Lexus LF-A: Is Toyota Working On PHEV Version of Lexus Sports Car?
By John O'Dell September 8, 2010
There have been rumors, and perhaps that's all there will ever be, but if Toyota's Lexus division really is working on a hybrid version f the Lexus LF-A spots car, these may be the first photos!
Spy photo maven Glenn Paulina's crew caught an LF-A undergoing hot weather testing in California's Death Valley and noticed, he writes in an e-mail, "a pair of curious velcro-covered fender panels...clearly designed for quick and easy access to something on the LFA's front fenders."
That's about it, except that the patches are placed where you might expect to see ports for a battery charger plug. Why there'd be two of them adds to the mystery.
Paulina reminds us that Porsche has green lighted the Porsche 918 Spyder hybrid and suggests Lexus might feel the need for a hybrid exotic of its own to compete.
"Is the appearance of this Lexus...a sign of an electric-assisted, plug-in version supercar?" he asks.
We don't know, either - it could be a practical joke the Lexus engineers decided to play on the spy photogs that blossom like cactus flowers during Death Valley's summer testing season. But but we can hope.
And if it really is a PHEV version of the LF-A, perhaps we'll hear more in the upcoming 2011 auto show season.
Here's a top view that shows there's a "port patch" on the driver's side of the car as well.
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They're either covering some distinctive fender badge/architecture, or as you presumed, bilateral recharging ports.
Obviously, this would negate having to drape a heavy electric cord across the hood of your VERY VERY expensive Lexus and risk scratching the paint to get a charging cord to the opposite side from where the outlet is located.
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