Lexus' High-End Hybrid: the LS 600h L
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 04.13.06
Calling it the "exclamation point" of the the brand, Lexus has unveiled their latest hybrid flagship: the LS 600h L. It's the hybrid version of the recently-introduced LS 460 (and big brother to the GS 450h), and is going to pack a punch: it combines a new 5.0-liter gasoline direct-injection V8 engine with large, high-output electric motors and a newly-designed battery pack to deliver a whopping 430 horsepower. The 600h is expected to earn a Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (SULEV) rating; by comparison, the LS 460 (the conventional counterpart) will have a smaller engine (4.6 liter V8), less horsepower (380) and a lower emissions rating (ULEV II), yet will have lower fuel efficiency (mpg in the low 20s). Ergo, Lexus is positioning the 600h as delivering the power and performance of a larger 12-cylinder engine with best-in-class V8 fuel efficiency. While the "power hybrid" approach hasn't paid off for Honda's Accord hybrid so far, we suspect Lexus is targeting a wholly different market with the 600h; we'll have to wait until April 2007 to see what dividends it pays. via ::Green Car Congress
Minor error: the first link should say GS450h.
Thank you, anonymous. I fixed it.
Ah Ha!!! They've definitely hit on a winner!!! Imagine....this article has been on line all day and not one.......one.... post about how decadent, wasteful, design flawed this car is or how non-windpowered, solar powered, whale powered it is. Could it be the new "Dream Toy" like a Harley or a sail boat? :P
20 MPG.
Why do I have the feeling that all of these new "hybrid" vehicles are basically the same as "USDA organic" which is to say not organic at all?
The USDA organic label was a gift from the Bush administration to multinational agribusiness where they could reap the rewards of the organic premium profit without actually changing anything. These so-called hybrids are just business as usual while allowing Americans to guzzle as much gas as they ever did.
20 MPG.
In 2006.
Correction.
2007.
My fellow Americans are aiming about as low as low can get.
Lexus are targeting the same market that Audi, BMW etc have been following in Europe for a while - you refine a new, lower-consumption technology (over here that's diesels), and you use this extra efficiency to give a significant power boost whilst keeping mpg around the previous level.
If you look at the history of car developments, this has been the pattern all along. The public gets used to an acceptable mpg (say 30 in the UK, maybe 20 in the US?) and the manufacturers invest all their incremental efficiency improvements in performance (more power) and conveniences (more weight). Consumers keep getting the illusion of progress, while mpg stays at 1920 levels and people end up feeling that a 2.5 ton daily driver is appropriate.
What I find worrying now is that most of the 'best/worst-case scenarios' I see from the US envisage a happy day when average mpg is around 40 and gas is $10.00 a gallon - this will stop people driving so much!
Err...we have that in the UK right now, and I have never seen the roads so busy, nor so many 4x4s, Pick-ups and 400hp saloon cars. I don't think the efficiency engineers can ever defeat the human need for novelty.
In what BMW, Mercedes Benz, Audi etc achieved in many decades, Lexus had achieved in a few. Lte's face it; good things dont come cheap. Even then a lexus costing a high price is worth the technocratic gizmos and top of the range in reliability and durability. The LS600hL I think is one of the most (if not the most) technologically advanced vehicles to date (surpassing the german and American rivals) with an applause when its price is considered overall. In order for Lexus to be at the for- front in hybrid diesel technology, Lexus should go for a diesel hybrid flagship to be the first luxury brand to begin. If this is so, then it would be a truly fuel efficient and better environmentally friendly automobile. Well Done Lexus. Keep It Up but dont rest on your oars.
I hope lexus will take its ''electrical part'' pf the hybrid technology (on the LS600h L model) further; As the flagship of Lexus with the finesse in technology, it should be technically possible for this vehicle to cover over 100 miles (at least) powered only by the battery component. If this is made possible (coupled with an external plug-in battery power point), this will make the vehicle versatile (in case of gasolene fuel scarcity and shortage) as owners would be able to contiually run their vehicles (unlike other vehicles which depend on gasolene / gasolene-electric hybrids). If Lexus should make this possible, then an award is certain. Furthermore, if the currently (yet to be releaed) LS600hL is soon coupled with a diesel version-hybrid, fuel economy will be unparalled (especially in its class) and this will make the Lexus vehicle uniquely special. I hope Lexus is listening.
Just found a review; wow!
Some good info from the new model, I'm not sure if everyone has read this yet but it has some really neat features. 5,220lbs and still runs 14.0
The temperature of the hybrid system cannot be too hot or too cold. In other words, if the car is left parked in Death Valley on a summer day or in Anchorage in the dead of winter, EV mode will not work. Same result if the car has sat for a long period of time or traveled long distances at high speeds.
found here;
2008 Lexus LS 600h L
My new 2008 LS 600h L is a pain in the butt. Both driver and passenger seats are defective by having a hard metal like bar feeling right up your pelvis. In a long drive this is a real problem and leaves a semi permanent discomfort.
Lexus apparently knows of the problem but have no solution as of yet. I am totally disappointed that for such expensive car it is a pain in the butt. The mighty Toyota is not doing anything about it. Is this an isolated case??