The LF-Z concept shows how far Lexus has to go in EVs

Toyota is ultimately lagging all its peers in making electric vehicles, and now includes the luxury brand Lexus. The Japanese marque on Tuesday revealed the LF-Z electrified concept car, which is about to change the course of the company into an electric future.

Remember, Lexus’ eyes in the future include a healthy mix of hybrids and even hydrogen-powered vehicles, As well as gas powered cars. The company said on Tuesday that it would introduce 20 new vehicles by 2025 and only 10 of them would be electric, hybrid, or run on hydrogen.

Lexus said it wants to reach carbon neutrality “during the lifetime of its entire model lineup” but aims to do so by 2050. Lexus also acknowledged on Tuesday that the industry is entering “once a century”. “The change, which is … something, given that Toyota President Akiyo Toyoda has recently trended and Electric vehicles are called “overheed”.

But back in the concept car. It is angular and futuristic, as are many concepts. This is lower than most modern Lexus vehicles, and is even a reversal of the company’s iconic (for better or worse) mass grille; Instead of a gridded black diamond pattern, the flat silver bodywork traces a triangular shape below the nose. Tracking with a design that adopts many modern EVs, the LF-Z has a continuous light bar behind it that is broken only by the company’s reimagined wordmark. And at the top of the vehicle is a panoramic glass roof.

The interior is more radical, even if it is familiar to anyone who has seen too many concept cars. The bucket seats have a different geometric form, and they are surrounded by different lighting elements. It is otherwise quite sparse, save for a cluster of screens hugging the steering wheel.

Being a concept car, the LZ-F is less about specs and more about Ideas And Lexus imagines what it can do with its futuristic vehicles. One idea with this idea is Lexus chewing, called “Direct4”, which is basically a branded version of torque vectoring that will power drive each wheel independently, improving grip in high-performance situations . At a more base level, Lexus states that this concept car is designed to achieve “ideal balance and inertia” thanks to optimal placement of batteries and motors.

(It all sounds like Nissan New torque vectoring system It’s coming for Area EV, though it’s hard to say for sure without more details.)

In addition, Lexus states that the driver’s position and screen were designed based on the new concept of “Tazuna” – which is Japanese for “dominant”. The company described this part of the concept car as follows:

Inspired by the relationship between the horse and rider, which communicates via a single reinforced, steering wheel-mounted switch, and the vehicle’s head-up display is highly coordinated to create a space that includes various functions, such as That navigation systems, audio systems, and driving modes can be selected, focusing on driving and without movement of the driver’s vision or without the need to operate complex switches.

It wouldn’t be a true concept car without any kind of artificial intelligence, and that’s why Lexus accounted for it here. But the company says AI will be used in LZ-F openly pedestrian ways, such as predicting which route a driver can take or a restaurant reservation. Lexus believes this is a major step forward, however. “Such interactivity between AI and the driver leads to a fruitful interaction, thus improving overall ownership and driving experience, adding color to the lifestyle of the company as a lifestyle.” The company writes.

There are some other grounded technical features, such as digital keys, that allow many people to access a car, or door handle, that presents itself – both types of things that are already increasingly common on modern electric vehicles Huh. Of course, it has autonomous driving modes.

In fact, the more you look at the LZ-F, the more you can feel that it has been missed so much as a sign of Lexus (and Toyota) as it awaits this bold vision of the brand’s future Was waiting for – Even though this drone is far more realistic than the deployed LF-30EV Concept Lexus, it was shown in 2019.

The company, by its own admission, has played a very conservative hand in the beginning here, making massive changes in the industry. And while that strategy has some advantages – like Is not spending dozens of billions of dollars – The LZ-F is a good reminder of some losses, too.

Lexus certainly thinks it can do some of these things better than the rest of the competition, when it brings some of the LZ-F’s ideas to market. But if the future is indeed electric, Lexus will still find itself playing catchable for the future. LZ-F is the proof.