Lexus gets infotainment upgrade and EVs

Lexus will jump into the electric vehicle segment in 2022 with a compact crossover, one of at least three EVs the brand is expected to add to its U.S. lineup through 2025 while it continues to redesign and make over its existing hybridized, internal combustion engine-powered vehicles.

Key to its product plans is a new touch screen-based infotainment system, Lexus Interface, that will debut this year in the NX crossover and spread across most of the lineup over the next three years. It was developed in-house in North America and will eliminate the brand's center console-mounted control pad.

IS: Reengineered instead of redesigned in 2020, in part to save money in the declining compact car segment, the IS wouldn't be due for a freshening until 2024, following the brand's usual product planning calendar.

ES: The seventh generation of the midsize sedan went on sale in 2018 and will receive minor tweaks until a full freshening in 2025.

LS: The freshened large sedan will arrive this year with an optional Level 2 automated driving-assistance feature called Lexus Teammate. The system uses lidar technology developed partly with Denso Corp. that will enable the LS to automatically change lanes, follow lanes and pass vehicles in some highway driving. An Advanced Park function employs the vehicle's suite of cameras and sensors to enable hands-free parallel or back-in parking.

RC: The low-volume performance coupe will receive only minor interventions until a full freshening in 2024.

LC: The luxury coupe and convertible will receive a midcycle freshening in 2025.

UX: The compact crossover will receive a midcycle freshening in 2023.

NX: The redesigned compact crossover arrives this year and will debut the Lexus Interface infotainment system. The base NX 350 will be equipped with a 275-hp inline-four engine paired with a new eight-speed transmission to produce an estimated 317 pound-feet of torque. A plug-in hybrid version, the brand's first, called the NX 450h+ will get a battery-only range of about 36 miles. The NX is also getting the brand's newest suite of driver-assistance and safety technologies, called Lexus Safety System+ 3.0. Even the door latches will get an upgrade with the introduction of a digital system, which prevents the door from opening if it is unsafe to do so.

LF-Z: A new electric compact crossover based on the LF-Z Electrified concept shown this year, and likely to retain the name, will arrive at U.S. dealerships in the second half of 2022. In concept form, the LF-Z carried a 90-kilowatt-hour lithium ion battery pack and had an anticipated range of about 370 miles under the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test Procedure.

It also featured steer-by-wire technology and used two torque-split motors, which Lexus calls Direct4 technology, to sharpen performance and safety by sending different levels of power to each wheel as required. The two technologies allow the LF-Z to turn and accelerate far more sharply through corners or a slalom, effectively countering the physics that force vehicles equipped with mechanical-based systems outward through turns.

The brand also says the paired technologies allow the vehicle to perform exactly to the driver's intention, regardless of road condition or weather.

RX: The brand's top-selling crossover will be redesigned onto Toyota's global luxury platform in the second half of 2022, when the midsize RX will be outfitted with an improved hybrid powertrain, the latest safety and driver-assist systems and upgraded Lexus Interface infotainment.

GX: Expect the three-row midsize SUV to be larger and more luxurious when it is redesigned onto the luxury GA-F body-on-frame platform in 2024. It will be hybridized to optimize for power as well as fuel economy, and it will get the latest suite of Lexus safety, driver-assist and infotainment offerings.

LX: The large SUV gets a full redesign onto the GA-F platform in the first half of 2022. The new platform will improve the LX's technology and safety offerings, as well as its ride comfort, and make it more competitive among big, three-row, luxury off-roaders.

Electric vehicles: Lexus is expected to expand its EV lineup in 2024 and 2025 with two more models, though it is unclear what form and size those vehicles will take.