Lexus has today announced the RZ, the luxury marque’s second entry into the EV market, and the first designed from the ground-up as an electric vehicle. With a 71.4kWh battery and a claimed range of around 280 miles, the RZ will also show off a new active four-wheel drive system dubbed DIRECT4. That will, so the company says, enable the car to automatically distribute force to each wheel according to its need. And Lexus says that DIRECT4 will offer “excellent driving performance” with a “stronger human-machine connection.”

Lexus' bread and butter has always been soft, comfortable vehicles like the RX crossover and ES sedan. Yet, starting with the launch of its LFA supercar, RC and LC coupes, and F subbrand, it started to look like Lexus was pivoting to become more of a sports-luxury brand.