Lexus will reportedly delay production of its next-generation electric vehicles (EVs), including the battery-powered replacement for its long-discontinued IS sedan.
According to NHK World Japan, production of the next-gen Lexus EVs will be pushed back from 2026 to mid-2027, because parent company Toyota wants more development time to incorporate the latest manufacturing technologies.
The world’s largest carmaker used the 2023 Tokyo motor show last October to reveal two advanced luxury EVs, the Lexus LF-ZC mid-sized sedan and the LF-ZL large SUV, which will debut a new modular platform to be shared with future Toyota models.
100s of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now.
At the time, Lexus said a showroom version of the LF-ZC sedan would be launched in 2026.
In early October, Nikkei Asia reported that Toyota had cancelled plans to build a new Lexus electric SUV in the US by 2030, and would instead ship those vehicles from Japan.
The same report stated Toyota would delay production of a new flagship three-row electric SUV in Kentucky, from 2025 to 2026. That vehicle could form the basis of the production version of the LF-ZL, the concept that previewed a future zero-emissions luxury flagship for Lexus.
It’s unclear whether Toyota and Lexus are delaying the launch of the new EVs due only to manufacturing issues, or also because of slowing demand for battery-electric vehicles globally, as the popularity of hybrid and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) vehicles increases.
Toyota previously promised to introduce a range of next-generation EVs by 2026, by which time it said it would sell 1.5 million EVs and PHEVs annually worldwide, before selling 3.5 million EVs a year by 2030.
Last year, Toyota sold around 11.2 million vehicles globally, but less than one per cent of them were EVs. Hybrids accounting for about a third of the total, and that proportion is set to increase in 2024.
Lexus, meantime, has committed to selling only electrified vehicles from 2030, and just battery-electric vehicles from 2035.
Toyota has promised to introduce solid-state batteries by 2027 or 2028, potentially doubling the energy density of current lithium-ion battery technology, increasing range to around 1000km and being capable of a full recharge in about 20 minutes.
One of the vehicles they were expected to be installed in is the battery-electric replacement for the Lexus IS sedan, which was discontinued in Australia in late 2021 for failing to meet tough new side-impact safety standards.
Both the LF-ZC and LF-ZL concepts heralded a new modular construction method known as giga-casting, in which large components such as the front, rear and centre sections of the vehicle’s body are produced as single pieces rather than several.
The process was pioneered by Tesla and is said to simplify vehicle production and increase body rigidity.
When it revealed the EV concepts last year, Lexus said they heralded “a completely new modular structure for vehicle design, innovative production technology and an advanced software platform”.
Lexus said the LF-ZC and its other next-generation EVs will employ advanced high-performance batteries made with a prismatic structure and engineered to increase range “through improved aerodynamic integration and weight reduction, enhancing vehicle efficiency and battery performance”.
Measuring 4750mm long (40mm longer than the old IS sedan), as well as 1880mm wide and just 1390mm, the LF-ZC rides on a long 2890mm wheelbase and Lexus says it’s targeting a slippery sub-0.20Cd drag coefficient.
The big LF-ZL flagship SUV, meantime, is no less than 5300mm long, 2020mm wide, 1700mm high and rides on a huge 3350mm wheelbase.
MORE: Lexus’ two new electric car concepts are sure to polarise
