Page 56 - Sharp: The Book For Men SS21

Underpinning the LF-Z is a new chassis that’s designed to be fully electric from the ground up. That may not sound like a big deal, but it is; cars designed this way can take full advantage of all the benefits EVs have to offer: they handle better because the under-floor batteries create a lower centre of gravity, they have more range because they can carry a bigger battery, and they have more cabin space because there’s no bulky combustion engine. Power runs to all four wheels thanks to a new dual-motor all-wheel drive system called Direct4, and steering is all done by wire, rather than mechanical link, which could translate into sharper handling.
At the risk of stating the obvious, the design of the LF-Z is spectacular. It’s clearly a Lexus, but it takes the brand’s design language in a new, avant-garde direction. The LF-Z’s cabin is a single, seamless pod. The chairs look like they belong in a Virgin Galactic spaceship. This is what Lexus calls the “Tazuna” cockpit, which is Japanese for “rein.” In much the same way that a horse and rider communicate through a rein, car and driver, according to Lexus, should communicate through a single, unified interface. All of the car’s controls are easily within the driver’s sight and reach, and an augmented reality display even projects vital real-time information directly onto the expansive windshield. This, Lexus says, helps the driver to look forward, rather than constantly looking down at various touchscreens.
Perhaps most exciting is the fact that the LF-Z Electrified concept isn’t just a fantastical one-off dreamt up by Lexus’s engineers with no consideration of reality. Instead, the LF-Z marks the beginning of Lexus’s big — and very real — push into the EV market. By 2025, Lexus plans to introduce more than 10 new electrified vehicles (either fully electric, plug-in hybrids, or mild hybrids). The company predicts that its electric vehicles will outsell its gasoline-powered ones by 2025. The new models will include sedans and SUVs, but also “a car that redefines the concept of having a chauffeur, and new genres that have never before existed,” says the company.
Thankfully, amid all the new tech and design, Lexus hasn’t lost sight of why drivers like its cars in the first place. “While fulfilling our social mission of realizing a carbon-neutral society, we will continue to provide the fun and joy that cars bring,” says Koji Sato, president and chief branding officer of Lexus International. If what Lexus has in store is even half as cool as its LF-Z concept, drivers can look forward to a very entertaining future indeed.
The mere fact that Lexus, the luxury arm of one of the largest car companies in the world, is doubling down on advanced battery technology is a sign that electric vehicles’ moment has finally arrived. It has taken technology — along with culture, venture capital, infrastructure, and all the other necessary pieces — an exceptionally long time to catch up to what was a really good idea, even in the 19th century.
56 BFM / SS21 CARS / THE TIME IS NOW