Toyota luxury division Lexus unveils a hydrogen fuel cell concept car at the Tokyo Motor Show. The LF-FC, a four-door coupé that is aggressively designed to cross over between luxury and sports cars.
The next set of Lexus vehicles could offer options for hydrogen fuel cell powertrains. After Toyota considered integrating fuel cell technology to their luxury division, Lexus debuted at the 2015 Tokyo Auto Show a concept car that features hydrogen fuel cells. Known as the LF-FC, the four-door sedan is a crossbreed between a luxury car and a compact sports car that Toyota's luxury division says as its next leading model.
The power that the hydrogen fuel cells generate will be delivered to all the LF-FC's four wheels with an upfront electric motor in each wheel. Mounted at the back of the car is the fuel cell stack. The hydrogen tanks are arranged in T-shape for an optimal weight distribution and to make it sturdier.
The luxury coupé demonstrates Toyota's luxury division's state-of-the-art design language. The car features a spindle grille on the face of the car, bordered with aggressive-looking headlights with slash-like running lights at daytime.
Instead of previewing the usual luxury sedan profile like its LS models, the LF-FC is a four-door sports coupe with lowered roofline and placed glasshouse further at the back of the car. The wheels displayed are made up of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic with a 21-inch diameter. The car's interiors feature aniline leather on its doors, dashboard, and seats. The driver seat gets a control-based gesture system while the passengers get reclining seats at the rear end. In addition, the car has autonomous driving characteristics. This includes recognition on traffic environments, route predictions, road judgment, communication and function.
Lexus parent company Toyota expects to retail over 30,000 hydrogen fuel cell cars worldwide by 2020. This technology will be playing a major role in achieving the carmaker's plans of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 90 per cent before 2050.
