Lexus TZ 2027: luxury electric twin to Toyota Kluger confirmed for Australia, to compete with Volvo EX90, Kia EV9

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Toyota’s luxury brand, Lexus, has confirmed its largest electric SUV is coming to Australia. The Lexus TZ will be displayed at next month’s Melbourne Cup Carnival, ahead of its Australian launch in 2027.

Much like the GX is a posh Toyota Prado, the TZ is heavily based on the next-generation Toyota Kluger, which isn’t in Australia yet. As such it’s a big SUV with three rows of seats, measuring 5100mm long, 1990mm wide and 1705mm high.

That’s a smidgen longer and wider, but not taller, than rival upmarket electric three-row SUV, the Volvo EX90.

Pricing is yet to be confirmed, but Chasing Cars expects Lexus Australia will need to price the TZ within striking distance of the Volvo’s $106,990 starting price (before on-roads).

Those unmoved by the premium badge may consider the Kia EV9 (from $97,155 before on-roads) and the closely related Hyundai Ioniq 9 ($119,668 before on-roads).

Lexus Australia published “prototype values” in May. They state the TZ gets a 95.8kWh battery and a 167kW/269Nm electric motor at each axle; combined maximum power is 300kW. 

WLTP range is quoted as 620km on 20-inch wheels. The fashion-forward 22-inch wheels take a hatchet to this, instead mustering 530km.

AC charging (slow/domestic charging) caps out at 22kW, while DC charging (fast charging) can be accepted at at least 150kW. On paper, the latter means a charge from 10 to 80 percent should take 35 minutes.

Australian specs will be locked in closer to launch. It’s understood a smaller 77kWh battery is also offered in Japan.

On the inside, Lexus makes much of the TZ being a “driving lounge”. Full-size ‘captain’s chairs’ (standalone seats akin to the front two) are offered for the second row. Much work has gone into making the interior as quiet as possible, and bamboo veneer is used.

Those not interested in relaxing can use Interactive Manual Drive, an artificial transmission designed to restore some driver engagement.

Though the current Toyota Kluger and its would-be electric successor are built in the USA, the Lexus is also built in Japan. As a fellow right-hand-drive market, this has likely made the TZ easier for Toyota Australia to source than the Kluger.

Also US-sourced is the Subaru Getaway, built on the same bones as the electro-Kluger and the TZ. 

It’s the fourth product of Toyota and Subaru’s increasingly fruitful collaboration (GR86/BRZ, bZ4X/Solterra, C-HR/Uncharted and now Kluger/TZ/Getaway), though Subaru Australia hasn’t revealed any plans to bring it here.