Lexus’ electrified strategy is big.
Lexus announced its EV ambitions in March with the LFZ Electrified idea. The automaker plans to launch a series of electrified models by 2025, with no less than 10 new or upgraded models. Lexus just announced that the brand’s first plug-in hybrid model will be released later in the year.Lexus has released a press release describing its electrified strategy. It states that the first PHEV it will sell will be a mass-market model. Then, in 2022, it will launch a dedicated battery-electric vehicle. It promises that it will use the electrification expertise it has developed over the years in hybrid vehicles to create a new driving experience and value for Lexus electrified cars. Lexus is still tight-lipped about tech details, but it has stated that future electrified models will include the so-called DIRECT4 technology. This is essentially an all wheel-drive torque distribution system. Lexus says it combines “highly precise drive force control with responsive steering-by-wire systems, which greatly enhance vehicle reflexes.” This should lead to a more dynamic behavior that appeals to “all five senses.”
Lexus currently sells nine electrified models worldwide. Electrified vehicles accounted for around 33 percent of Lexus’s global sales last year. More important, more than 2 million hybrid and electric vehicles have been delivered to customers by the luxury marque since April 2005. Lexus plans to offer an electrified model in all its models by 2025. According to the firm, hybrid and electric Lexus cars will surpass those of combustion-powered vehicles by the end the decade. Lexus aims to be carbon neutral by 2050. This includes the vehicle’s entire lifecycle including manufacturing, logistics, driving and recycling.