Lexus isn’t going to follow the same electrification strategy as BMW and Mercedes-Benz with their range of plug-in hybrid models. Instead Lexus is skipping that step and going straight to fully-electric models.
“We do not need to have plug-in hybrid vehicles. It’s a loophole in the market. We will reach the CO2 targets without them,” Alain Uyttenhoven, Lexus’ European boss, recently told Auto Express.
Lexus electrification strategy already includes basic hybrid models, but in the next few years the brand will introduce fully-electric and fuel-cell powered models. The fuel-cell powered sedan will be based on the LF-FC concept and debut sometime around 2020. The LS and LC models will also get electric versions, before the technology is applied to smaller models in the lineup.
There’s also a possibility that the first fully-electric Lexus could a small, premium electric car. “It could be,” Uyttenhoven stated. “A lot of people who have reached a certain level of wealth like to have a small premium car more than a bigger, more mainstream brand of car.”
Source: Auto Express
