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Lexus Ponders an EV for China, Europe
Toyota Motor Corp.’s luxury Lexus brand realizes it will need an all-electric model sooner or later, but it hasn’t decided when.
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Toyota Motor Corp.’s luxury Lexus brand realizes it will need an all-electric model sooner or later, but it hasn’t decided when.
Lexus President Yoshihiro Sawa tells Automotive News Europe that regulators will drive the company’s decision as they tighten emission limits.
The Lexus brand already offers 11 hybrid models, which now account for about one in four sales worldwide. But Sawa acknowledges that emission regulations in China and Europe will force Lexus to introduce pure electrics within the next several years.
Toyota, a pioneer in hybrids but a latecomer to EVs, has said it aims to launch about one dozen fully electric models—likely including one with a fuel cell powertrain—by 2025.
Sawa tells ANE the company also is developing plug-in hybrids. But he concedes plug-ins, which offer greater all-electric range than simple hybrids, don’t deliver enough range to qualify as EVs in some markets.
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