#Lexus Plans 620-Mile Range, Quick-Charging EV

[Auto Styling News]

Japanese luxury car brand Lexus has formally begun its journey to full electrification by 2035 by introducing a peek at the production version of the LF CZ at the 2023 Japan Mobility Show.

The Japan Mobility Show replaces the erstwhile Tokyo Motor Show as the region's biggest automotive festival, transforming into a holistic and lifestyle-centered trade show.

This LF-CZ or Lexus Future Zero-emission Catalyst uses DIRECT4 All-Wheel Drive Technology that Lexus took from the RZ.

There was not much to go on about the concept model except for the batteries it will be fitted with. 

The LF-ZC will have a prismatic, high-performance batteries that has twice the range of current EVs in the market today. That means it will have up to 620 miles of distance to travel on a fully-charged power source. 

As AutoStylingNews previously noted, Toyota, Lexus' parent company, recently announced that it will pioneer and bring to market long-lasting, quick charging batteries in the coming years,  which explains why it has largely remained out of the EV market.

The pre-production photos of the concept show a sleek luxury car that aims to compete with the electric cars Cadillac, Tesla and Luxid, and Mercedes are planning for the near future.  Lexus says the first LF-CZ variant may in fact be a hatchback. 

Lexus plans to sell this next-generation model in 2026, with an aim to give Lexus a full electric lineup by 2026.

___________________________________
Auto Styling News is a blog that covers car concepts, newly released models, and the auto industry.

Ford Cuts EV Prodution. "Too Expensive," Says CFO [Auto Styling News]

[Auto Styling News]

Last Thursday, Ford announced that it would reduce the number of electric vehicles it had planned to produce, because there weren’t going to be enough customers who could afford to buy them. 

Ford CFO John Lawler said that because EVs are “too expensive” for most car buyers, the company was “going to balance supply with demand” by reducing its supply. 

Instead of turning out 600,000 electric cars and trucks by the end of this year, it would hit that mark at the end of next year. Instead of producing two million such vehicles by the end of 2026, it would turn out that many at some later date.
___________________________________
Auto Styling News is a blog that covers car concepts, newly released models, and the auto industry.

#VW's ID CROZZ #Concept Is An Autonomous Electric Slated For 2026 [Auto Styling News]

Volkswagen's I.D. CROZZ concept offers a fashionable sneak peek of the future, and that future is electric, autonomously driven crossover. And it may be in driveways by early 2026.

The concept's sleek, four-door coupe shape has a similar footprint to the new 2018 Tiguan, with dramatic doors that open 90 degrees in the front and slide back in the rear to reveal a cavernous interior. On the outside, the I.D. CROZZ greets passengers with a light show, with lighted VW logos and daytime running lights that “awaken” like eyes.

Personally, I'm not even a fan of the many, many vehicles already on the road that "blink" by turning out the headlamp when the turn signal is engaged. But I'm sure this silliness will either be long gone by 2026, or will be so ubiquitous that we don't even notice anymore.

The exterior is quite handsome, and is a bit of a step up from today's rather bland VWs. The sliding rear doors are just plain silly, and likely won't make it to production, but are less silly than ones seen on many other concepts, or current minivans. Not sure they want to emulate minivans, but it's entirely possible they show up on the final version.

The I.D. CROZZ resembles, especially from a side view, the Toyota Prius Prime, which isn't a bad vehicle design to emulate.

The production car, says VW, will feature the company's I.D. Pilot self-driving system concept. That means that in self-driving mode, the steering wheel of the I.D. CROZZ will (rather horrifyingly) retract into the dash, and the interior lights will change color. Drivers can summon the I.D. Pilot by simple voice controls, and the concept system is designed to rely on four laser scanners that pop up from the roof of the I.D. CROZZ, as well as ultrasonic sensors, radar sensors, side area view cameras and a front camera.

VW estimates that the car's battery pack will be able to be recharged up to 80 percent in 30 minutes when using a 150-kWh fast charger. The company's EV plans are among the most ambitious in the industry, and call for launching next-generation electric vehicles on three continents - Europe, Asia and North America - anticipated to begin in 2020.