Lexus dropped a press release today with some new info about the Lexus Interface Multimedia Experience. Nothing super interesting in there for me but maybe for some of you all. I would say the highlights are 5G, navigation including charging stops, and built-in dashcam and Spotify/Sirius streaming.

Some new pics too:

 

Probably the same updated Toyota info system that is in the new RAV4.

 

Saw this on You Tube earlier today. Several of the new features are welcome additions to the new ES tech.

 

The new interface looks great. They should at least offer this kind of software interface as an optional upgrade for previous gen models, I'd gladly pay for it.

Really liked both the automatic and manual recording features, which are very useful additions.

The improved navigation for charging and range should help those with range anxiety. However, the example provided reinforces (at least in theory) why I'm not a fan of BEVs for long road trips. While it's nice that the system shows the range coverage and plans everything for you, I'm not ready for planning around a 15min charging stop and then arriving with only about 10% battery (one way), when I could make the same trip as a round trip in my 300h without refueling. And even if I did need to stop for fuel, it would be almost anywhere and will only take about 1-3 min to fill the ~11 gal from empty (counting reserve).

Kudos to Lexus for this updated interface.

 

This is Lexus debut of the new Arene OS, which has been made by Woven, a subsidiary that Toyota started to advance their vehicle software, ADAS, and city mobility. There is a basically 0% chance this will come to older models. It's the big, new software platform for Toyota and it runs on much faster and different hardware.

 

Yeah, I know it will not be possible for the 7th gen, but they should still aim for that long term. It shouldn't be that difficult to implement in future generations and could even become a good selling point or a new revenue stream. With today's faster processors and higher RAM capacities, hardware limitations shouldn't really be an issue. It's not like they need a high performance GPU/CPU hardware for 4k gaming on such small screen.

 

The new interface looks great.