• Lexus has applied to register a model name, the HZ.
It doesn’t always mean something when automakers register a name with a patent office – but pretty often it does. We’re guessing the HZ name registered by Lexus falls into the latter category.
The patent application was spotted by members of the LexusRXOwners discussion forum. The application actually includes a request to register three names: HZ 300e, HZ 450e and HZ 500e. HZ being a name never before applied to a Lexus vehicle, there’s likely a new model on the way to go with that name.
The presence of the letter ‘e’ points to the model having an electric powertrain, as we’ve seen with the new RZ 450e SUV sold in North America. The presence of the letter ‘Z’ is the other clue, as it was first used on the RZ model.
As for the letter ‘H’, we first saw it a little over 10 years ago, when it was used to identify the HS 250h hybrid sedan, a model that didn’t stay with us for very long. Could it this time refer to hydrogen, when we know that Toyota is one of the authorities in this field?
We'll have to be patient to get answers to these questions.
Logic dictates that we'll find an electric vehicle of the same type as the RZ, and that it will probably integrate that model’s powertrain components, or at least to define the variant that will carry the number 450.
This is all speculative and so we’re in the dark as to what the future vehicle will look like. There is, however, a decent-to-good possibility it could be a production version of one of the concepts unveiled by Lexus at the Tokyo Motor Show at the end of last October. At that time, the brand presented the LF-ZC (sports sedan) and LF-ZL (luxury sedan) studies.
Stay tuned.
See: Tokyo 2023: Lexus LF-ZC, LF-ZL Concepts a Next Step to Electrification