Lexus LFA Successor Goes All-Electric, Ditching Fake Engine Sounds

At last week’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, surrounded by roaring V8s and screaming V12s, the next-generation Lexus LFA made its debut in near-total silence. That’s because the successor to the brand’s iconic supercar will be fully electric, a dramatic departure from the original’s legendary Yamaha-tuned V10.

The new LFA shares its aluminum chassis with the Toyota GR GT, but where that car packs a powerful gas V8, this one runs on batteries.

According to Autocar, the LFA will be the first production Lexus to use advanced solid-state batteries, a technology Toyota has been perfecting for years. These cells pack more energy into a smaller space than traditional lithium-ion packs, giving the car a potential edge in range and weight.

” He added that the new model was shaped to carry that message, not to follow Lexus’s current design language.

LFA program general manager Yukihiro Yukita acknowledged that selling a high-priced electric supercar is a tough challenge, but he said Lexus intends to lead the shift from combustion to electric. And unlike Porsche, Hyundai, and Mercedes-AMG, Lexus has no interest in faking gear shifts or piping in artificial engine noise.

“What I get from the market is that a BEV is fake, because we imitate the sound, but that’s not something we want to do,” Yukita said. Instead, engineers will strip out unwanted noise and vibration, then sharpen what remains, creating a sensory experience that feels genuine. He believes the instant responsiveness and linear power delivery of electric motors can offer thrills that no combustion engine can match.