Lexus to reveal its EV future next month

Lexus will reveal a radical new electric car concept at the Tokyo Mobility show on October 28, showcasing the Japanese premium brand’s new EV design and technologies due in production from 2026, including state-of-the-art new battery-electric platform, powertrain and production plans benchmarked against Tesla.

It remains unclear whether the show car will be a development of the sleek 2021 LF-Z concept (pictured below), which could preview a spiritual successor to the discontinued Lexus IS sports sedan, or a development of the 2021 Electrified Sport high-performance electric sports car concept.

The Lexus LFR supercar – a spiritual successor for the limited-edition V10-powered Lexus LFA – has been confirmed for reveal in 2026 alongside the World Endurance Championship GT3 racer on which it will be based.

“Everybody knows we are developing a car, and this car will come to race in Europe in 2026,” confirmed Toyota WEC team boss Rob Leupen in June.

“The date is in alignment with the road car side, which is following the philosophy of Toyota to have a motorsport-bred car on the road. This is moving forward at the moment.”

When asked directly if the production version would be sold as a Lexus, Leupin said: “It depends on how it develops within Toyota, but at the moment, yes.”

Lexus says the vehicle it will unveil in Tokyo will “revolutionise the modular structure of the vehicle body, drastically change the production method and completely revamp the software platform”.

It will also offer a range of more than 800km from a single charge, thanks to more efficient battery chemistry that allows for a slimmer but denser power pack costing around 20 per cent less to produce than the battery in the Lexus RZ mid-size electric SUV and its upcoming sister model, the Toyota bZ4X.

Charging times for the Lexus EV should fall dramatically, with a 10-80 per cent top-up claimed to take less than 20 minutes.

The same battery will eventually be offered alongside Toyota’s High Performance lithium-ion battery that will land later in 2027 and boost total range further, to 1000km.

In the same year Toyota will debut its solid-state battery tech that will boost driving range to a claimed 1200-1500km and reduce the 10-80 per cent charge time to just 10 minutes.

Other tech wrapped up in the Lexus concept will be ultra-lightweight composites, new sustainable materials and the car-maker’s future Direct4 four-wheel drive and steer-by-wire technology.

The new Lexus will be based on Toyota’s next-generation platform architecture, which has been built specifically for EVs.

“In 2026, we will introduce the next-generation battery EV that re-innovates the vehicle modular structure, significantly alters our production methods and completely re-imagines the software platform,” Lexus’ new global chief Takashi Watanabe told reporters at Fuji Speedway product showcase earlier this month.

Watanabe told Automotive News that future Lexus EV technologies and production practices will be benchmarked against Tesla.

The Tokyo show concept and the production model it will spawn are important steps in Lexus’ plan to sell one million EVs annually by 2030 (up from just 25,000 in 2022) and becoming an all-electric brand by 2035.

Beyond the electric Lexus RZ already on sale – and the upcoming Lexus GX off-roader, LM people-mover and LBX micro-SUV – the luxury brand has previewed an EV sports car, large SUV and sporty sedan, hatch and convertible models.