Giga Casting with Autonomous Driving Assembly and Advanced Batteries... "Lexus Leads Electrification New Technologies"

Takashi Watanabe, President of Lexus International
"Lexus Plays a Leading Role in Driving Technology"
2026 Mass Production of LF-ZC with Gigacasting
"New Value Realized Through Software Utilization"

"As a manufacturer of battery electric vehicles (BEVs), I believe it is important to focus on how to advance the technology. Lexus's role is to lead in terms of technological capability."

Takashi Watanabe, President of Lexus International, answered this way when asked about 'Toyota's differentiated electrification strategy' during an interview with Korean reporters on the 25th of last month. Lexus, Toyota's premium brand, announced last year its mid-to-long-term electrification transition plan to sell 1 million electric vehicles by 2030 and to sell only battery electric vehicles starting from 2035.

President Watanabe joined Toyota in 1993 and was in charge of engine performance improvements at the Higashifuji Research Institute. After transferring to Lexus in 2012, he served as the chief engineer for dedicated electric vehicle development such as the UX300e and RZ from 2017. He was appointed president in March of this year.

Takashi Watanabe, President of Lexus International, is being interviewed by the Korean press at the pre-press event of Japan Mobility Show 2023 on the 25th of last month.
[Photo by Korea Automobile Journalists Association]

President Watanabe said, "We will review the entire process of making cars and think about the best car-making process for battery electric vehicles," adding, "Toyota will release new electric vehicles in the future, and our role is to further develop them."

Lexus recently unveiled the electric concept car LF-ZC for the first time at the Japan Mobility Show 2023. The model, targeted for mass production in 2026, carries the meaning that Z stands for Zero-emission, a car with no carbon emissions, and C represents Catalyst, symbolizing the new experiences electric vehicles will bring. The company stated that it plans to apply a new steering system called steer-by-wire, which gives a feeling similar to riding a motorcycle, and a new software platform named Arin.

The production method is also different from before. President Watanabe revealed that the LF-ZC was selected as the first Lexus model to apply the giga casting method announced by the Toyota Group in the first half of this year. He explained, "The advantage of giga casting is that it allows for efficient car manufacturing," adding, "By modularizing into three major parts?front, rear, and center modules?we can create a simpler structured electric vehicle platform."

Lexus unveiled its electric concept car LF-ZC for the first time at the Japan Mobility Show 2023 on the 25th of last month.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Giga casting, which resembles stamping out large sections of the car body, has become a new trend in complete vehicle production methods after being utilized by Tesla. It not only allows for more freedom in shaping but also enables integration of parts to increase rigidity. The LF-ZC plans to apply various unprecedented new technologies, including an autonomous assembly line without conveyor belts and a simplified structure with prismatic high-performance batteries.

Battery technology, directly linked to electric vehicle performance, will also be refined. President Watanabe stated, "To popularize battery electric vehicles, how efficiently the battery can be utilized will be the most important factor," and added, "It is important to improve (battery) efficiency based on the technology we currently have."

Lexus electric concept car LF-ZC. It is being developed with the goal of mass production in 2026.
[Photo by Korea Automobile Journalists Association]

With fierce competition in electric vehicle development centered on Chinese companies such as BYD, he added that Lexus plans to further enhance the customer experience that a premium brand can provide. He anticipated that various values could be offered through software.

President Watanabe said, "By integrating sensing technologies that recognize human conditions or check the surroundings of the vehicle with electrification, and utilizing software applications that customers need, the value and advantages of the car will increase," adding, "The true value of electric vehicles lies in the ability to realize what you imagine, and software is what makes this possible."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.