Revealed earlier this week, the Lexus LF-Z Electrified concept points the way to a broader shift towards electric mobility for the Japanese luxury carmaker, while also previewing the firm’s first-ever ground-up electric vehicle. Moreover, Lexus says its sleek EV concept will be the catalyst for 10 electrified cars that will herald a major overhaul of the range by 2025.
As we know, Toyota/Lexus led the way in mild-hybrid technology in decades past with pioneering vehicles like the Toyota Prius (launched in 1997) and similar dual-energy drivetrains deployed in Lexus offerings over the years – think CT200h, ES200h and the now hybrid-only IS300h. So it’s perhaps surprising that with such a stellar track record it would wait so long to come up with its first designed-from-scratch EV, the LF-Z. Don’t forget, the 2020 Lexus UX300e, the firm’s first production EV, shares underpinnings with its hybrid stablemate.
The sleekly styled EV’s battery is mounted longitudinally in the floor with electric motors at each axle, giving it optimal balance but also allowing it to have a light and airy interior. Lexus designers positioned all the controls low down so the driver’s view would be uninterrupted, there’s also an augmented-reality head-up display. A host of new technologies make their way into the LF-Z: including AI-based voice control system, a sharable digital key, next-generation Mark Levinson sound system with active noise cancellation and touch-sensitive retractable door handles.
Although it’s only a concept for now, Lexus quotes a total output of 400 kW and 700 N.m of torque and the 90 kWh liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery is claimed to provide a range of around 600 km on the WLTP cycle, capable of 150 kW of fast charging. Performance wise, the Japanese firm claims it will get from zero to 100 km/h in just 3,0 seconds flat and top out at an electronically limited 200 km/h.
Electric drive is actively distributed front to rear by Lexus’s new high-tech Direct4 control, which it says adjusts the vehicle’s posture “according to human senses and inputs.” Which is another way of saying a lot of effort has gone into making its future EV feel and go like a genuine driver’s car.
Will the production version of LF-Z Electrified be available in South Africa any time soon? Well, a Toyota South Africa Motors spokesman said a full EV model is not yet confirmed, but it does bring a greater emphasis on hybrid models across the board.
