Lexus sprang a major surprise at the Goodwood Festival of Speed with the world-first dynamic drives of its LFA Concept electric supercar.

Its appearance came 17 years after the original V10 Lexus LFA first appeared in prototype form at the world-famous celebration of motoring performance in the south of England.

Scheduled to appear only on static display in the festival’s Supercar Paddock, the LFA Concept was an unannounced addition to the high-speed sessions on the festival’s hill climb course. Its bodywork still bearing camouflage wrapping, it formed a trio of high-performance stars alongside GAZOO Racing’s prototype GR GT and GR GT3, with which it shares some common technologies. Together, they further signalled Toyota’s multipath approach to powertrain development, across a spectrum from road-going and circuit-tuned hybrid systems to ultra-high-performance battery electric technology.

Driving duties over the four days of the festival (9-12 July) were shared by a company of distinguished drivers, including Elfyn Evans from Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team (TGR-WRT), Toyota Racing Vice Chairman Kazuki Nakajima, GR GT, GR GT3 and Lexus LFA Concept development driver Hiroaki Ishiura, four-time Super GT Champion Sho Tsuboi, Super GT driver Yuichi Nakayama and German racing driver and Nürburgring specialist Uwe Kleen.

The Lexus LFA Concept presents Lexus’ vision for a next-generation electric sports car, blending advanced performance with emotional appeal and invoking the spirit of the original LFA.

Introducing the car ahead of its festival appearance, Project General Manager Yukihiro Yukita said: “The Lexus LFA Concept will pursue delivery of a multi-sensory experience unique to Lexus and challenge the possibilities of what a battery electric sports car can be, unlike anything that has gone before. 

“This next-generation LFA is a car that provides an immersive experience like no other, imitating nothing else. This sense of immersion was born from the pursuit of a high-level fusion of aerodynamic performance and sculptural beauty. Our focus is emotive performance that evokes ‘immersion’ and ‘lasting resonance’, creating a truly one-of-a-kind car.”

Born from motorsport rivalry and shaped by uncompromising feedback from the world’s most demanding circuits, the GR GT and GR GT3 embody GAZOO Racing’s philosophy of learning through competition. The Lexus LFA Concept builds on competition-honed insights and technologies, translating them into values that resonate directly with driver in an immersive, multi-sensory experience in which man and machine can feel as one.

They follow a bloodline established by past icons such as the Toyota 2000GT and Lexus LFA, reflecting the belief of Chairman Akio Toyoda, aka Master Driver Morizo, that the skills of sports car craftsmanship must be nurtured and passed on to future generations.

It’s an approach inspired by the principle of “Shikinen Sengu”, an ancient Japanese ritual in which a Shinto shrine is dismantled and rebuilt once in every generation to preserve and enhance the craftsmanship skills used in its creation.

The GR GT is a track-inspired road car with racing DNA, powered by a new 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbo engine paired with a single-motor hybrid system. In addition to high power and torque for exceptional performance, the car’s development focused on achieving a low centre of gravity, low weight with high rigidity, and aerodynamic performance.

The GR GT3 shares the GR GT’s core elements but has a different profile as a track-focused race car. It’s engineered to be highly competitive and deliver accessible performance.

Looking ahead, the Lexus LFA Concept presents Lexus’ vision for a next-generation electric sports car. It shares common technologies and aspirations with the GR GT and GR GT3, while blending advanced performance with emotional appeal and invoking the spirit of the original LFA. It aims to exceed customers’ expectations, drawing the driver into an immersive experience like no other.

The GR GT and GR GT3 will be on show and in action at the festival, appearing in the Supercar Paddock and making speed runs on the famous hill climb. Defined by steep gradients, tight corners and unforgiving barriers, the hill climb is one of motorsport’s most technical short courses for demonstrating acceleration, agility, aerodynamic stability and driver confidence. This will be the first European dynamic uncamouflaged appearance for both models. Meanwhile, visitors will be given a first close-up view of the Lexus LFA Concept in the Supercar Paddock.

GAZOO Racing’s competition stars

GAZOO Racing’s participation at the top tiers of international motorsport will be celebrated at the festival with appearances by the GR YARIS Rally1, the car which has delivered multiple World Rally Championship titles for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team, and the DKR GR Hilux, a winning contender in the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship.

A line-up of championship-winning and internationally renowned drivers will be demonstrating the cars’ performance on the hill climb and rally stage. Subject to confirmation, it will include all TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team’s drivers: the nine-time and reigning World Rally Champion Driver Sébastien Ogier; current WRC leader Elfyn Evans; Japanese star Takamoto Katsuta; team newcomer and Rallye Monte-Carlo victor Oliver Solberg; and Sami Pajari, a past WRC Junior and WRC2 champion.  Henk Lategan, a winner with TOYOTA GAZOO Racing in the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship and four-time South African champion, is set to take the wheel of the DKR GR Hilux.

TOYOTA RACING: from Le Mans podium to Goodwood

TOYOTA RACING will display the #7 TR010 HYBRID that recently achieved Toyota’s sixth victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours, driven by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries. The team’s hard-fought victory in one of the world’s most challenging circuit races took the team to the top of the driver and manufacturer championship standings in the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship. The car will be on static view alongside the GR YARIS Rally1 and DKR GR Hilux.

Road cars infused with GAZOO Racing performance and design

The knowledge and experience gained by GAZOO Racing in the heat of competition feeds directly into the development of ever-better cars for the road. At Goodwood, this philosophy will be demonstrated by the GR Yaris Aero Performance, the latest development of the multi-award-winning performance hatchback. Also taking part in the festival’s “First Glance” programme will be the all-new RAV4 GR Sport, a version of the plug-in hybrid SUV that benefits from both GR-themed design details and a chassis and suspension tuned for sportier handling.

*The GR GT and GR GT3 cars appearing at the festival will be prototype/development vehicles.

Lexus showcased its electrified present and future at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, giving tens of thousands of visitors to the annual automotive celebration in the UK the chance to take a close-up look at its current battery electric models together with the radically designed Lexus Electrified Sport Concept.

The concept model was making its first appearance outside Japan since being unveiled by Toyota Motor Corporation President Akio Toyoda in December 2021.  

It drew crowds of admirers across the four-day event and praise from the media. The UK’s Auto Express magazine described it as a “fully electric successor to the Japanese brand’s LFA sports car” with styling that “really has the ‘wow’ factor.” Autocar likewise considered it to be “a spiritual successor o the LFA” and said that Lexus will use the experience of developing the concept for other future EV models “as part of a drive to emphasise the brand’s dynamic focus.”

Lexus has marked the occasion of the car’s European debut at Goodwood with a special “unboxing” film, showing how the sleek sports car emerged from its bespoke transit container.

New images have also been produced, using studio techniques to show how the car might look on the festival’s famous hillclimb course, in front of historic Goodwood House.

The Lexus Electrified Sport Concept is a vision for a future all-electric, high-performance model. Its styling, initially developed at Lexus’ Calty design studio in California, presents bold proportions and a low ride height while the performance potential of its electric powertrain and solid state battery technology suggest 0-100 km/h acceleration in the low two-second area and a cruising range of more than 700 km. Its powerful combination of design and performance references the look and spirit of the Lexus LFA V10 supercar, which itself was a major attraction at the Festival of Speed when it made its first appearance at the event 10 years ago.

Lexus’ festival presence also included the RZ 450e, an all-new battery electric luxury SUV that will be launched across Europe later this year, the all-electric UX 300e compact crossover and the plug-in hybrid electric NX 450h+.

The Lexus Electrified Sport Concept is making its European debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed taking place from 23 to 26 June in the grounds of Goodwood House in Sussex, England.

This unique model represents Lexus’s vision for an all-electric, high-performance sports car, a foretaste of what the future might hold as the company evolves to become a luxury brand dedicated to battery electric vehicles.

The Lexus Electrified Sport Concept is proving a highlight for visitors to Electric Avenue, a display zone dedicated to zero emission electric vehicles. Admirers have been quick to discern elements of the car’s dramatic styling that echo the celebrated and ultra-rare Lexus LFA.

Where that hand-built supercar of the last decade was characterised by its powerful and acoustically thrilling naturally aspirated V10 engine, the Lexus Electrified Sport Concept looks to a new era of sports models that fully exploit the design freedoms, performance and handling potential provided by an all-electric drivetrain. Lexus anticipates a production version of the concept could be capable of 0-100 km/h acceleration in the low two-second range, while potential use of new solid state battery technology could secure a driving range of more than 700 km.

While the Lexus Electrified Sport Concept looks to the future, the festival is also showcasing Lexus EVs of the present on Electric Avenue: the newly revealed RZ 450e mid-size SUV and the UX 300e compact crossover.

The all-new RZ 450e received its world premiere in April and will go on sale in the UK and Europe later this year. A luxury SUV, it is the first Lexus electric vehicle to be developed from the ground up. It uses a new Lexus electric vehicle architecture that includes a new EV-dedicated platform that provide high body rigidity and a low centre of gravity – qualities that help ensure the comfort, control and confidence that are central to the Lexus Driving Signature. It also provides a long wheelbase that allows for a very spacious cabin. The powerful lithium-ion battery unit is fully integrated in the chassis, beneath the cabin floor, its quality finely controlled to ensure performance is maintained long-term.

The UX 300e is an all-electric version of the Lexus UX compact SUV. Launched in 2020, it has been the pioneer of the Lexus Electrified strategy, combining zero emission performance with the takumi craftsmanship, quality and refinement that are hallmarks of the brand. Its EV system uses a lithium-ion battery, housed beneath the vehicle floor so that a low centre of gravity is maintained. The electric powertrain produces 204 DIN hp/150kW and gives the car a driving range of up to 315 km (WLTP combined cycle figure).

The Goodwood Festival of Speed is to host the first public presentation outside Japan of the Lexus Electrified Sport concept, the company’s vision for a future all-electric high-performance sports car – seen by many as a potential successor to the legendary Lexus LFA.

This study for a radically styled coupe was a striking model among 16 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) revealed by Akio Toyoda, Toyota Motor Corporation President, in December 2021, as he outlined the company’s far-reaching strategy to achieve carbon neutrality.

The company will extract the full potential of its vehicles through electrification, strengthening the fundamentals of linear acceleration/deceleration, brake feeling and exhilarating handling to deliver an even more enjoyable driving experience. The Electrified Sport car will see the Lexus Driving Signature taken to the next stage.

With the essential bold proportions and low ride height of a sports car, it symbolises the future of the Lexus brand. Acceleration time (to 100 km/h) is expected to be in the low two-second range and the car will have a cruising range of more than 700 km. It is possible that a production model may use new solid-state battery technology to achieve authentic high performance.

Through BEVs, Lexus will develop into a brand that offers a variety of experiences, harnessing performance development that only a car maker like Lexus could do, and by honing the craft of making ever more personal products. Lexus will develop a next generation battery EV sports car that inherits the driving taste, or the ‘secret sauce,’ of the performance cultivated by the development of the LFA.

The Goodwood Festival of Speed will take place from 23 to 26 June in the grounds of Goodwood House in Sussex, England. The Lexus Electrified Sport concept will feature in a bespoke display in the Festival of Speed’s Electric Avenue, an area dedicated to electrified vehicles.