Change is inevitable, but nearly always met with resistance. And no, there was no pun intended there. But when it comes to electric cars, resistance is futile. They’re coming. But Lexus has released its road map for electrification, and there are some interesting nods to the enthusiasts in there as well as the usual bluster about range and efficiency.
You could argue all this noise is about clawing back lost ground, of course. If any company should’ve been in pole position to take the fight to Tesla when it came to electric powertrains, surely it was Lexus – and parent company Toyota, of course. After all, its work on hybridisation goes back decades. But for whatever reason, the company dug its heels in and refused to embrace fully electric vehicles. Until now.
So let’s move on, to the all-new RX hybrid. Lexus says this ‘introduces a new bi-polar nickel-metal hydride battery, a technology that reduces resistance, giving higher load and unload capacity. This increases output from each cell by 70 per cent, so more power can be obtained without increasing the battery’s dimensions.’ As well as increased output, the RX’s battery also targets longevity. The target set is maintaining 90 per cent of its capacity after 10 years of service.
The RZ 450e will also introduce a steer-by-wire system, with no mechanical connection from the steering wheel and the front wheels. It’s called One Motion Grip, because it removes the need for ‘hand-over-hand turns of the wheel’. It also makes minute, automatic corrections to the car’s trajectory along uneven roads that's claimed to improve stability.
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