To the eagle-eyed, the brand new Lexus Sports activities Idea may look acquainted. And I don’t imply to those that’ve pored over the various spy photographs and renderings of each the upcoming highway and racing variations. This new automobile—which we and others have been calling the LFR—owes so much to the LC and LFA, positive, but additionally the Electrified Sports activities idea from 2021.
However this new automobile can have fuel energy. So what occurred to the EV?
The Lexus Electrified Sport debuted in December 2021, when Toyota unveiled plenty of EV ideas. Its long-hood, short-deck proportions scream front-engine rear-drive sports activities automobile, however Lexus mentioned that this was a pure EV, with solid-state batteries promising a 435-mile vary and a sub-2-second 0-60 mph dash.
Since 2021, nevertheless, standard sentiment round electrical vehicles has shifted. Their progress has slowed, and lots of automakers—Toyota included—have scaled again their EV ambitions.
Again then, Lexus did say it will construct an EV sports activities automobile. Akio Toyoda himself mentioned, “Lexus will develop a next-generation battery EV sports activities automobile that inherits the driving style, or the key sauce, of the efficiency cultivated through the event of the LFA.”
As of now, the corporate hasn’t mentioned whether or not it’s cancelled this venture fully. However there’s little question that the brand new Sports activities Idea makes use of lots of the similar design cues because the 2021 EV.
The general proportions are the identical, however Lexus carried particular particulars ahead, too: The largely open entrance consumption with a break up within the middle; the LFA aping C-pillar and cutaways within the rear bodywork; the full-width gentle bar on the again; the cutaways within the hood; the double-bubble roof; and extra.
The 2 vehicles will not be an identical, however they’re very a lot minimize from the identical fabric.
We all know that this new Lexus idea previews a manufacturing automobile that can have a Toyota twin. In 2022, Toyota debuted the GR GT3 idea, a low-slung, front-engine, rear-drive race-car design that very a lot has an engine up entrance (possible, a twin-turbo V-8). An official confirmed a road-going Lexus model of the automobile in 2022, with the Lexus model anticipated for the US, and the Toyota model hitting different markets.
A Lexus spokesperson declined to touch upon what, if any, relationship the 2 ideas have. In the event you’ll permit us a little bit of hypothesis, it’s not exhausting to think about Toyota cancelling a Lexus EV sports activities automobile, since there doesn’t appear to be a marketplace for such a factor.
However with the Electrified Sports activities idea, Lexus at the very least had an excellent design foundation for the internal-combustion sports activities automobile that can ultimately come. Plus, there’s a chance the manufacturing highway automobile may very well be a hybrid of some kind to compete with new, electrified choices from AMG, Porsche, and Corvette.
However for now, at the very least, it seems an all-electric Lexus sports activities automobile should wait.
