Lexus Just Teased a Six-Wheeled Electric Van to Replace the LS Sedan

The Lexus LS sedan is dead, and Lexus just revealed the LS Concept, a six-wheeled electric van that redefines what a flagship luxury vehicle can be.

Instead of another long sedan, the brand went with a boxy people mover sporting two large wheels up front and four smaller ones in back. The design looks like something out of a sci-fi movie with vertical LED lights, glowing wheel covers, and a massive sliding door that opens to reveal a three-row interior with six captain’s chairs. Here’s the crazy part: Akio Toyoda says this isn’t just a Lexus design exercise. The team is actually serious about putting this into production, though he admits it’s still a long way off.

Lexus LS Concept is the luxury space concept you want to drive

Engineers are working on maintaining the trademark Lexus quietness and ride comfort with six wheels, and when asked if that means six-wheel drive, the head of design just said, “Maybe.” The name LS now stands for “Luxury Space” instead of “Luxury Sedan,” which makes sense when you look at the interior. The cabin is designed like a rolling lounge with soft lighting and tons of legroom. Lexus is also killing off the old spindle grille design, saying it has no potential for development anymore. The full reveal happens at the Japan Mobility Show 2025 later this month. Whether this bizarre van actually makes it to showrooms remains to be seen.

Controversy or cool: which is it for the six-wheeled electric van?

The new Lexus flagship replacement has only been shown briefly during a livestream, but that is enough for many viewers to form an opinion and choose how they might feel about such a van. Could the minivan market grow and evolve, starting with this luxury electric minivan from Lexus? Does this mean six wheels will become a normal part of the automotive market? This new six-wheeled electric van could be the new pillar of the Lexus brand, and showing it off in Japan makes perfect sense. While America struggles to embrace electric vehicles, most foreign markets continue to increase their EV offerings, and this new electric van could be the future of Lexus in other markets, even if America continues to avoid moving to EVs.

Toyota is reinventing itself through the latest Japan Mobility Show

Toyota might be slow to adopt all-electric vehicles into its lineup, choosing to transition to hybrids first before adding EVs, but the electric offerings are coming. The Lexus brand will become the premium name, with Century becoming the high-end, extravagant name from Toyota. This new three-row electric vehicle appears to have three rows of captain’s chairs, giving a family plenty of room inside for up to six people to ride along together. The move to a three-brand setup is similar to that of GM, with its four brands across three different levels of quality, luxury, and pricing.

A wild six-wheeled electric van is somewhat unique

Despite the lack of a minivan being offered in America, Lexus has the LM, which is used in various other markets. That said, this new six-wheeled electric van that’s meant to replace the LS is the wildest offering from the brand to date. The specs and production intent for this new model haven’t been revealed yet, but the new LS shows how the brand can be a forward-thinking brand that will move forward into the future of automotive excellence. The design shows impressive proportions and a stance that could be the basis of future Lexus EVs.

The spindle grille is gone and the wheels light up

Adding lights to wheels or the grille seems to be a futuristic design direction that doesn’t really mean much, but makes a vehicle have more drama and style. Lexus shows off this new concept model with just a few hints at what it could be, but without much information. Of course, the idea is that you’ll want to view the vehicle as it’s presented at the Japan Mobility Show later this month. This could be one of the first Lexus vehicles to ditch the classic spindle grille for something more conservative. Of course, six wheels make this vehicle stand out as much less than conservative.

Will the new LS Concept become a six-wheeled electric van that’s offered globally by the brand, or will it simply serve as a platform of styling and ideas for future Lexus EVs? We will learn more about this van at the Japan Mobility Show 2025.