2026 Lexus ES 500e first drive: A classy sedan with a slow charge

The luxury sedan is priced right and drives great, but feels like it’s built around outdated EV tech.

When Lexus sprang onto the American car scene in 1989, Toyota's assault on the luxury car market began with the LS sedan. Staid in design but effortlessly cool and absolutely bulletproof, it became something of an icon for the brand.

Today, with sedan sales at an all-time low, the LS is sadly dead. That means the smaller, more attainable ES needs to fill the void by doing more things for more people than before. As part of that effort, it's now available in your choice of hybrid or all-electric powertrains. We all know what happens to those Jacks that try to do everything, and while the new ES does have some unfortunate shortcomings, it's still a remarkably good EV.

The 2026 Lexus ES is a very different proposition than those models that came before. With the bigger LS out of the picture, the ES has gained roughly 6.5 inches in length over last year's model, with much of that space going into bolstering rear-seat legroom and trunk space. It's far more roomy and commodious than before.

But the bigger story is the wealth of powertrain and configuration options newly on offer. If you prefer combustion, the entry level is the ES 350h hybrid model, with 244 horsepower and a starting price of $51,095. It comes with either front- or all-wheel drive.

We're going to mostly focus on the all-electric model, though, a new offering from Lexus and the company's most compelling EV yet by a mile. The electric ES is available in two flavors: the single-motor, 221-horsepower ES 350e, starting at $48,895, and the dual-motor, 338-horsepower ES 500e at $51,895 and up.

That's right, the electric 350e is cheaper than the hybrid, and nicer to drive.

Both the ES 350e and 500e feature the same 74.7-kilowatt-hour battery pack, which isn't particularly large for a luxury sedan of this size — more significantly, of this weight. The ES 500e in Luxury trim weighs nearly 5,000 pounds, about 1,000 more than the base hybrid.