Lexus, Toyota’s premium brand, is teasing a new electric vehicle concept to be unveiled later this month at the 46th Tokyo Motor Show.
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It’s no secret that Toyota is not a big fan of battery-electric vehicles as the Japanese automaker is heavily invested in hydrogen fuel cell technology and hybrid cars.
But now the company, though its Lexus brand, goes as far as trash talking all-electric vehicles in shameful hybrid vehicle advertising.
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As part of Toyota, Lexus has been following the lead of its parent company and hasn’t pushed hard for the electrification of its lineup.
Lexus has yet to release an all-electric vehicle despite virtually all premium brands, like its top German competitors Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, going electric with new vehicles.
The head of the brand, Yoshihiro Sawa, now says that he believes that it is still too soon for EVs and therefore, they are not falling behind but having a better approach to alternative powertrains.
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As a brand, Lexus has been suffering on the electric vehicle front due to being part of Toyota, which has until recently been too focused on hydrogen fuel cell to make electric vehicles.
But Toyota has now greenlit Lexus EVs and it unveiled a new crossover concept supporting an all-electric powertrain at the Detroit Auto Show this week.
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Hoverboards experienced a resurgence over the last year after Hendo and Lexus demonstrated their projects in the field, but their boards can only hover on top of metal surfaces, which limits applications. Omni Hoverboards is working on a much more versatile product. The start-up already holds the world record for the longest hoverboard flight with its Mark-1 prototype and it is already working on a second generation board.
Omni doesn’t use a fancy magnetic field technology, but instead technologies already commercialized in the growing quad-copter industry.
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