New spy photos show the electric Lexus LFA testing in a tight camouflage wrap, a sign the car is getting closer to production, Motor1 reported on October 22. The photos come from the mr.grey_4k Instagram account. Motor1 said the car looks low and long, and its rear wing is deployed in the shots. The new LFA has no engine. Lexus revealed the LFA Concept on December 5, 2025, in Japan, and called it a battery electric sports car concept. It was unveiled alongside two TOYOTA GAZOO Racing models, the GR GT road car and the GR GT3 race car. Lexus said the same car had already been shown as the Lexus Sport Concept at Monterey Car Week 2025 and the Japan Mobility Show 2025.
The V8 belongs to the Toyota cars. At the reveal, Toyota said the GR GT3 uses a 4-liter twin-turbo V8, and the GR GT road car uses the same engine with hybrid power. The LFA Concept is built on the GR GT's all-aluminum body frame and shares its driving position, according to Lexus. In its release, Lexus said the LFA name is "not bound to vehicles powered by internal combustion engines."
That clears up earlier spy reports. In June 2025, Car and Driver published reader photos of a camouflaged Lexus prototype near Big Bear Lake, California, showing quad exhaust pipes. The magazine said the car was expected to use a hybrid twin-turbo V8 and might be called the LFR. When the lineup was revealed that December, the V8 hybrid went into the Toyota GR GT, and the LFA was electric.
These aren't the first look at a running car. A disguised LFA prototype drove the hillclimb at the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed, evo reported. That car had a dual-strut rear wing in place of the concept's single strut, closer to the original LFA, and lights that evo said were either stand-ins or significantly revised.
In July, Motor1, citing British magazine Autocar, reported that concept designer Shogo Kasamatsu said the production car will look "almost" the same as the concept. LFA product general manager Yukihiro Yukita called weak demand for electric supercars the company's "biggest challenge."
Motor1 now says the electric LFA is on schedule to enter production sometime in 2027, though technical specs and pricing remain unknown. It also reported that Lexus plans to simulate a gas engine, and that a recent Lexus patent filing describes a fake sequential gearbox that cuts motor torque to zero and restores it to mimic a clutch re-engaging. The new car is also much bigger than the old one. Lexus lists the concept at 184.6 inches long, 80.3 inches wide, and 47.0 inches tall. The original LFA measured 4,505 mm long, 1,895 mm wide, and 1,220 mm tall in European spec, or about 177.4, 74.6, and 48.0 inches. That makes the concept about 7 inches longer, almost 6 inches wider, and an inch lower.
The original was a much rarer thing. Lexus built exactly 500 LFAs and finished the last one on December 14, 2012. Every one used a 4.8-liter V10.
Electric LFA or the V10 original? Cast your vote on WhipJury.
Sources:
The LFA Concept reveal, its BEV powertrain, the shared GR GT body frame, the earlier Lexus Sport Concept showings, and the name quote: Toyota
The concept's dimensions: Lexus
The GR GT and GR GT3 V8 engines: Toyota
The new spy photos, production timing, simulated engine, and patent: Motor1
The Kasamatsu and Yukita comments: Motor1
The Goodwood prototype: evo
The 2025 V8 prototype photos: Car and Driver
The original LFA's dimensions and V10: Toyota
The 500-car run and final build date: Toyota
Photos: Lexus press image; spy photo by Mr.Grey_4k / Instagram via Motor1; original LFA by Tokumeigakarinoaoshima via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
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Jeffrey Wiley has spent more time than he'd like to admit thinking about what makes a car look right. He writes about automotive design, car culture, and the opinions people have strong feelings about. He lives in north Georgia.
