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Lexus sails the seas in luxury with its first-ever yacht

Lexus is taking its pursuit of luxury lifestyle offshore with a production version of its LY 650 yacht, revealed in Boca Raton last week. Now one can have an oceangoing Lexus to go with the LC 500 parked in the garage. Based on its Sport Yacht Concept revealed in 2017 and announced for production last year, the 65-foot yacht was developed with and built by Marquis Yachts LLC, which also adopted Toyota's latest manufacturing and quality assurance methods. The LY 650's styling was cooperatively penned with Nuvolari Lenard, which designs luxury yachts. Lexus and its partners designed the LY 650 with a high-tech hull that's a combination of lightweight but rigid CFRP (carbon fiber-reinforced plastic) and GFRP (glass fiber-reinforced plastic), to reduce weight without sacrificing structural integrity. The LY 650 is powered by dual Volvo Penta IPS1350 marine engines making 1,000 horsepower each, or buyers can choose 800 or 900 hp engines instead. The ship's master can even operate the LY 650 with a new LY-Link smartphone wireless connectivity system that controls the boat's functions and uses real-time information to assist navigation. Keeping seafarers entertained is an integrated Mark Levinson Surround Sound audio and entertainment system designed specifically for the LY 650 to offer "concert hall-like" acoustics in the main deck's salon. There are three decks: topside with secondary controls, salon on the main deck, and three cabins below that sleep six. "The LY 650 symbolizes the challenge taken by Lexus, which aspires to be a true luxury lifestyle brand, to venture beyond the automobile. A collaborative team between Toyota and Marquis Yachts introduced the Toyota Production System to the boat manufacturing facility to improve productivity and quality,” President Akio Toyoda said in a statement. “This allowed the Lexus "CRAFTED" philosophy of anticipatory hospitality and meticulous attention to detail to become a reality in the form of a luxury yacht. I am truly looking forward to seeing the advanced, high quality LY 650 display its beauty on the oceans across the globe. As a mobility company, we are pursuing new possibilities for mobility even on the sea." Lexus is not the only luxury automaker to hear the call of the sea: Porsche created a yacht, and there's a Bugatti Chiron sister ship along with the Mercedes Silver Arrow. Even Henrik Fisker has dabbled with yacht design.

Lexus RZ 450e EV revealed, with sports car concept and more

Toyota just showed a huge number of concept cars as a preview of what it has planned for the future through 2030. Naturally, Lexus is a significant part of that, and it had its own group of vehicles to show including the production RZ 450e. Not only that, the company announced it would have a full line of electric cars with the goal of having all of its sales in North America, Europe and China be electric. By 2035, Lexus will only sell electric cars. Leading the lineup of future electric cars is the production RZ 450e. Unfortunately, no specifications were given. It looks very close to the LF-Z concept car from earlier this year, but with some of the more fiddly detailing cleaned up, and some of the character lines actually amplified. We wouldn't be surprised if it's closely related to the Toyota bZ4X under the metal. The other vehicles shown were concepts that likely preview future Lexus models. The showstopper is the Electrified Sport. It has exaggerated curves, an incredibly long nose and looks remarkable. Lexus said it should have some eye-catching performance, too. It's apparently inspired by the LFA, and should be able to reach the 60 mph mark in the low 2-second range. And speaking of range, the company estimated a range of around 435 miles, and power could potentially be supplied by solid-state batteries. The other two vehicles shown were a sedan and an SUV, simply called the Electrified Sedan and Electrified SUV. The sedan shares styling cues with the sports coupe, but naturally toned down a bit. The Electrified SUV looks like a boxier, larger version of the RZ. Proportionally, it looks like it may have three rows of seats, and it seems like it could be the next electric Lexus after the RZ. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Lexus previews its next design language with an electric concept

Identifying a new or a late-model Lexus is child's play: Look for the giant spindle-shaped grille. It's a styling cue that defines all of its recent models, and designing an electric car is evidently not an excuse to get rid of it. Lexus published a dark teaser image that previews an electric concept that will usher in its next design language. Like parent company Toyota, Lexus has long resisted the shift towards electric cars by fervently arguing hybrids make more sense. But, as even its home country mulls a blanket ban on internal combustion technology, it's left with no choice but to go electric. It already sells a battery-powered variant of the UX in Europe, but the concept it previewed on its social channels was designed as an electric car from the get-go. It's still shrouded in secrecy, we don't even know its name yet, but we can already tell the spindle stays. Its outline clearly appears between the sharp LED headlights, though it almost looks full. And, like seemingly every concept car released in the past three or four years, the newest member of the Lexus portfolio wears a backlit emblem. Lexus electric prototype View 4 Photos Interestingly, Lexus also quietly published a separate video highlighting the electric and hybrid technologies it's developing for the 2020s, and the footage reveals a heavily-camouflaged crossover lapping a test track in Japan. Shown in the gallery above, it's fully electric, and it might be at least related to the upcoming concept. Direct4 technology will power the car. Short for Direct 4-Wheel Drive Force Control, it's a system that automatically adjusts the torque sent to each wheel based on the road and driving conditions. In this application, it consists of two electric motors (one per axle), and its total output checks in at 402 horsepower and 442 pound-feet of torque. Lexus noted it can be used for gasoline-electric plug-in hybrid systems, too. We'll need to be patient to find out more about the concept. For example, we don't know if it's related to the electric car that Toyota will release in Europe in 2021, or if it's something else entirely. If the concept and the prototype shown testing in Japan are indeed the same car, it looks like its launch is right around the corner. Related video: