I should probably clarify that headline a bit first. Before anyone begins to needlessly worry, I promise you that my mom loves me and I, of course love my mom. Everything is fine there. However, I am old enough to realize that perhaps we all have had expectations about people in our lives, and, while I can’t prove it, I have a suspicion that my mom’s initial ideal expectations and hopes about her son would be that he (or, I suppose, I) would be the sort of person that the 2026 Lexus ES – in either battery electric or hybrid variants – was made for. Because it was definitely not made for me.
I’m not intending that to be a slight on this car – it’s the opposite, really – because what Lexus has produced here is an almost textbook definition of a Nice Car. That’s what the ES is: a nice car. I’m not a person who buys or values nice cars. I’m definitely right in the proper age demographic Lexus has targeted for these nice cars, but instead of buying a nice, modern car with lots of comfort and efficiency and quiet status-signaling and reliability, the car that I bought in my mid-50s is a weird French shed on wheels that makes all of 29 horsepower. I couldn’t afford this nice car even if I wanted it, which – and I say this without malice – I really don’t.
It was Rory Carroll, ex-Jalopnik EIC and current Alloy chief who used the words “nice car” while we were talking about this car, and he was dead-on. There’s no need to try and overcomplicate what we were all thinking. This is a nice car. A nice car I wasn’t necessarily that excited by, but a nice car indeed.
I can appreciate this nice car. And I can appreciate the hypothetical son I might have been who might consider buying this nice car. I’d be a son with a very different sort of job, perhaps in a medical or dental field, maybe a podiatrist or something, and I’d have money and be wise enough not to blow it on stupid things and I’d appreciate luxury and comfort and having a car that will not strand me on the side of the road in the rain because the fuel gauge can’t be bothered to gauge any fuel. I’d give friends a ride in this car (probably friends who make comfortable livings and I talk about taking vacations with in places where villas could be rented) and they would say “hey, this is a nice car” and then I’d say “thanks, I like it” but I wouldn’t go into the car’s strange history or weird technical quirks because the Lexus ES doesn’t have those things, and even if it did, I’d be the sort of person who didn’t really care.
But it has an air conditioner that blows not just cubes, but cubes made from filtered water and comfortable seats and everything is put together impeccably well and nothing rattles or falls off, embarrassingly, when a door is slammed. Let’s dig into just what the new Lexus ES is.
What Is It?
Like I keep saying, it’s a nice car. It’s worth noting that it’s very much a car, too, not an SUV or crossover or anything like that. the ES is an unashamed sedan, and despite its fastback profile, there’s a trunk back there, and it’s not trying to be anything but that. This is a four-door sedan, very much in keeping with the 37-year tradition of ES sedans, and now that it’s on its, holy crap, eighth generation, it seems pretty damn comfortable with what it is.
Essentially the same sort of person that wanted to buy a Lexus ES when it came out back in 1989 is still the same sort of person that wants to buy a Lexus ES in 2026. People of means, but without an overwhelming need to scream that to everyone. These aren’t cheap cars, but by modern standards, which are, unquestionably, absurd, they’re not wildly expensive, either.
They didn’t tell us pricing at the event in San Diego that I attended to drive these cars, but I looked on Lexus’ site and, damn, there’s all the prices, which I’ll share with you, because I’m into you:
I think the real takeaway you should take, you know, away from this array of pricing options is the realization that the 2026 Lexus ES is really a car in two distinct flavors: a gas-electric hybrid and a battery-electric version. Somewhat surprisingly, the battery-electric version starts the cheapest, at $48,795 for the smaller-battery’d 350e, and goes up to the $60,795 500e Luxury AWD version.
The hybrid starts at just over $51,000 and goes up to a bit over $57,000.
The fact that this is one car with two completely different drivetrains is interesting, especially when I reveal to you pretty soon just how similar the cars seem to be to drive and live with.
The Differences In The BEV And Hybrid Versions
Do you want to impress your friends and people you hope to sleep with by being able to rapidly point out the differences between the two flavors of Lexus ES? Sure you do. Here’s the biggest tell: the hybrid version has an extra air intake on the front fascia. Look:
See that slight smile there? The BEV one goes without, perhaps reminding one of that creepy scene in the Twilight Zone movie where that kid with the gnarly powers took away his sister’s mouth. That always creeped me out; Let’s forget I mentioned that. Here’s the BEV front end:
See? No upper air intake.
You can also see the difference under the hood, of course, with the hybrid version having a 2.5-liter inline four under the hood, making 244 total system horsepower, with either one electric motor co-driving the front axle, or another one at the rear, letting the car hit 60 from stagnation in 7.3 seconds for the FWD one, or 7.2 for the AWD model.
The BEV one comes in two flavors: both with a 74.7 kWh lithium-ion battery, but one has just one permanent magnet motor making 221 horsepower, good enough to get to 60 in 7.4 seconds, and a range of 307 miles. The 500e version has motors front (221 hp) and rear (118 hp) for a total of 338 total horsepower (I don’t know where the extra horse ran off to) and can get to 60 mph in 5.1 seconds. The range on the dual-motor one is 276 miles.
The BEV version does not offer a frunk up front, which, of course, enrages me, though I suppose you could place a pizza or something on the vast array of plastic that greets you under the BEV version’s hood:
This has to be one of the least interesting under-hood views in all of motoring. I’m not sure I even get the point of covering everything in plastic, either. Isn’t the hood already doing that job? The only interesting bits under the hood are these:
Those are emergency releases for the charging port door and charging plug, in case something goes wrong and you need to charge the car, or something goes awry while charging and you need to free the car from the grip of the charging port.
I was impressed with how both versions of the car seemed to have pretty much identical packaging, at least from an interior volume perspective, despite having such different mechanical and electrical equipment. I asked the lead engineer about the packaging, and he helped me by telling me what goes where in my crude sketches:
Well, he mostly helped with the hybrid version; the BEV has its batteries in the floor primarily, like most electric cars today, and the hybrid version packages its fuel tank and hybrid battery in that space. The ES still uses a transmission, it’s not one of those transmission-free hybrids, so that has to get crammed in as well.
The TNGA-K platform is very adaptable, and was designed for hybrid and BEV from the start, so I shouldn’t really be too surprised by any of this.
How Does It Look?
I think Toyota has come a long way in the past four or five years or so when it comes to design. They were headed down a very grim path of cybaroque excesses, with their cars becoming an unholy riot of gills and flaps and slits and all manner of folds and creases and other design elements that got along with one another about as well as Capulets and Montagues would if they got double-booked into a banquet space.
But once the latest design Prius came out in 2022, Toyota and Lexus have gotten a grip and calmed down dramatically, and now their designs feel much more cohesive and harmonious, even if Toyota/Lexus still can’t turn down a chunky character line if it shows up.
The most distinctive elements have to be the strangely complex hood stamping, which looks good and compelling from some angles, while from others looks kind of like you accidentally dropped a laundry basket full of typewriters on it. Sometimes I liked it, and sometimes I didn’t. The car is full of all sorts of character lines, and generally I think they do work.
Lexus’ designers seemed to feel that one of these character lines was worthy of extra emphasis, which is why that big hockey stick-shaped one on the side is done up in glossy black plastic:
Actually, it looks more like a schematic diagram of a chaise lounge than a hockey stick now that I look at it. I don’t mind it; I think it breaks up the volumes pretty well.
Around back you can see the dramatically-raked roofline and the full-width taillight, which is clear when off, instead of red. Actually, should we take a moment and talk about the lighting? Lexus is very excited that this is their first car where the LEXUS badge illuminates and, sure that’s fun, but let’s talk a bit more about the taillights and other lighting.
Let’s Talk Lighting
The rear indicators, I’m happy to say, are amber, and despite them being removed from the main taillight area running horizontally across the car, I think they’re quite noticeable and striking.
They’re obvious and suggest some directionality as well. They’re good turn signals. Up front, we have a pretty dramatic, lighnting-bolt-like indicator as well:
The main headlight beam is below the indicator/DRL assembly, and is that vaguely van-shaped lamp there. Below that is an auxiliary driving lamp that also functions as a corner lamp, which is a nice touch.
I don’t really know what Lexus means by “inward-facing” DRLs, though. Maybe they’re introspective, and prone to bouts of self-examination?
Overall, the lighting feels well-considered on the ES; I’m especially happy to see amber rear indicators, especially on a “premium” car like this one.
The side marker reflectors are very thin and elegant on the new ES, too, if that’s important to you. It’s important to me.
Okay, Back To The Exterior Design
Lexus’ PR folks took care to point out that the Lexus ‘L’ badge is now a flat-surfaced thing, with a bit of texture. The old version was sort of beveled/chamfered, like this:
Do I like the new badge better? Sure, kinda, why not? If all that beveling and insistent shininess was keeping you out of a Lexus, boy do I have good news for you.
Oh! I almost forgot to tell you about the colors! There’s really just two colors, a coppery-metallic one, and a metallic pale blue-gray. The rest are grayscales, with a nearly-white and a nearly-black, and there’s one named “Caviar,” I think. I say get the blue or copper, because life is for the living, dammit.
Enough, Let’s Get To The Interior
If you’re surprised that the Lexus has a very nice interior, then I’d like to welcome you to your stay here on Earth, a planet that’s part of the Kimpton Hotel Network. Try the Clams Casino! Enjoy your stay!
For everyone else, of course it’s a nice interior. Everything feels well-stitched and clamped and glued and stapled together, and there’s interesting materials all around! Like this nicely inlaid angles-and-stripes pattern wood in the door cards:
There’s this buttersotch-colored interior, and also a gray one:
The gray one is far more boring, even if it does make the wooden trim areas pop. But look at the overall difference; this is the gray, which probably has a name like “Disinterest” or something like that:
…and here’s the butterscotchy one:
It’s much nicer, I think.
And speaking of nice, the back seat area is very nice, with rear seats that are heated and massaged and recline-able, even with an extended “ottoman” feature and plenty of legroom.
Oh, there’s also a white interior option, which is great if you never like to enjoy mustard time in your back seat.
It’s clear that rear set comfort is a priority for this car, and I respect that. Second row passengers are as deserving of decadence and comfort as anyone, after all. Some even claim more so.
One downside of the powered and heated and massagable rear seats is that they don’t fold down to allow for larger cargo. There’s just a small pass-through for things like skiis, large salamis, well-behaved snakes, and six-foot party subs:
Beyond that, though, you’re not going to be carrying huge or awkwardly-sized things in the ES. The trunk is plenty big for most needs, though, and let’s be honest: nobody buying this is going to be loading the trunk full of 2x4s or plywood or bags of fertilizer. If you ask an ES owner to borrow their car to make a run to the dump or junkyard, the owner is just going to tell you “no” and not even punctuate their text with an apologetic emoji, because they’re not sorry, they’re not sorry at all, they deliberately bought a car without a hatch or folding rear seat precisely to avoid situations like this, and, yes, you.
I’m sorry you had to hear it this way, but that’s just how it is. No one is buying this car to haul shit.
That said, I do think the glove box is a little small on the new ES. It’s just big enough for your copy of Dianetics, and that’s about it.
There’s some center storage, at least, and the expected door pockets, so you do have some space to stash your crap.
Controls, Gizmos, Electronic Stuff And All That
Lexus’ people made a bit point out of the fact that the LCD screen instrument cluster is not hooded. I’m not sure I ever minded the hooding, but if a hood over your instruments just frosted you, mazel tov. You’re free of the hood, at least in this car.
The visual effect is interesting, with the instrument display sitting there in a little cloister like some sort of sacred tombstone, which I guess is cool.
There are physical, non-screen-based controls for a lot of the functions, but they’re still flat capacitive touch-type buttons. They do have some haptic feedback, compressing a bit under your finger and then popping back, kind of like how it feels to poke a blister pack of a Hot Wheels car or something. You still can’t really find the controls by feel, though, save for the volume roller, which, while nicely textured, I’d rather was a rotary knob.
Oh, and, as you can see on the screen, there’s wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which is all most car buyers seem to want out of their center stack screens today.
The steering wheel has haptic touchpad-like controls as well, with tactile barriers between the functions.
It’s better than having all these controls buried in menus on a screen, but there’s still room to improve, I think.
Oh, speaking of controls, Lexus is still using electrically-actuated door handles, a feature nobody asked for and nobody really wants, and I still find their door handle solution a bit stupid. I know there’s safety reasons for the handle, but the truth is I just don’t really care, and would prefer a solved-problem mechanical door handle, because there are safety reasons for those, too, and, I’m just done with overcomplicated door opening solutions.
The overhead camera view system is a delight as always, and I actually mean that, and I was also happy to note that the wireless charging pads actually seemed to work relatively consistently, which isn’t always the case with new cars.
There’s also a heads up display, and there’s a new version of Lexus’ UX everywhere, which, I’ll be extremely honest with you here, I didn’t feel compelled to explore too deeply. I also spoke with the nice lady who is in charge of the Toyota/Lexus voice command experience, which I may have suggested was largely “useless,” and while I can’t say really that I have changed my mind a lot there, I did feel kinda bad.
I tried out some “Hey, Lexus” commands, but other than setting a nav destination or maybe changing music input sources and stations, I still don’t find voice commands all that compelling. Sorry. Wait, I mean, Hey Lexus, sorry.
There’s the expected driver assist features, too, the kind that effectively combine to form a Level 2 semi-automated supervised driving system, and the little bit I used it, it seemed fine.
How’s It Drive?
It drives just fine. It’s comfortable and easy and forgettable, but in a positive way, in this context. No one is really going to buy these to carve canyons or race for pinks, and that’s perfectly fine. It does what it needs to do, and does it well.It drives like a nice car.
What’s interesting is just how similar the hybrid experience is to the EV experience. Sure, the acceleration may be a bit better withe the pure EV, but not by much, and in the FWD models, hardly at all. There’s a touch more noise when the hybrid’s inline-four kicks in, but not much. This is a very quiet, smooth car regardless of drivetrain.
It handles fine; it’s not exactly light, so it feels planted. The acceleration isn’t exactly neck-snapping, but it is plenty quick when you push that pedal down, and passing was never a chore. The paddles on the BEV version adjust the brake regen, though it’s worth noting you can never set it to true one-pedal driving.
The truth is I barely remember what it feels like to drive, and I think that’s by design. So, in that case, mission accomplished, Lexus.
As far as how far you can drive, I mentioned earlier the BEV version goes 307 miles for the FWD one, and 276 miles for the dual-motor. It’ll charge from 10 to 80% in about 30 minutes, given the right charger: 
The hybrid one has roughly a 14 gallon fuel tank, so if you actually can get around the estimated 45 mpg, that’s a total driving range of an impressive 630 miles!
So, What’s The Verdict?
Like I said, this is a nice car. Too nice for me, but probably just right for, as I mentioned, the son my mom probably would have preferred. And that’s fine – there’s plenty of people in the world like that, people who want to drive something comfortable and reliable, stylish enough and incapable of hauling a go-kart or baby goat or a big bag of gonads. Sorry, I wanted another “go-” word and it’s getting pretty late.
This is a well-designed, well-engineered car that will likely inspire loyalty and appreciation if not passion. I’m sure there will be people who will absolutely love this car, in a quiet, intelligent way, and they will likely get many satisfied years of use out of it.
I won’t, though. I’m too broke and stupid, but I’m okay with that.
My question is if it’s really $20-$25k nicer than a base Camry. On that far cheaper car you get the opulent luxury of proper sidewall, even better gas mileage* and it doesn’t look like a fetishist at play.
* does the hybrid still take regular or does Lexus recommend/require premium?
The Camry hybrid (which is all of them now) is such a good car for the money
Exactly! How many diminishing returns do you get for that extra $20-25k? Is that Mark Levinson sound system really THAT good?
and if you want the Lexus quiet, 25k buys a lot of dynamat.
That “Executive Package” with the rear reclining seats is a game changer on the ES from a passenger standpoint.
Agreed, but I’m generally buying a car for me to drive. If I were buying something to be driven around in, different story.
That’s what ride shares are for.
Yes.
What? Speak up, my ears are still ringing from my drive home. Who?? ALICE IN CHAINS!!
$25k buys a lot of concert tickets.
well maybe A concert ticket.
Mine came in a 12 year old car that is still immaculate. I did not pay nearly that much.
Somebody did. And the question is whether that somebody should do so again instead of getting a Camry
Only if they value different aspects of enjoying automobiles differently than you do?
Well I suppose some people DO enjoy paying huge amounts of money just to get a conspicuous fancy name and Lexus is a conspicuous fancy name so there’s that.
I mean if it was me and I wanted to peacock I’d just buy a couple of Lexus badges off eBay for $10, replace the Toyota badges and pocket the $24,990. It’s not like 99.9% of people out there could tell the difference between a real Lexus and a rebadged Toyota but as you correctly point out others value different aspects of enjoying automobiles differently than I do.
I value heated ventilated memory seating with side mirror and steering wheel memory. Three driver household. If you want that from Toyota you have to get almost everything else they offer. I just checked the Camry and ES build configurator thingies and by the time you get that (for just the driver seat) price diff is around 6k and there are a lot of features and invisible features that come along with the badge. On the used market the badge has almost completely depreciated, no new luxury car prestige left, just the car.
I value those things too but at maybe $1-2k, certainly not $25k which is almost the price of a whole second Camry.
Compared to the rest of the interior, the dashboard and instrument cluster look unfinished, like they ran out of time to design something before the deadline and just slapped a placeholder on there.
Planted to the plant?
Is this a reference to a 13 year old Camry commercial?
Well done.
I can’t believe this passel of pedants made it to ninety comments without somebody calling Jason on “chaise longue.”
Gondola?
Imaginary scene, 15 years hence
Otto: [drives up the driveway in a 9th or 10th gen Lexus ES]
Jason: [crawls out from under the belly of the DS he’s working on] [affixes feigned smile]
Otto: Look at my new car!
Jason: [maintaining feigned smile. He’s trying hard.] It’s…nice‽ Yeah, nice. Nice! How’re the kids?
Otto: They love the Colecovision, Dad.
nice interrobang.
While it might be a Nice Car, Lexus’s missed the opportunity to shape the right rear turn signal like an “R” like the left one is shaped like an “L.”
It is a nice car, but I’ve got Lexus taste and a Toyota budget.
Nowadays a Toyota budget is still pretty darn good.
Lucky you. I have Lexus taste and a used Changli budget.
Then the ideal car for you is a 6 year old Lexus ES. They’re basically Toyotas made to the highest spec, so they’ll last to half a million miles or more, and the ES is the least exciting car on the planet, so nobody’s ever gonna drive the thing hard – or at least, certainly not the first owner.
As a fun aside, when an Average Transaction Price of about 50k is brought up, this car starts right in that range. Being average is pretty baller these days.
Gotta love a market where the average is driven by the top 10% of consumers.
Thanks Jason for a very entertaining review of a very unentertaining car. 🙂
I could drive it, but I won’t. I do really like that butterscotch interior though… it’s lovely.
It’s nice, hu?
It is! 🙂 I’m so tired of black, grey, and tan interiors after so many cars owned. I’m not saying I’d opt for that all-green or all-blue interior you see on some early Boxsters (they’re a bit much) but that crimson seen on some late model Mazdas (and BMWs) is also very nice.
The hybrid would be the perfect high speed highway commuter for me. Bit too much screen but oh well, the interior looks sumptuous especially in the butterscotch. A nice dark green exterior color would really hit and it’s a shame they don’t offer it. I’d probably just get black.
Not that I’m in the market for a new car (I’m cheap), but the 10k less Crown seems awefully compelling as well. Also looks to have more physical buttons and controls.
Agreed. And you can choose a crossover/vaguely wagonish version if you wish. Does the Crown now come as a full electric too though?
No, I think it is one generation behind this. Has PHEV though.
I see not many people lambasting this for being awash in haptic controls, but if it had a VW badge on it…. chuck the infotainment into the river!!!
I doubt anyone here is thrilled about haptics in the Lexus vs. real buttons, but at least there are tangible dividers which would help a bit. But IMO it smacks of cost cutting, and is therefore inappropriate in a Lexus interior.
There are dividers in the VW system too. There is a division between the hot/cold haptics and between the volume slider and temp controls. They even make that entire bank of controls in a shallow depression so it is easier to locate instead of on a completely flat plane like the Lexus…. And the steering wheel haptics are separated texturally by differing heights/demarcations on the buttons as well.
But I wholeheartedly agree, car brands can do better than haptics and everything touchscreen. Everyone got caught up in trying to emulate Tesla for some reason.
I didn’t recall that VW had indentations or ridges to deliniate the haptic ‘buttons.’ Thanks for edumacating me. 🙂
I only learned that because I have a Mk8 GTI with the hated infotainment and my wife has the GLI which actually does have knobs at least for the infotainment but still has the steering wheel haptics. Needless to say I’ve become quite accustomed to it all at this point lol
I mean, it seems like a nice, premium, unassuming, wholly competent commuter vehicle…which is what the ES has always been. I know they’ve gotten a lot of grief for this design but I really don’t mind it at all. At the end of the day it looks like a Lexus, and that’s what matters. This is also way, way, way less confused and busy than any of the sedans coming out of Deutschland right now.
I’m not sure how many of the BEVs they’ll sell, but it’s cool to have the option. The hybrid system is completely bombproof, incredibly efficient, and probably what I’d go for. It’s also cool to have the cavernous rear passenger space. As someone who routinely has to deal with car seats this is a huge selling point…especially since a lot of entry level luxury sedans have awful rear legroom.
Really my only gripes are the haptic bullshit and illuminated Lexus badge. I thought Toyota knew better, but alas. I do suppose they’re just trying to keep up with trends…and this is still a better solution than the interior hell worlds of the competition. They’re very clearly trying to steal some sales from Tesla as well, and maybe they’ll succeed where others have failed…because this interior is approximately 7,000 times nicer than a Tesla one and the MSRP is competitive.
The light up badge nonsense is just so very un-Lexus like. They’ve always been the brand that understands old school luxury and delivering high quality shit that lasts. This nonsense screams “disposable lease machine for posers” to me but again, the conspicuous consumption crowd demands gauche bullshit so I understand why they did it.
Anyway I may look at one of these when it’s time. I live in a place where driving is assorted shades of miserable and in my advancing age I do get the value of a comfortable, efficient, no-nonsense commuter.
100% agree hybrid is the way to go on this. The Toyota system is proven and works. I have no doubt this car will regularly get 40+mpg. I’m still running a ’14 Camry hybrid with 268k and getting that.
What a fun read. People that buy these and opt out of the butterscotch interior should be tarred and feathered.
I’m curious about the ADAS. Tesla’s Autopilot/FSD is really the only reason I keep considering an Elon mobile (Shame! Shame!) and nothing else really seems to come close.
It’s hard to imagine reading a review for a car like this and coming away entertained, but here we are. Thank you, Jason haha
To be fair to those people, I would bet that the lame as hell gray interior is going to account for 95% of the inventory out there.
Warm fuzzy peruses a cold prickly world.
Scene:
Lexus designers and engineers congregate around their giant collaborative screen and load the 3D model from the render farm. As the triangles begin to fill in and the surfaces shade, one of them hits pause. “There, lets stop here. This is complete enough.”
A $50k Lexus AWD Electric Sedan should fart Tesla to the moon. If they can scale this thing to a $35k Electric Camry forget about it.
they are already almost there with the Camry.
Don’t forget the Crown either. I’d have to think long and hard buying this over a Crown for 10k less.
for sure, I mentioned Camry because that’s what the comment specified and it’s cheaper than the crown.
I daily a 12 yr old Camry hybrid and would not consider replacing it with less. I have driven the current Camry and liked it, will probably buy one used in a few years. TBH it has all the lux and features I need.
I find that long term durability of interior materials diminishes with additonal lux. I’d rather have a more basic car that still looks good at 300k than a lux car that is fully torn up at that mileage.
I really want to see what the empty chasm looks like underneath the plastic cover.
also, is it just me, or does the steering wheel look clunky and out of place compared to the rest of it? like they took it off an old dodge.
also-also, pretty sure they call the running lights inward/outward is because they’re kinda arrows and that’s where they are pointing.
Hey what the fuck, Lexus people?? I hate this design trend, and here they are saying it’s supposed to be some kind of feature and not just a cost-cutting measure?
Like, if you want to point out you have nice screens that don’t wash out or something, that’s nice I guess. But even barring the washout thing I just think hooded instrument displays look nicer. The picture right after this of the display standing up in a little pool of gray looks so dumb.
And funtionally, I’m seeing reflections that could be problematic. And might have been prevented with a hood there.
Agreed, looks totally unfinished.
Yeah, I’m predicting that this is going to go over about as well as Tesla’s yoke instead of a steering wheel. Sure it looks edgy, but these design decisions are evolutionary, and exist with a purpose.
I recognize that the large, round silver brand emblem on a glossy background mounted in the middle of the grill was partly a bragging thing (calling out you, Mercedes), but also to hide the front radar sensor array. It is interesting to see how manufacturers decide to adapt their styling now that the arrays are more easily concealed.
The smooth front ends resulting from electrification seem to be having a definite, dramatic effect on designs. Too bad there is a height requirement for ‘pedestrian safety’. I still think that better visibility is more important than raising hood lines, but I’m no expert.
Visibility is overrated when everyone is staring at their phone screen.
All the more reason to give them a full view when they spare 1/2 second to glance up as their car is already rolling from the traffic light. (Yes, I watch a lot of drivers during my commute. No, I’m not driving.)
I would think so, also. Lessening the degree of pedestrian injury is a minor win compared to reducing the likelihood of pedestrian injury in the first place. And my expectation, beyond the obvious better sighting of children, dogs and short old people over a reduced-height hood leading edge, is that if you can see the road coming at you 20 feet in front of your eyes, you’re going to be a much more aware driver than if can only see the road surface 40 feet ahead, where it barely looks like it’s moving. Anything that makes you feel more like a bus passenger rather than an active driver is a bad idea for those pedestrians. And your insurance rates.
I imagine of the “engagement” of a small sports car is not just the engine, suspension, etcetera, it’s the unconscious feeling of being part of the scene provided by the visual experience.
The opening reminds me of a story years ago where David sold his Lexus GX because it was too nice and “soulless” because it didn’t break down all the time.
Lexus designer #1: “Let’s see if we can make a car that’s even uglier than the Cybertruck!”
Lexus designer #2: “But also make the side of it look like a Dodge Charger!”
Because that’s what this looks like. The offspring of some drunken encounter between the worst two vehicles to ever attempt procreation.
yep that nose looked horrible on the TX, and still looks horrible in smaller form
Everyone’s been griping about our predator/spindle grill. Let’s give them something else to bitch about. Not unlike the ugly black blobs they stuck on the doors of the Crown; why?
So, enraged as you are with the lack of Frunk, you didn’t think to yourself: I’ve got a few tools and know vaguely how to use them, I’ll just take off this cover to show you all what’s actually under the hood to justify to everyone that a Frunk should have been possible – or, no, it’s actually packed full of things like massive HEPA filters, multiple redundant AC units, and twelve miniature mechanics that take turns fighting squirrels that think it’d be grand to munch on wires?
Or, you know, you just typed that and moved on because we can somehow live without a frunk.
I was tempted but it’s tricky to pull a car apart like that on a press trip without getting sent home, angrily.
Well, some them are built so that the front doesn’t fall off at all.
Wasn’t this built so that the front wouldn’t fall off?
Well, obviously not.
I’m sort of okay with this. I like that it’s a sedan and there’s choices for lighter color interiors. Still hate those powered door handles and haptic feedback switches.. not enough hate to pass on a car like this, but they sure make it hard to be very excited about it. I’m sure it has a nice quiet and soft ride.
I am disappointed that Lexus doesn’t offer it in a PHEV/E-REV variant. Having 80 miles battery range + a gas generator would have given it the best of both worlds. Since we’ve already got our nice sedan EV (Ioniq 6 with crappy motorized door handles and crappy capacitive touch controls), but if I was looking for another sedan, I’d probably maybe put this on our list.
Note to Autopian reviewers…
When reviewing any BEV PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR ACTUAL miles/kWh. That’s the MOST IMPORTANT METRIC when it comes to efficiency of the electric car, not the battery size or range. I’d like to know that the miles/kWh is in city and in highway driving, or at least some data when you do your test drives. Anything much below 4 I consider poor, anything above 5 I consider good.
Anyone can make an EV with long range (just make the battery as big as you can), but it’s the efficiency that can set them apart, same as the MPG in the gas cars.
It’s a fair callout, the efficiency is the other side of the range equation which is important to know.
On the other hand, I don’t know how relevant the efficiency figures are on these types of first drives. Time with the car is limited and testing the performance will yield unrealistic/poor numbers.
Out of Spec on YouTube is a great source of real world testing. They get as consistent and scientific as you can with real world variables.
Gonna take the ol’ Egg Salad out for a gentle cruise this evening.
(It doesn’t stand for egg salad)
Bullshit it doesn’t!