As any musician will tell you, creating a successful first album is hard but the second is almost impossible. Trying to recapture the magic of a breakthrough hit is one of the world’s great challenges, which is why there are two typical ‘second albums’ – a re-do or a re-invention.
It may not be musician but Lexus is facing that same challenge: how does it repeat the success of its now iconic first supercar, the V10-powered LFA?
The answer is reinvention. Lexus won’t try and out-do the LFA with an even more extreme motorsport-inspired engine. Instead, it will create a new take on the sports car, one that swaps the V10 for electric motors.
In December 2021, Toyota and Lexus revealed a virtual line-up of new models (literally, there were more than a dozen) and amongst them was the Lexus Electrified Sport (LES) concept. A sleek, two-door, two-seat coupe that looked like a Lexus LFA successor for this new age of EVs.
Here’s what we know about Lexus’ new sports car.
It will have the LFA ‘secret sauce’
While the company unveiled a full-size concept in December, the company didn’t give away much in the way of details. However, there was one key piece of information that was shared and that’s the fact this new sports car will be a direct descendant of the LFA.
Or as Lexus’ statement put it, the new electric sports car “… inherits the driving taste, or the secret sauce, of the performance cultivated via the development of the LFA.”
That means this won’t be a stylish gran tourer like the LC500/LC500h and will instead be a serious, track-capable sports car.
The EV powertrain will be future-proof
While the LFA was powered by a screaming V10 engine derived from the Japanese brand’s former Formula One team, big capacity, naturally-aspirated engines are on the way out, even amongst supercars.
As mentioned early, Lexus didn’t provide a full specification sheet for the LES concept, but there were a few key figures that emerged about the all-electric powertrain.
Firstly, there’s the 0-100km/h time of “low two-seconds” which will put the LFZ (a possible name given the Toyota preference for using ‘Z’ to represent zero-emissions vehicles) in the same company as the likes of the Tesla Model S Plaid and even the Rimac Nevera supercar.
As for range, a figure of up to 700km was touted, which would give the new sports car suitable driving distance to keep most buyers happy.
Perhaps the most interesting detail Lexus mentioned was that the new model will be capable of using solid-state batteries. Given it’s widely believed such technology is still several years away from being production ready, it suggests Lexus is preparing the LFZ for a long production run by having a modular powertrain.
It likely won’t be the only Toyota-Lexus sports car
Developing a conventional sports car is an expensive exercise, so to build one from scratch with an all-new, electric powertrain will be especially costly. Which is why Toyota will likely develop flexible underpinnings that can be shared with other models.
Which is where the recent Toyota GR GT3 Concept and the rumours of a Mazda RX-7 revival begin to make more sense. If Toyota Motor Corporation can develop a rear-wheel drive platform that can be shared across three models, it stacks up as a better business case for all three brands.
The Lexus would be all-electric, the GR GT3 conventionally powered and the re-born Mazda sports car is rumoured to be a rotary-hybrid.
Toyota has proven it’s not afraid to partner with other brands to save money – see 86/Subaru BRZ and Supra/BMW Z4 – and already has an existing agreement with Mazda that dates back to 2015; the same time Mazda unveiled the RX-Vision…
Keyword: Can the electric Lexus LFA successor really rival the Porsche 911, Nissan GT-R and Tesla Roadster?