The chief engineer of the Lexus UX Chika Kako
At the Geneva auto show edition Hi-News.ru managed to sit down with the chief engineer of the debut of the Lexus UX Chika Kako about new technologies, unmanned vehicles and the future of the industry.
The concept of UX Lexus made a splash when it was first shown at the Paris motor show in 2016. How did you manage to make the UX as close to this concept?
The concept envisaged the creation of a new type of crossover Urban Explorer (“Urban Explorer” — approx. ed.). It implies a compact car in the premium class. We have tried to bring to life, developing a consumer version presented in Geneva. She became leaner and more focused on the driver. UX — crossover in the first place created for modern active citizen, who can give him a new unforgettable experience.
The Lexus UX you used a lot of new technologies. What are you particularly proud of?
First and foremost I want to note a design innovation. For example, the left and right lights are connected by a continuous single lighting strip that runs through the entire surface of the tailgate. In addition, the UX, we used 17-inch wheels with “patisserie” pattern that have a special aerodynamic design.
Speaking about the interior, it is impossible not to pay attention to the new controller deflectors Lexus in UX. It allows you to adjust the direction and intensity of air flow, and the backlight uses a new wireless system. The point is that the power led device is wirelessly, through the use of electromagnetic resonance between the two windings with the same frequency.
Let’s talk about the new platform that you used in the Lexus UX, — GA-C. What are its main advantages?
Platform GA-C is an innovative for several reasons. First, it ensures the highest degree of rigidity and low center of gravity to provide comfort and stability in motion. When it was created, we paid particular attention to the reactions to the actions of the driver that made it possible to improve the controllability of the crossover. Also thanks to the new platform it was possible to increase body rigidity, as it is possible to create a closed power structure in the perimeter openings of the rear doors and tailgate.
This platform is used Lexus for the first time and has great potential because it allows even for a crossover to achieve the driveability of the hatchback.
Your colleagues from Toyota for presentations paid a lot of attention hybrid cars — almost half of all sold cars in Europe have a hybrid power-plant. How do you think Lexus completely switch to these units and to abandon the traditional gasoline/diesel engines?
We want to create more hybrid versions of our cars in the future, but not yet ready to completely abandon petrol engines. Many buyers are still prefer petrol power units, including in Europe and in Russia. Of course, in the future, the number of cars with hybrid plants will grow — in UX, we installed a new hybrid system of the fourth generation of automatic recharging.
What do you think about driverless cars? Do Lexus plans in this direction? Already many companies like Apple and Google use it the Lexus RX and ES with a lidar and sensors to create their own systems of Autonomous driving.
We have plans to release a self-driving car Lexus — first that we show in early 2020. That’s all I can say.
Back to UX, who do you think will be his main competitor on the market?
It is difficult to answer this question, because it requires research, I can only tell you what models we have drawn attention from the engineer’s point of view in developing the model. Among them were the Mercedes Benz GLA, BMW X1 and some other premium crossovers.
In the framework of the Geneva motor show, we saw some of the futuristic trends in car design, 3-4 years ago, they looked completely different. How you think, how long would they last on the market?
Modern cars change with incredible speed, and even for us sometimes it’s hard to say what will be the trends next year. In any case, the progress of the automotive industry to benefit.
“Your self-driving car, we will show in 2020” – an interview with the chief engineer of the Lexus UX
Alexander Bogdanov