This new seven-seat electric Lexus SUV makes fake V10 noises!

Lexus has pulled the covers off a new, all-electric seven-seat SUV for North America, and amongst all the sensible chat about active safety systems, optional rear-wheel steering and lounge-like interiors, there was a rather neat little Easter egg…

You see, this posh-but-practical three-row SUV gets two battery options (76.96kWh and 95.82kWh) and up to 300 miles of range, but it also gets a brilliantly silly fake noise mode where the LFA’s V10 symphony is pumped through the speakers. Looks like the regen paddles behind the steering wheel simulate paddleshifters too. Brilliant.

Skip to around the 18:30 mark in the video below to hear it in action. Nice to see a Lexus with a sense of humour, no?

It certainly is rather funny that Lexus is so keen to get across just how quiet and refined the TZ – which is based on the Toyota Highlander – is inside when the V10 noises aren’t playing.

“This is one of the quietest – if not the quietest – SUV cabins in the world,” said Chief Branding Officer Simon Humphries in the car’s presentation, just before transitioning into a demonstration of the pumped-in LFA sound.

We’re told that the TZ gets a drag coefficient of 0.27 to reduce wind noise, while sound-absorbing materials and “vibration frequency offsetting design elements” help to contribute to that near-silence inside. Heck, even the fans for the climate control have been quietened down.

We’re also told that the TZ gets a fancy 21-speaker Mark Levinson audio system, a new infotainment setup, bamboo trim and an exterior design that follows a ‘Provocative Simplicity’ philosophy.

You’re still thinking about the LFA, aren’t you?