Car enthusiasts adore the original Lexus LS for its incredible stoutness and Japanese take on German luxury. That’s not what everyone bought, though. The Lexus ES was less a meditation on Tuetonic elegance and more a radical reinterpretation of what elegance could be: affordable, reliable, and comfortable. It worked. The ES, more than any other car, is what propelled the brand to the forefront of premium cars globally.
That’s why it’s so important that there’s a new one and, for the first time since its debut in 1989, it has completely rethought what a luxury car from Lexus could be. This is the 2026 Lexus ES, which recently debuted at Shanghai’s Auto Show and is now a multi-platform vehicle available only as a hybrid (Lexus ES350h), FWD EV (Lexus ES350e), or premium AWD (Lexus ES500e).
It even looks like a big leap from the current model, although we’re measuring that distance in Lexus sedan design, which has always been centimeters and not yards. The fact that this thing has to support an underfloor battery pack means that it has to be rethought in a taller form.
Some people will love it and others will hate it. I’m not a huge fan of the current Lexus ES so I like this taller form. People complained that the new Lexus RX got too radical, which stopped almost no one from going out and buying one.
Obviously, from this perspective, you can see the same TNGA GA-K platform that also underpins the 2025 Toyota Camry, which is hybrid-only but currently doesn’t offer an all-electric version. Here’s how our own Alanis King described the vehicle:
The XLE I drove was front-wheel drive, had 225 horsepower, and started at $33,400. It also gets a manufacturer-estimated 48 mpg in the city, 47 on the highway, and 47 combined. All-wheel-drive models send power to the rear wheels through a dedicated rear electric motor, which gives the car additional traction when you need it: bad weather, acceleration, and other traction-hungry situations.
I drove the Camry in the mountains and enjoyed it. The steering was responsive and well-weighted, not too light or too heavy. The pedals had tension and didn’t feel squishy. There wasn’t a ton of weight transfer in the turns, and you could take turns quickly. It was fun — not numb or boring — and that’s cool for a Camry.
That should compare somewhat to the entry-level Lexus ES350h, although expect some specific tuning of the ES to make it feel a little nicer. The ES now gets a multi-link rear suspension, a first for the ES, to go with a MacPherson setup out front.
As with previous Camry/ES pairs, the interior of the ES is going to be a nicer place to hang out. Lexus calls this interior concept tazuna and describes it as “a driver-focused” layout, including “a low-profile meter hood housing a uniquely shaped 12.3-inch multi-information display, enabling smooth eye movement and creating an open, airy feel. A special coating enhances surface quality, while the combination of suede materials and ambient lighting deepens the expression of the tazuna concept.”
Compare that to the Camry:
Differentiated enough, I think, to keep it a real Lexus ES. The “driver focused” part is a little more questionable given that there’s an obvious lack of physical buttons. Other automakers are starting to learn that buttons are more than a nice-to-have, although the Tesla Model Y became the best-selling car in the world with not many of them. Lexus did state that the car has “responsive hidden switches,” so maybe those are real? It sounds a bit like touch-capacitive buttons to me.
What you’re seeing here is the rear of the EV version of the car, and that’s the big news. This is the first-ever fully BEV Lexus ES.
A large-capacity battery is positioned beneath the floor to lower the center of gravity and enhance driving stability. Furthermore, the ES 500e is equipped with DIRECT4 AWD, an intelligent all-wheel drive system that continuously adjusts torque distribution to all four wheels based on road conditions and driving inputs. The system uses a drive force ratio between the front and rear wheels, ranging from 100:0 to 0:100. This enhances acceleration from a standstill, provides greater handling stability and contributes to great energy efficiency.
Does this mean we can get an all-electric Toyota Camry? Every automaker can sense the blood in the water as Tesla continues to take a beating in the marketplace.
How far will one go? The only estimate we get from Lexus is that the ES350e will get a “manufacturer-estimated range” of 300 miles when equipped with 19-inch wheels. Toyota’s global media site has a lot more information, including range and acceleration times.
At least globally, the base front-wheel drive 300h will get a 2.0-liter naturally aspirated inline-four good for about 200 horsepower and a 0-62 mph time of 9.24 seconds. Step up to the AWD or FWD 350h and there’s the familiar 2.5-liter inline-four, good for somewhere around 250 horsepower in AWD mode and a 62 mph sprint that should happen sub-8 seconds. Not blistering times, but if the ES can return better than 45 mpg mileage, do you really care?
And what about the EVs? The FWD ES350e offers a slow-for-an-ev 8.9 seconds time, but a range marked as 685 km on the Chinese CLTC standard. The AWD model is way quicker, offering a sub-6 0-62 mph time, though a shortened range to 610 km, which might translate to somewhere between 250-275 miles on the EPA test. Unfortunately, comparing CLTC to EPA is not an exact science, so anywhere from a 20-30% haircut is possible.
With available 150 kW charging, Toyota says you can expect a 10-80% charge in about 30 minutes under optimal temperature. These aren’t mind-blowing numbers, but the ES isn’t about blowing minds, it’s about calming them.
I love it and I love the idea of the ES in general. It’s basically a car that’s completely unburdened by current luxury expectations. It exists to be a comfortable, well appointed sedan with an extra dash of style to commute in….and I respect that a ton because no one else is really doing it anymore.
Basically all the competitors are either a crossover, trying to be sporty, or both. As someone who’s spent the last 5 years urban commuting in sporty cars let me be the first to tell you-sometimes it’s not what you want. Sometimes you’re exhausted after a long day, stuck in traffic, and you just want to be comfy and shut your brain off.
A hybrid ES is the perfect tool for that job…and like I’ve said re: Lexus a few times, it’s a true luxury product in the old school sense. It’s not supposed to be trendy or gaudy or attention grabbing…it’s supposed to be something that you can keep forever that will be as nice the 5,000th time you get in it as it was the first time. There’s value in that!
If you want trendy go lease something German…but there’s a reason why it’ll be worth pennies on the dollar in the hands of its third owner in a few years while the Lexus is just getting started.
This is bold, and commendable, for Lexus to keep investing in sedans. I like the new look. The previous one could be mistaken for an old Sonata from some angles but this is distinctively Lexus. The relatively thin pillars and the large amount of glass for this day and age is a nice departure.
I like how the interior has an almost Volvo-like minimalist look, which may be a bad thing depending on the interface. That double-wide center screen just seems off, however.
Kind of getting a more angular model Y here. I don’t hate it.
Hopefully Lexus can improve on their interior touch points. One thing that drives me crazy with the current generation is how much cheaper they feel compared to their 2010’s offerings.
Exterior looks fine, maybe a little too overstyled. One example: While I appreciate the black front vent work to help visually narrow the car, it’s strange they couldn’t extend it further inwards to cover the blackish fog light or sensor hosing – resulting in whatever that is to stick out.
I think it looks nice! The design affront here is not in the proportions or details, but in the fact that this looks like another car with a trunk that really, reallllyyy oughta be a liftback instead.
I get a whole lotta “meh” from this, but that’s kind of the point, isn’t it? The Camry’s whole value proposition is that you can totally ignore it – it will never inspire a strong emotion in you, positive or negative – and the ES is basically that with a dollop of leather and the additional smug self-satisfaction from having an L on the hood.
Not a huge fan of the matrix lack of a mouth, but the more I look at the design the more I like the rest of it.
I test drove a current gen ES350 before buying my Accord and I really liked it… had I been able to get something a bit newer/lower mileage in my budget I probably would have ended up with one. Its a comfy cruiser.
I’m not sure the target market will love these. And I’d much rather have the NA V6 in the current model.
no more good looking cars. depressing.
I dig the looks. The ES has always been the humdrum Lexus, but this is nice. Way better than the spindle.
This is a slight lie though
“The system uses a drive force ratio between the front and rear wheels, ranging from 100:0 to 0:100.”
Since it has front and rear motors and no drive shaft it would be impossible to give the front or rear axle 100% of the total system output, though it can still give 100% of that axles potential torque output. Thats little more than saying that the motor can go from fully on to full off though. Wow. if the motors are equally powerful the correct way to say this is that half of the drive torque can be applied at either axle at any given time.
I like the styling on this one, and I don’t remember the last time I thought that about a Lexus.
I’ve just spent 5 minutes trying to decipher the origami mishap on the bonnet.