The Lexus LFA has returned! This is the new fully electric Lexus supercar concept

You’re looking at the artist previously known as the Lexus Sports Concept, but now acknowledged officially as the ‘Lexus LFA Concept’. A car we always suspected to be fully electric but could never confirm - until now. So there you go; the next Lexus LFA will look a bit like this - traditional triangular themes and all - and be battery-powered.

And yes, it’s directly related to the new Toyota Gazoo Racing GR GT and GR GT3, sharing what Lexus refers to as ‘core technologies’ and aspirations - but hell bent on figuring out what you can really do with a full-battery car.

Think that the nameplate ‘LFA’ should be V10 and naturally-aspirated only? Lexus doesn’t. And as a company it’s being very clear: “The model name ‘LFA’ is not bound to vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. It symbolises a vehicle that embodies technologies its engineers should preserve and pass on to the next generation."

So that’s us told, then. What we do know is that the next LFA will share the same all-aluminium frame and chassis as the GR GT and GT3, but in a much more sophisticated and sculptural body. Still a two-seat car with a long bonnet and kamm tail, but something with a little more style than absolute function. Obviously there’s talk of solid-state batteries (up to three times the power density of traditional lithium-ion these days) and mega-horsepower, but the LFA of the future will be more exclusive, and very much a road car.

What we can see from the latest version of the plan is an interior that’s got a little bit of magic woven through it. High-definition panel displays that cocoon the driver, centred on a yoke wheel. Obviously, given the base vehicle, the seating position is low, the view over a long bonnet - but Lexus reckons this will be a different experience entirely. It’s got a variable rack - Lexus says you won’t have to release the wheel when you turn, suggesting some sort of geared steering - and that you’ll be able to intuitively ‘blind-touch’ the various controls for intuitive operation.

It’s more minimalist and more technological than the Toyota on which it’s based, and canted towards an experience that pushes ‘immersion’ in a BEV environment. Sounds like a lot of Public Relations, but it does look very cool, even if it is taking a long while to birth.

What we appear to be seeing here is Toyota and Toyota Gazoo Racing as a brand stepping up their performance lines while Lexus starts to spear off into uncharted territory. The ‘LFA successor’ with an engine becomes the GR GT, the ‘next LFA’ a more unique and expensive science project.