Lexus Will Lead Toyota Transformation to Battery-Electric

Posted by Kevin on February 13th, 2023

New Toyota CEO Koji Sato has reaffirmed that the Lexus brand will lead the company’s move to battery-electric — from Automotive News:

“The first is business reform starting with next-generation BEVs,” Sato said. “To deliver attractive BEVs to more customers, we must streamline the structure of the car and with a BEV-first mindset, we must drastically change the way we do business.”

The overhaul, he said, will lead off with Lexus, which already has a brand goal of going fully electric worldwide by 2035 and selling 1 million EVs globally in 2030.

But the overhaul will focus on new engineering and new manufacturing for the vehicles in an attempt to give them a uniquely Toyota-brand character as well as make the cost competitive.

Considering Sato’s current position as Lexus president, it was expected the luxury brand would take a leading role as he takes over Toyota. Also announced was the new Lexus leadership, with current Toyota COO Masanori Kuwata taking charge of the Lexus electrification initiative and Lexus Chief Engineer Takashi Watanabe becoming the new Lexus president.

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enostrum

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Why?
There are people, like me, that do not want 100% electric. PHEV approach is the best in my opinion. And Toyota/Lexus has been very very late to that party (when all the ingredients were already available).
Pure EV are currently a niche, highly subsidized and not very practical here in Europe were a lot of people live in apartments withouts parking. You cannot rely on them for long distance travelling (imagine the day holidays start the long queues in the "not so fast" chargers).
A PHEV approach with 100km or so of EV range is perfect for having A car. If you want to have several cars, yes, one of them could be 100% EV.
In addition, PHEV is "the best of both worlds". I can drive my father in law Panamera in complete silence in EV mode but also I can full throttle it at 7.000 rpm with 462PS with the sound of a V6 biturbo. Imagine the infamous V8 biturbo in that new LFA with the possibility to drive ALSO in pure EV mode.
 
CRSKTN

CRSKTN

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I feel like the Crown sub brand may try to develop as the near luxury fallback for people who want non BEV alternatives to (likely higher average priced) Lexus models.

The reality is that theyre going to be resource constrained like everyone else.

I wonder if we will see Toyota BEVs get as much love going forward, or if Toyota is trying to concentrate its component use including battery packs into a higher margin luxury cars under Lexus while Toyota focuses more on hybrids and alternative fuels.

"Lexus BEVs are all pretty expensive" isnt as bad a thing to hear as youd think, honestly, especially if they want to elevate the brand.
 
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ssun30

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I will be more convinced when they show their plant construction/conversion plans.

One Lexus BEV dedicated factory in Japan is not going to build them 1 million BEVs by 2030. Lead times for these kind of projects are so long they better start construction today. And of course they also need 80GWh battery production capacity ideally sourced from PEVE.
 
Gecko

Gecko

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Another Lexus BEV "look at what we're going to do" announcement without anything to actually show for it.

Don't get me wrong, the momentum is good, but after so many false starts for BEVs with Lexus, I will pay these more attention once there is something of substance to validate the talking points.
 
yiantony

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I don't want something that could just potentially start burning at any time in my garage. I might want a Plug-in Hybrid, but I just think the hybrid is doing fine for the sake of conserving energy.
And just to discuss EV, Toyota/Lexus should stop bragging about their plan and at least build a car that can beat BYD first.
 
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LS500-18

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yiantony said:
And just to discuss EV, Toyota/Lexus should stop bragging about their plan and at least build a car that can beat BYD first.
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They have no choice but to brag and hype about the future because that's exactly what the average consumer wants now! Look at how successful Tesla has been by hyping the future (Cybertruck, FSD, Roadster, Semi, Robot, etc.) - it's the "new" less-than-honest way. Toyota is just trying to compete.
 
yiantony

yiantony

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LS500-18 said:
They have no choice but to brag and hype about the future because that's exactly what the average consumer wants now! Look at how successful Tesla has been by hyping the future (Cybertruck, FSD, Roadster, Semi, Robot, etc.) - it's the "new" less-than-honest way. Toyota is just trying to compete.
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Maybe you're right. I found vanilla era Tesla more appealing and now I stay as far away as I can from Tesla after Musk purposely misled on how the FSD works and caused many deaths. And then you have that many people who believed that BS and happily drink the cool-aid and now Tesla sells millions of cars. Customers don't seem to care.
 
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LS500-18

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This is an aside but Tesla is a lifestyle brand now, so many people want to show off to their friends regardless of what the CEO is doing or how low the quality is. The wow factor is there. It will take Toyota and Lexus some time to grow "hype" around their brands, if ever.
 
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Levi

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LS500-18 said:
This is an aside but Tesla is a lifestyle brand now, so many people want to show off to their friends regardless of what the CEO is doing or how low the quality is. The wow factor is there. It will take Toyota and Lexus some time to grow "hype" around their brands, if ever.
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"Hype" is not the best strategy for long-term business goals, TMCs thinks long-term. In the fashion industry there are numerous brands that were the brand to wear that are now almost forgotten, some closed, and if still selling are not so fashionable anymore.
 
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LS500-18

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PHEVs make way more sense than BEV here in Canada, at least in the foreseeable few years. I should know, I've owned, gas, hybrid, PHEV, and BEV. Multiples of each. The DC infrastructure is just not there yet and real cold takes a huge toll on range. OK to be fair the Tesla DC network is good along most major highway routes.
 
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Sulu

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LS500-18 said:
PHEVs make way more sense than BEV here in Canada, at least in the foreseeable few years. I should know, I've owned, gas, hybrid, PHEV, and BEV. Multiples of each. The DC infrastructure is just not there yet and real cold takes a huge toll on range. OK to be fair the Tesla DC network is good along most major highway routes.
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Agreed.

My wife has a Prius Prime on order and I am waiting to see what larger PHEV models (Camry, Crown, ES) become available.
 
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Levi

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RAL said:
I'm hearing from a corporate source next generation ES will be PHEV coming Fall/24 as 25 model
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450h+ I guess... so almost as fast accelerating as LS 500h below 100 km/h, more fuel efficient, electric only range, as spacious rear seats....

First the ES made the GS irrelevant, soon the LS and the IS is not far if it does not transform into a sports sedan...
 
CRSKTN

CRSKTN

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LS500-18 said:
Stop teasing me. That's literally my dream car, PHEV ES w/ AWD especially LOL. But can they at least give us heated rear seats in North America?
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Ive got rear heated seats in the new NX, i am sure the ES will get it.
 
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mediumhot

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Levi said:
450h+ I guess... so almost as fast accelerating as LS 500h below 100 km/h, more fuel efficient, electric only range, as spacious rear seats....

First the ES made the GS irrelevant, soon the LS and the IS is not far if it does not transform into a sports sedan...
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Oh I would so love to challenge you on that. You are more than welcome to take a back to back spins in 17 amber cs GS450h Luxury and in any ES of your choice ever made.
 
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