Photo: Lexus
If there’s something Lexus is good at, that would be grilles. But jokes aside, the Japanese luxury brand is bad at keeping up with the ever-changing automotive trends. To this effect, Lexus doesn’t have a single electric vehicle to offer.
Better late than never, someone at Lexus decided that enough is enough; dilly-dallying has to stop. The president of the F performance division advocates for electrification on a larger scale for the Japanese automaker, including for the division he oversees.
“One solution could be a pure F GT car, which could be a hybrid with an electric motor and a strong engine, giving a different kind of drive feel,” Yoshihiro Sawa told Auto Express. “We don’t stick to V8, V10, twin-turbocharged [solutions]; they’re important but we’re looking at the future. We’d like to find a way to connect to the next era.”
I know what you’re thinking, but Lexus doesn’t plan to jump onto the EV bandwagon yet. Toyota tried with the fuel cell-powered Mirai, but filling up with hydrogen is a bigger headache than plugging in the charger.
“We can look to EV but also hybrid, plug-in hybrid, fuel cell, and normal petrol engines,” he added, confirming that Lexus “will introduce an EV” at some point in the future. What keeps Lexus from doing it right now?
“We’re searching to decide which kind of EV will be lovable. It needs to have a luxury feeling too, because that is expected by our customers,” concluded Yoshihiro Sawa. The UX crossover utility vehicle would be a hit if it were to have an all-electric drivetrain, though only time will tell what the higher-ups think its best for the automaker.
On that note, which of the F models would you like to see hybridized? The IS F, RC F, and GS F all feature a naturally aspirated V8.
On a related note, Toyota decided that its victory at the 2018 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans should be celebrated with a production model. To the point, Toyota will launch a hybrid hypercar with no less than 1,000 PS (986 horsepower) on tap.
“One solution could be a pure F GT car, which could be a hybrid with an electric motor and a strong engine, giving a different kind of drive feel,” Yoshihiro Sawa told Auto Express. “We don’t stick to V8, V10, twin-turbocharged [solutions]; they’re important but we’re looking at the future. We’d like to find a way to connect to the next era.”
I know what you’re thinking, but Lexus doesn’t plan to jump onto the EV bandwagon yet. Toyota tried with the fuel cell-powered Mirai, but filling up with hydrogen is a bigger headache than plugging in the charger.
“We can look to EV but also hybrid, plug-in hybrid, fuel cell, and normal petrol engines,” he added, confirming that Lexus “will introduce an EV” at some point in the future. What keeps Lexus from doing it right now?
“We’re searching to decide which kind of EV will be lovable. It needs to have a luxury feeling too, because that is expected by our customers,” concluded Yoshihiro Sawa. The UX crossover utility vehicle would be a hit if it were to have an all-electric drivetrain, though only time will tell what the higher-ups think its best for the automaker.
On that note, which of the F models would you like to see hybridized? The IS F, RC F, and GS F all feature a naturally aspirated V8.
On a related note, Toyota decided that its victory at the 2018 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans should be celebrated with a production model. To the point, Toyota will launch a hybrid hypercar with no less than 1,000 PS (986 horsepower) on tap.
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