- An all-electric Lexus IS sedan is reportedly coming sometime in 2027 to rival the BMW i3 and Mercedes C-Class EV.
- The new IS EV will grow by three inches and feature radical styling and a super low-drag body.
- This new rumor fits in with an older report claiming Lexus had pushed the launch of two new EVs to mid-2027.
Lexus is reportedly working on a radically redesigned IS sedan that will ditch combustion in favor of a pure-electric powertrain with big performance numbers and massive range. The most powerful variant will apparently have around 500 horsepower and it has a range target of 620 miles (1,000 km) on a single charge—this could indicate it’s getting a solid-state battery.
Nothing’s official right now, but Japan’s Best Car has been right before and it makes sense for Lexus to launch a performance electric sedan in the near future. It’s a segment that will soon be populated with models from rival automakers—the BMW i3 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class EQ—and it’s in Lexus’ DNA to try to compete with the Germans.
The report doesn’t go into too much detail, and it rehashes some bits of information we already knew, but it does mention the new electric IS will look a lot more futuristic than the new ES sedan—available with combustion and pure electric power—and will be around 3 inches longer than the current IS. It is said to feature giga-cast structural pieces, dual-motor all-wheel drive and be a full software-defined vehicle with over-the-air update capability.
We could see this new IS debut sometime in 2027, though without official confirmation, there’s also a chance we won’t. An older report from Australia’s Car Expert, published in December 2024, announced (citing unnamed insider sources) that Lexus had pushed back the launch of new EVs from 2026 to mid-2027, which aligns with the timeline presented in the Japanese report.
One of the delayed models was the production version of the highly aerodynamic LF-ZC concept, which fits the bill as being the next IS in terms of size and electric-only powertrain. Lexus is reportedly targeting a drag coefficient of under 0.20 Cd, which would make it among the most aerodynamic production cars, most of which are electric sedans.
If the new electric IS materializes as described in these reports, it will likely be pitched as a global model, one that could also reach the U.S. market as a larger and fancier alternative to the upcoming Toyota Corolla, which will also be reborn as a futuristic sedan with electric power and global ambitions.