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New fuel-cell and full-EV strategy will see Lexus skip plug-in hybrids
to cut CO2, says boss
LEXUS will move
straight from Hybrids to fuel cell cars and
full EVs over
the next few years, according to Europe boss Alain Uyttenhoven.
The strategy
will see Lexus first launch a hydrogen-powered luxury saloon based on the LF-FC Concept
in 2020, before moving towards smaller
electric cars and SUVs (as previewed by the LF-SA Concept) later down the line.
Uyttenhoven
told Auto Express at the Frankfurt Motor Show: “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.”
As legislation
becomes more stringent, Lexus would need to progress beyond its range of
hybrids, Uyttenhoven admitted. “Soon we will have to reach 75g/km,” he
told us. “At that time pure hybrids will not be sufficient. The two things we
can do are introduce plug-ins or introduce electric.”
First the
Japanese brand will invest in high-end luxury vehicles like hydrogen or
electric versions of the LS Saloon and LC coupe, as the cost of installing the tech
on smaller models is currently too prohibitive.
Uyttenhoven
insisted that for Lexus to really make money using
electrified powertrains, the technology would need to filter down to
mainstream models like the CT hatchback and NX mid-sized SUV in the future. “In
Europe, the more successful electric car sales are at the high end,”
Uyttenhoven told us. “But in the premium market, 50 per cent of cars are sold
below 40,000 Euros. If it’s more than that, how will people afford it?”
When asked
whether Lexus’s first pure-electric venture could be a small, premium EV,
Uyttenhoven explained: “It could be. 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.”
BRUCE HUBBARD
AUTO ADVISOR
GROUP
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