Lexus Debuts LF-Z Electrified Concept

By 2025, Lexus will launch more than 10 new electrified models.
The LF-Z Electrified Concept is built on a dedicated EV platform and has in-wheel motors.

Toyota and Lexus are fast-tracking their EV plans. The Japanese luxury brand will introduce 20 new models by 2025 of which at least 10 will be electrified. As a glimpse into the future, the LF-Z Electrified Concept introduces a new powertrain and design language.

Lexus LF-Z Electrified Concept | Photo: Lexus

The LF-Z Electrified Concept is immediately recognizable as a Lexus in large part for its evolved signature front end and oversized spindle-grille. Although Lexus qualifies the vehicle’s shape as “simple and captivating”, much of the concept’s lines and creases project a busy design. Other highlights are the panoramic glass roof and continuous horizontal rear light bar.

The interior however is far more extreme and removed from the present. Many elements, such as the sparse dashboard, yoke-style steering wheel, among other features. The LF-Z Electrified Concept’s cabin is a modern interpretation of the concept of “Tazuna” (“tazuna” is Japanese for “rein”), inspired by the relationship between horse and rider.

The concept also includes artificial intelligence (AI) although its functionality seems limited. It predicts what route a driver might take, or making restaurant reservations, or what Lexus qualifies as a “lifestyle concierge.”

The new platform includes a pair of electric motors with what Lexus describes as a new four-wheel driving force control technology known as “DIRECT4”. It uses “responsiveness of an electric motor’s driving force to freely control a vehicle’s four wheels for superior and highly flexible driving performance that sets it apart from conventional vehicles” which to us reads like torque vectoring.

Overall, the Lexus LF-Z Electrified Concept is an interesting evolution of the brand’s current design language.