Lexus RZ

Upmarket Japanese brand takes on the BMW iX3 with an all-new electric SUV that's big on comfort Price from £62,600 On sale May

- Will Nightingale

LEXUS IS ALWAYS keen to point out that it was ahead of the game with 'electrification'. You can't argue with that; it was the first premium brand to launch a hybrid back in 2005 and it's been a major proponent of the fuel-saving technology ever since.

But it has undoubtedly been behind the curve in removing the petrol engine from the equation and going fully electric. Indeed, its sole attempt to date was an electric version of its Volkswagen Tiguan-sized UX plug-in hybrid, and it was rather compromised, with a poor range, slow charging, a tiny boot and a high price.

Thankfully, the new, larger RZ is an altogether more complete proposition. Depending on wheel size, it can officially do 251-270 miles on a charge not far behind its BMW iX3 and Genesis Electrified GV70 rivals.

That's impressive when you consider that the RZ's 64kWh battery is much smaller than those models'. It can accept a charge at rates of up to 150kW, too, so a 10-80% top-up can be covered off in half an hour. That's a match for many rivals, although the Electrified GV70, in ideal conditions, takes just 18 minutes.