Photo: Lexus
Lexus has set to sell only electric cars in China, the U.S., and Europe by 2030. Five years later, it will only sell EVs worldwide. The issue is setting anything in stone while EV technology keeps developing. According to Automotive News, that led Lexus to wonder more about the production than about the products themselves.
Most of Lexus’ production lines are exclusive. However, the RZ 450e will be manufactured side-by-side with the Toyota bZ4X and the Subaru Solterra in Motomachi. That may be one of the strategies Lexus will adopt to achieve a higher combined output of Toyota’s first dedicated electric platform, the e-TNGA.
Although that is the way to go with electric cars, Lexus is still wondering about producing its EVs with its hybrids by adding a subline to include battery packs, motors, inverters, and everything else that is exclusive to automobiles powered solely by electricity. It did not go well with the UX 300e, which is an evident adaptation of the regular UX to run on a battery pack, with several compromises. You can even see the battery pack protruding underneath the car.
For a brand that belongs to the automaker that developed the world-famous TPS (Toyota Production System), Automotive News makes it clear that Lexus has all cards on the table because it just doesn’t know what it should bet on. Takashi Watanabe, the chief engineer of Lexus Electrified, talked about the uncertainties and said that Lexus has to be prepared to fully embark on the next big thing, such as solid-state batteries. Curiously, Lexus does not seem to be looking for new manufacturing techniques, such as the castings that Tesla decided to use in its cars.
We have already mentioned that Japanese carmakers do not want to invest in current cell technology because they do not think it is viable. This is what explains all of them waiting to sell pure electric vehicles apart from Nissan, which only did so when it had Carlos Ghosn at the helm. The recent case of the Chevrolet Spark EV makes it clearer.
One thing Lexus and Toyota think that will help them is Arene. The automotive operating system will allow the brands to differentiate their cars and offer unique services and features thanks to OTA (over-the-air) updates. The new software should be presented only in 2025.
Although that is the way to go with electric cars, Lexus is still wondering about producing its EVs with its hybrids by adding a subline to include battery packs, motors, inverters, and everything else that is exclusive to automobiles powered solely by electricity. It did not go well with the UX 300e, which is an evident adaptation of the regular UX to run on a battery pack, with several compromises. You can even see the battery pack protruding underneath the car.
For a brand that belongs to the automaker that developed the world-famous TPS (Toyota Production System), Automotive News makes it clear that Lexus has all cards on the table because it just doesn’t know what it should bet on. Takashi Watanabe, the chief engineer of Lexus Electrified, talked about the uncertainties and said that Lexus has to be prepared to fully embark on the next big thing, such as solid-state batteries. Curiously, Lexus does not seem to be looking for new manufacturing techniques, such as the castings that Tesla decided to use in its cars.
We have already mentioned that Japanese carmakers do not want to invest in current cell technology because they do not think it is viable. This is what explains all of them waiting to sell pure electric vehicles apart from Nissan, which only did so when it had Carlos Ghosn at the helm. The recent case of the Chevrolet Spark EV makes it clearer.
One thing Lexus and Toyota think that will help them is Arene. The automotive operating system will allow the brands to differentiate their cars and offer unique services and features thanks to OTA (over-the-air) updates. The new software should be presented only in 2025.
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