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Lexus NX rolls on wheels made of ice

To create this rolling ice sculpture, Lexus teamed up with London-based Hamilton Ice Sculptors, which fitted the compact luxury crossover with wheels and tires crafted from ice. The sub-zero craftsmen then deep-froze the entire vehicle, stored it at -22 degrees Fahrenheit, and drove it around London – pleasantly surprised to find that it started on the first try. As far as publicity stunts go, the finished product looks even cooler than the cardboard IS that Lexus had crafted a few months ago or the biometric glow-in-the-dark RC F from this past summer. The project took three months of research, design, and testing to carry out. The wheels replicate the alloys on the NX with millimetric precision, right down to the tread pattern, and each one took a team of four craftsmen 36 hours of work to complete. Of course, blocks of ice would have a hard time supporting the weight of the vehicle – especially while in motion – so the frozen wheels were reinforced with clear acrylic discs. And to make it all glow, they were also fitted with in-wheel LED lighting. This isn't the first time we've seen ice sculptors apply their skills to automobiles, following the frozen Canadian Tire pickup, Toyota Land Cruiser, Nissan Cube, and Saab Aero-X we've seen in recently years. But this one is at least as cool, in one sense or another. Scope out the results in the video above, and the process that went into their creation in the making-of video below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. LEXUS NX RIDES ON THE WORLD'S COOLEST WHEELS – CRAFTED IN SOLID ICE The concept of driving on ice has taken on a whole new meaning for Lexus, which has crafted the world's first set of working wheels and tyres made from frozen water. Brussels, Belgium - True to its mission of "creating amazing" and inspired by the craftsmanship that goes into every vehicle it makes, Lexus commissioned a team of ice sculpture specialists to explore how ice could be used in place of conventional alloy metal and rubber. After three months' research, design and testing, the finished wheels were fitted to a Lexus NX for the ultimate ice drive. The car itself was deep-frozen, stored for five days at -30°C (it started first time) before being driven off down a London road. The addition of in-wheel LED lighting added an extra dramatic dimension to the cutting-edge contemporary styling of the NX.

2018 Technology of the Year Award | We chat with Lexus about the LC 500h's hybrid system

Every year, Autoblog editors test dozens and dozens of the newest vehicles available, sometimes even before they're available. From those vehicles, we select the ones we think provide the most innovative technology in the industry. Then we pare the list down to the very best, test them again, and vote on our winner for Technology of the Year. This year, Lexus's multi-stage hybrid system — as tested in the LC 500h — came out ahead of the rest of the finalists. We chose the 2018 Detroit Auto Show to hand over the award to Lexus Group Vice President and General Manager Jeff Bracken. He was kind enough to sit down with Autoblog Senior Editor Alex Kierstein and Green Editor John Snyder at the Lexus stand to talk about the hybrid system, what it does, and what it means for the future of Lexus and Toyota. Check out the video above, and follow along for all our coverage from the 2018 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, where we are taking a look at all of the new cars and technology that we'll see in the near future. Perhaps the next winner of Autoblog's Technology of the Year award is sitting somewhere on the Detroit show floor. Related Video: Green Detroit Auto Show Lexus Toyota Fuel Efficiency Green Automakers Technology Technology of the Year Coupe Hybrid Luxury Performance Videos Original Video 2018 detroit auto show

Production Lexus RZ 450e leaked ahead of official debut

The Lexus RZ 450e isn't supposed to debut until April 20, but some screenshots from Japan may have revealed the production EV's look. Unsurprisingly, they look pretty close to the official concept images we've seen before. In some ways toned down for production, in other ways amped up. The images appear to have been leaked in a Japanese Discovery Channel promo, which users at RZforums.com screen captured. The screenshots show a burnt orange-colored RZ driving on a test course in Japan. The inescapable dress-up comes in the form of a black hood that emphasizes the Lexus spindle grille. Though it's been in use for over 10 years now, it remains a controversial piece of Lexus design. It works better on some cars than others, but in the case of the RZ the company seems to want to double down on accentuating its lines. On the other hand, the concept's body-colored nose seems to have been replaced with a black section where the grille might have resided on a internal combustion car. This lets the RZ maintain a semblance of grille without actually having one. The result is a more traditional-looking face than the Mirai-esque concept schnoz. It should be noted that the production car wears a black roof as well, which the concept does not. Overall, the Lexus RZ's styling departs further from the Subaru Solterra and Toyota bZ4X upon which it is based. While those two are nearly indistinguishable from one another, the Lexus has unique sheetmetal as evinced by its surfacing, C-pillar treatment, and more. Perhaps as the biggest relief to some, the RX eliminates the black cladding on the front fenders for body-colored wings. The Toyota bZ4X is powered either by a single electric motor with 201 horsepower or a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive configuration with 214 horses. Both choices use a 71.4-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery that gets, in the Japanese testing cycle, 310 miles of range in front-drive and 285 miles in all-wheel-drive. The Lexus might get a performance boost, but we won't know until April 20 at the latest. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.