Lexus to lead Toyota’s EV development with new Tesla-fighting sedan

Toyota has given Lexus the reins to its electric vehicle development as it heads towards its goal of being fully electric by 2035 (in Europe, at least), but the luxury brand won’t ditch hybrids in the process.

In a roundtable with international media in Japan, Takashi Watanabe, global boss of Lexus, said that the company “will be the explorer” on electric-car technology on behalf of Toyota, while still “taking both pathways to eventually achieve 100 per cent carbon neutrality”.

“If you look at the global situation, we cannot 100 per cent definitely say (electric vehicle technology) is the only solution to the current environmental issues.

“In some regions of the world, (electric cars) may still not be a convenient solution (for low-emissions motoring),” he added.

“What’s most critical is the role each and every brand under the Toyota Corporation plays in achieving carbon neutrality… If you look at this at Toyota’s corporate level, there is no way we are going to immediately discontinue development of (petrol engine) development.”

Lexus will kick off its next wave of electric vehicles with a new battery-powered sedan, possibly a precursor to an IS replacement.

The model, which would be a direct competitor to Tesla’s Model 3 as well as the upcoming Neue Klasse from BMW, is set to use ‘giga casting’ to combine as many as 33 structural components into one, a technique pioneered by Tesla, as well as a 600-800km battery.

“One thing we can say … when we look into development of next generation (electric cars) we need to significant renovate the module or the structuring of the car and car-making, and that is going to require technology innovation like the ones you have just mentioned.,” said Watanabe.

While this could drop the final sticker price, it presents other issues like repairability. Switching to large casting means individual parts cannot be repaired as easily. Tesla has already experienced this with a high rejection rate of giga casts, as well as some Model 3 and Model Y owners discovering cracks in the metal of their car.

Casting failures like this means the vehicle is less safe, but because many owners won’t check every inch of their cars regularly, they may go unnoticed for a long period of time.

Of course, it’s still early days for giga casting, and Toyota may have a slightly different approach than Tesla that retains reliability. After all, that’s one major thing the Japanese giant is known for.