Watch This! The Lexus LF-30 Electrified

MotorTrend

MotorTrend's Angus Mackenzie heads to the south of France to give us a sneak peek at Lexus’s newest concept – the LF-30 Electrified – due to make its debut at the 2020 Tokyo Motor Show.

Transcript

00:00 We're in Toyota's ED Squared studio in the south of France, and we've come here to have

00:07 a look at a very interesting concept car, the vision of what an all-electric Lexus luxury

00:14 car would look like in 2030. This is the Lexus LF30 Electrified. It's a very interesting

00:35 vehicle. Some of the technology on this is real. Toyota's already working on solid-state

00:40 batteries for its next-generation electric vehicles, but the idea of four electric motors

00:46 in the wheels is, for the moment, the stuff of designer fantasy. There's a lot to unpack

00:51 here, so let's have a look at some of the details. So the famous Lexus spindle grille

01:00 is still here, except it's not a grille, it's really just a panel. This area here lights

01:05 up when the car is in autonomous mode to let everyone know that you're not actually driving

01:10 it. Looking at this car front on, you can tell instantly it's a Lexus, giant Lexus badge

01:15 and that spindle shape. The air itself gets directed around the side in to help cool the

01:22 wheel-mounted electric motors. Even the tyre tread has been designed to duct air over those

01:28 motors when the wheels are rolling around. These headlights here sit in little wings.

01:34 Air goes right through here, coming up the side here, and airflow coming out of this

01:38 little scoop here. This windshield is huge, the cabin is very low, and this massive single

01:45 door on the body side, this is concept car eye candy. In the real world, you really need

01:50 a B-pillar here to help manage side impacts for crash. As we get to the back of the car,

01:55 the mood of the car starts to change. You see a lot more edge to it, sharp forms, pointy

02:01 lines. Specifically this corner here is very, very sharp. But these lights are fascinating,

02:07 almost like flying buttresses and have this wonderful sort of graphic all the way through

02:11 it. It's very, very interesting. The other thing these lights do too is help keep the

02:16 airflow along the side of the car. It helps improve aerodynamic efficiency, which is very,

02:21 very important in an electric vehicle. It helps you with range. At the rear of the car,

02:27 you notice the very, very pulled in cabin. This is almost like an old Rambler Marlin,

02:32 comes right back, this black panel right back to the tail here, and no Lexus badge here,

02:37 just the Lexus name written in script. Let's take a look inside.

02:41 The interior of this car is very, very cool. Although it's meant to be an autonomous vehicle

02:51 able to be operated in autonomous mode, the focus is still very much on the driver. So

02:56 there's this bespoke driver's seat and an instrument panel display that includes three

03:01 screens that give a real 3D holographic effect. When the car's in autonomous mode, this seat

03:06 slides back and the steering wheel slides forward. Rear seat passengers, flat floor,

03:12 wheels at each corner, so there's a tonne of room back here. And the seats are angled

03:16 slightly towards each other so that people can have a conversation if they wish. And

03:21 there's a cool Harman Kardon sound system in here that's been designed to give a special

03:25 sound experience for each passenger. Front passenger, there's another big screen up

03:31 front there so the passenger can keep track of what's going on. Now, a really cool feature

03:37 for this car is this thing here. It's called a Keystone. And what this enables is everyone

03:43 at a different zone of the car can have their own personalised experience. This device will

03:48 allow people to control the rear seat functions such as, you know, seat recline or air conditioning

03:54 or even the entertainment systems in the back. And the idea is everyone gets to experience

03:58 this car in their own way. Some of the really nice stuff is the different materials that

04:03 are used here. It's all non-animal products, it's all sustainable. And with a nod to the

04:09 Japanese heritage of this vehicle, this sort of pleating effect which you can see along

04:13 the side of the car is very much reminiscent of Japanese art of origami. A really interesting

04:20 space, really interesting executions. The Lexus LF30 Electrify is going to polarise

04:26 opinion. But whether you like it or love it, there's no doubt this car is going to be one

04:31 of the stars of this year's Tokyo show.

04:33 [Music]

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended