically.

The F Sport gains retuned spring rates and dampers for a more planted feel, while the chassis has been strengthened with added bracing. That’s on top of the RZ’s revamped e-motors with a broader spectrum of torque distribution to aid its handling ability.

Just don’t go thinking it’s a true performance variant. It isn’t.

Instead, the 550e F Sport responds best when not being hustled. At 2155kg it isn’t too heavy compared to other EVs, but it still feels its weight through corners – especially when encountering a mid-corner undulation. The passive dampers provide decent ride quality in a range of situations, but the stiffer F Sport doesn’t quite glide over city bumps quite as well as the lower grades.

The DIRECT4 system provides plenty of purchase. As do the Dunlop Sport Maxx tyres, even in the wintry wet conditions during road testing.

And of course, then there’s the steering. Thanks to the (dramatically) variable, active-ratio rack of the “One Motion Grip” steer-by-wire system, little input is required to gain significant turn – 200 degrees of rotation from centre to lock.

Or, in layman’s terms, a tiny bit more than one turn to lock when ‘normal’ cars require nearly three times as much. It means you never have to take your hands off the ‘yoke’ to perform tight turns at slow speeds.

It’s unnatural at first, though, and almost computer game-esque with instantaneous responses. There’s a sensation that the RZ is crabbing when it isn’t. Mercifully you get used to it and, thankfully, the ratio at higher speeds slackens so it isn’t overly twitchy.

Yet, it’s never truly calming and feedback is numb and inconsistent no matter the drive mode. Ultimately, it just leaves you wondering why Lexus is trying to reinvent the wheel. And that maybe this quirky tech should be left to the already distinctive Tesla.

The 2026 Lexus RZ 550e F Sport is a pleasing place to be. It makes you feel special.

The build quality is appreciably premium, sustainable materials are used throughout, while even some of the design elements and graphics are laser cut.

At night, the cabin comes to life with ambient illumination. Light beams are projected onto the door cards (in various selectable colours) and, according to Lexus, are said to be “inspired by moonlight reflecting off the surface of the ocean” … Marketing jargon aside, it looks cool.

It’s also whisper quiet with a new floor silencer, added sound deadening material and double-glazed windows. Even the radiant heating panels work, which are located under the steering column and where the glove box would usually be…

Which leads us on to the negatives. There’s no glove box, so storage is limited and exposed underneath the floating centre console – which houses the phonebook-sized manual.

If you’re someone who uses the steering wheel as leverage when getting out of the car, you’ll find yourself repeatedly air grabbing at the yoke. It also generates a sensation of sitting too high and some drivers might find the yoke’s required hand positioning uncomfortable.

Backseat passengers aren’t short of leg and headroom, while the plush carpets throughout are very Lexus. And appreciated. So are the backseat air vents, as well as USB ports, map pocket and central arm rest.

The 522-litre boot is decent without being commodious. It expands to 1451L with the 60/40-split folding rear seats stowed, while there’s a hidden compartment underneath the floor for storing the charge cables and tyre-repair kit.

If you’re all about tech gizmos and electrification wrapped up in a luxurious package, then the 2026 Lexus RZ 550e F Sport will be like all your Christmases come at once.

The fact that it’s now vastly cheaper is the prized gift. Although, it has to be, with a slew of European EV SUVs ready to arrive on our shores.

However, even with the lowered monetary bar, this current top-spec variant could be a hard sell with traditional buyers of the brand. Being a Toyota bZ4X with opulence, the 550e F Sport’s concept might be too difficult to grasp for a conservative crowd.

That’s where the 500e versions come to the fore by being new age, but also approachable, especially when the added performance isn’t really required. Essentially, the mid-life shakeup of the range is worthwhile and should see interest in the Lexus RZ rise.

2026 Lexus RZ 550e F Sport at a glance:
Price: $104,920 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: Two permanent magnet synchronous electric motors
Output: 300kW/537Nm
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 77kWh lithium-ion
Claimed range: 437km (WLTP)
Energy consumption: 18.8kWh/100km (WLTP)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2023)

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