These prices won’t help the sales impact of the awful Toyota exterior with a Tesla-like interior.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a7...id-ev-pricing/

 

Ridiculous prices. It’s not possible to get the hybrid version in luxury trim.

 

OUCH!
I guess this will be my last new Lexus. I would have bought the Avalon if it was still in production instead of my ES.
Maybe one of these days the really good discounts will become common again.

 

Maybe Lexus will change things around again in 2027, once they realize that many people want a higher trim without going full electric.

 

I would like to see this on a Lexus site and maybe will provide more info as to trim options. It would make no sense not to offer higher trims on hybrid.

 

Did you see the ES 200 Moon Shadow?
I suspect it's a trick: make the last 7th ugly so that the 8th doesn't

 

"We hope to have more conquest buyers than ever with this new 2026 model year ES, which includes current Tesla buyers, too. This is the first multi-pathway approach vehicle that we will offer, in a BEV and a hybrid. We believe this is the best opportunity to get the customer to come to Lexus, specifically the ES."

- Sakiko Aono, Lexus Product Marketing Manager
"Toyota and Lexus believe in customer choice, which is why both brands currently offer gasoline, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery electric vehicles. Aono said it's "too early" to speak about a potential sales split between the ES hybrid and EV, but says it is "up to the consumer" and based heavily on external environmental factors such as charging infrastructure. She also pointed out that customers are slowly but surely getting more comfortable with alternative powertrains."It took years [for customers] to even understand the difference between a hybrid and a PHEV. But now information is so available. I would say 'thanks' to Tesla because a lot of consumers have now already experienced an EV, and the benefits," she detailed. "We want to offer the option to the consumer; when they come to the Lexus dealer, the salesperson can show them the EV after they look at the hybrid. They have a choice to pick within the Lexus brand without going to a competitor."

Toyota seems to be thinking choice is the problem. People buy Tesla because of the overall resulting package resulting from a clean-sheet first principles design. The range, the packaging, the autonomous features (with and without self-driving), the way it integrates hardware/software, etc. I think once a potential customer opens up the front "trunk" and sees no "frunk," they're going to walk away. They may not know the technical reason why there's no frunk but they're going to instantly recognize a real EV as having a frunk and wonder why the ES 500E EV has none. They'll also see 250 miles range.

For gas hybrid, the Camry hybrid is a better choice not only cause it looks better and is cheaper, but also its platform is fully optimized for one powertrain only.

 

LOL...no thank you!

 

First year model possible quirks, not favorable perceived looks in/out, absence of UL on some models, limited range/performance on EV models, all this at a significantly higher price tag. It will be an interesting '26-'27 year for the Lexus ES USA sales. I also don’t foresee strong sales in Asia, given the limited range/performance compared to other better looking options available in that market.

The AWD option on the 350h is the only welcome improvement IMHO; but all previous drawbacks outweigh that single one in my book.

We're getting closer to seeing the real world reaction.

 

Yeap. I honestly don't see a Tesla owner switching into this ES-EV (just for the looks) given the lack in range/performance at a higher price.

 

Price is close, but performance is terrible. The ES does have a much nicer interior, though.

 

I think if anyone "switches," it'll be due to politics/associated image with that. But then there's a whole lotta other EVs with more range than 8ES to switch to, usually Hyundai or Ford stuff like Mach E. so naturally by #s alone there'll be some switch overs but i doubt the meaningful #s lexus needs to make a dent in their sales. currently they're like #12 or #13 in EV sales

 

i used Gemini to paint the hockey sticks body color but instead it removed them. looks better. does give a lot of slab sidedness to the side though but i think its better overall.

 

one more revision to front and wheels.

 

If Lexus only adds the luxury features to the EV that means they are trying to force us to buy something we don't want if we want the additional comfort. I think they are banking on mandates to EV coming back. We are not stupid.