The Lexus RZ’s Virtual Shifting Is Fascinating—But It Doesn’t Deliver
The most frequent criticism of electric vehicles I hear from traditional car enthusiasts isn’t the charging times, or the iffy cold-weather performance, or even fears about battery longevity. It’s that EVs don’t have a “soul.” Battery-powered cars aren’t made with any passion, these critics say, nor do they offer the sounds and physical sensations that define a truly great gas-powered machine.
I take issue with that line of thinking. To me, EVs are just different. A person can be just as enthusiastic about powering their house with their car or using instant torque as they are about engine sounds and a good manual gearbox. (And besides: go drive something like a CVT-equipped Nissan Sentra and tell me all gas cars have “soul.”)
Photo by: Patrick George
Some automakers are attempting to bridge that gap by making EVs perform a bit more like gas-powered enthusiast cars. The best example of this is still the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, a car that shouldn’t work but does. With 601 horsepower, simulated engine sounds and electronic wizardry that mimics an eight-speed paddle-shift gearbox, the Ioniq 5 N is more Nissan GT-R than Tesla Model Y. And I haven’t met anyone who doesn’t love that Hyundai after they try it.
Now, Lexus wants to put the same kind of old-school passion into at least one of its EVs, the new Lexus RZ 550e F Sport. It throws something new into the mix: “Interactive Manual Drive,” or “M Mode,” both of which are fancy names for the simulated eight-speed transmission sensation operated with paddle shifters on the steering wheel. To really drive the experience home, this Lexus offers simulated engine sounds, too.
Photo by: Patrick George
It all sounds great on paper. In reality, the new RZ, powerful as it is, proved there’s a fine line between successfully capturing classic gas-car character and missing the mark.
(Full Disclosure: Lexus loaned me an RZ 550e F Sport for a week of testing.)
2026 Lexus RZ 550e F Sport
Base Price
$47,295 (RZ 350e)
As-Tested Price
$58,295 (RZ 550e F Sport)
Battery
76.96 kWh
EV Range
229 miles (RZ 550e F Sport)
Charge Time
23% to 80% in 25 minutes at Tesla Supercharger (observed)
Charge Type
Tesla-style NACS, max 150 kW
Output
402 hp, 396 lb-ft of torque
Drive Type
Dual-Motor AWD
Speed 0-60 MPH
4.1 seconds
2026 Lexus RZ 550e F Sport: Specs And Features
The Toyota bZ’s upmarket cousin received a raft of updates for 2026. Once, the RZ was dogged by subpar range, software that was ill-suited to electric driving and mediocre charging speeds. Now, Lexus’s electric crossover boasts up to 301 miles of range over the old car’s maximum 266, plus a better overall charging curve and a Tesla-style North American Charging Standard (NACS) plug.
Photo by: Patrick George
Lexus also added the 550e F Sport trim to the top of the range. That flavor of RZ gets dual-motor all-wheel-drive, a sport-tuned suspension with unique body bits, a power boost to 402 horsepower and 396 lb-ft of torque, and a zero to 60 mph time of just four seconds. It also gets a 76.96 kWh battery, the biggest in the Toyota EV family (until the new Highlander arrives, anyway.) Meanwhile, the RZ’s yoke steering wheel remains MIA in the U.S. market.
But a lot of the upsides end there. Like the other updated Toyota EVs, the RZ’s software isn’t exactly world-class, still unable to locate chargers natively from the navigation system. And then there’s the tradeoff that’s common to many performance-focused EVs: a big range hit.
Photo by: Patrick George
The RZ 550e F Sport only offers 229 miles of range, and in the bitter winter I tested it in, it delivered around 160 miles if I was lucky. This meant I had to fast-charge it twice at two Tesla stations to get from New York City to my house in upstate New York, a mere 120-mile highway drive. It was a disappointing experience.
2026 Lexus RZ 550e F Sport: On The Road
In theory, this trim of RZ should make up for its range deficiencies with its driving thrills. It is certainly quick; I’ll give it that. As I’ve written before, the cars on Toyota’s e-TNGA platform are actually pretty fun to drive, especially in AWD form. They put down plenty of power and tend to feel more agile and less heavy than competitors from General Motors or Hyundai. (The RZ is still 5,000 pounds, mind you, but it carries that weight well.)
Photo by: Patrick George
On a good back road, the RZ in F Sport guise was indeed a playful and confident companion. It dives into corners well, communicates through its steering wheel better than many EVs and clearly has a chassis tuned by people who care driving. In a straight line, it packs quite a punch; that power output is a good 60 horsepower more than an AWD Toyota bZ, for example, and it feels it when you jam the accelerator. Highway passing is an absolute breeze, to a degree that will probably surprise people.
While the RZ historically hasn’t been a great EV, it has always been a fine Lexus, and that tradition continues here. When you aren’t jamming on the go-fast pedal, it is comfortable, smooth and unbelievably insulated from outside noise. The sport suspension is also just-right, handling twisty roads well but still proving compliant enough on long highway drives.
Photo by: Patrick George
About That Simulated Transmission
Normally, the paddle shifters on the steering wheel control the RZ’s level of regenerative braking. But when you hit the “M” button on the center console, the car’s personality changes a bit. The driver-facing digital display becomes a quasi-tachometer with “up” and “down” shift indicators, and the cabin’s silence is replaced with a raspy engine note and exhaust drone. You now have eight simulated gears to play with.
After that, it’s just like any gas car with the same setup, or the Ioniq 5 N: left paddle goes down a gear, right paddle goes up. The sound of the car changes to match your rev levels (and you can adjust its volume from the central display).
The RZ lurches back and forth just a bit as you shift at speed, as a gas car would; it even feels dialed up somewhat for effect, offering “gear changes” that aren’t quite as smooth as what you’d get in a BMW equipped with a ZF eight-speed automatic. And, perhaps most impressively, you can bounce off an artificial redline without being forced to upshift, and your acceleration will bog if you’re in the wrong “gear.”
Photo by: Patrick George
Of course, there are no gears at work here at all. This is software modulating the power output from the electric motors, while the rest of the car delivers tactile feedback and a simulated engine sound through the speakers.
On the Ioniq 5 N—a very different car, but the only real point of comparison—the simulated shifts and engine sounds are core to the experience. They’re fully integrated into the car’s personality. In the Lexus, by contrast, the artificial shifting feels tacked on. It doesn’t match the RZ’s character, and instead comes off as muted and unnecessary.
Photo by: Patrick George
A big issue here is the sound itself. The “engine” noises just feel more recorded, more synthesized than on the Hyundai. It reminds me of the complaints people had for years about car sounds in the Gran Turismo games—kinda there, but just never exactly right. The tenor of this sound isn’t all that compelling. To me, it sounds close to the 3.5-liter V6 Lexus uses in several models, which is a largely forgettable engine. I’d be far too generous if I compared it to the 5.0-liter V8 in the old Lexus IS 500, which is actually a fantastic-sounding motor. That’s not what you get here.
When you’re hustling an Ioniq 5 N through the corners or a track in anger, you may forget you’re in an EV at all. It feels and sounds like some high-strung rally car for the street. The RZ is different. It feels like a typical Lexus sedan fitted with paddle shifters, and you have to wonder how many owners would ever actually use them. I know that after I tried M Mode a bit on the RZ once, I didn’t use it all that much.
Verdict
Photo by: Patrick George
Let’s be real: the RZ is probably never going to be the kind of volume-selling EV that will challenge the Model Y’s persistent dominance. But it does feel like a testbed for new technologies, part of an edict from Toyota’s “Master Driver” chairman and chief EV skeptic to make battery-powered cars that are more compelling to drive.
I drove a version of this system on a prototype in Japan that was far more interesting because it had a clutch pedal and an actual stick. The engineers were trying fun things there, like toggling between pre-set engine sounds and simulated gear ratios that would make the car feel like everything from a Toyota Tundra to a V10-powered Lexus LFA. Their point was that you can do a lot with this idea, and I think more evolved versions are likely on future performance-focused EVs.
Photo by: Patrick George
I welcome this weird era of experimentation. If an automaker can pull them off in a way that’s convincing and enjoyable, and what customers want, then great. But simulating gas-car sensations shouldn’t be the standard for what a great electric performance car feels like, and if anyone feels different, I welcome them to challenge an Audi RS E-Tron GT or a Tesla Model 3 Performance at the stoplight.
Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com
