Never let it be said that high-mileage hybrids are grim, joyless, or Spartan. The 2012 Lexus HS 250h sedan was the smallest and most economical car Lexus had ever built when it went on sale in late 2009 as a 2010 model, but it’s unquestionably luxurious. Lexus has noted that more than 60 percent of luxury-car buyers would consider a hybrid if one were available, so Lexus gave them an option.

Official EPA mileage for the HS 250h is 35 mpg city/34 highway/35 combined. Lexus says the HS 250h qualifies as a Super-Ultra-Low-Emission-Vehicle (SULEV).

With the exception of a new exterior color choice, there are no changes for the 2012 edition. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price for the entry level HS 250h is $36,330 – a $700 increase over 2011. The step up Premium model also increased $700 to $39,800.

The front-drive HS, which stands for “harmonious sedan,” was Lexus’s first dedicated hybrid, just as the Prius was for its parent Toyota. Previous Lexus hybrids were adaptations of existing vehicles, including the popular RX 400h crossover – replaced for 2010 by the RX 450h – the GS 450h sports sedan, and the full-size luxury barge LS 600h. But the HS is sold as a hybrid only, with no gasoline-only version.

Lexus HS 250h vs. Toyota Prius

The comparison to the 2012 Prius is apt, since the two cars share the same basic platform. They both ride on a 106.3-inch wheelbase, though the Lexus HS 250h is two inches wider, half an inch higher, and a full nine inches longer than its hatchback relative. The HS also has a larger 2.4-liter engine – a tweaked Atkinson-cycle four cylinder – against the 1.8-liter engine used by the Prius. The complete hybrid system in the Lexus is fully 40-percent more powerful than that of the Prius: 187 horsepower compared to 134. Lexus says the powertrain enables the HS to hit 60 mph from a stop in 8.4 seconds and reaches a top speed of 112 mph.

There is one thing the HS did borrow from the Prius: driver-selectable operating modes. In addition to Normal mode which is, well, normal, there’s a Power mode, Eco mode, and EV mode. Eco maximizes fuel economy by reducing throttle response and reducing the air conditioning output. Selecting Power adds about 17 percent stronger acceleration than Normal, quite useful when passing or climbing hills. EV mode allows operation in pure electric power for around three miles if the battery has a good charge.

So while the two cars have different bodies, different engine sizes, and certainly different personas, you can view the HS 250h as a Prius with a trunk, a raft of luxury accoutrements, and a different trade-off between fuel economy and features. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, as Seinfeld might say.

Exterior and Interior

Lacking the Prius’ high roofline and abrupt vertical tail, the more conventional sedan styling of the HS is marginally less aerodynamic than its hatchback sibling, with a drag coefficient of 0.27 rather than the Prius’ 0.25. Given that the HS is a relatively short five-seat sedan, that’s still a respectable figure.

If you’re looking for groundbreaking styling, you’re best off looking elsewhere. Unlike the Prius, it doesn’t shout, “Hey, look at me, I’m a hybrid.” The exterior look is more Toyota-like – offend no one, please everyone – than the sleek look of today’s Lexus models. Indeed, from a distance with its slab sides, it could be mistaken for a Toyota Corolla, although it does have small triangle-windows up front, in each door, like the Prius.

While the exterior might suggest a pedestrian Toyota, Lexus buyers expect luxury and features, and the HS 250h delivers. Doors open wide onto a richly equipped and carefully assembled passenger compartment. With bright instrumentation and well-designed controls that are easy to reach, it’s hard to criticize the HS. However, dedicated Lexus owners will find little that is familiar. For example, the shift lever is not in the center console position between the driver and passenger. Instead, the shifter is located in the center of the dash, à la the 2009 Prius, and is more like a joystick. They might also cringe a bit at the quality of some materials compared to the Lexus vehicles they are used to driving, as noted by Car and Driver, “The base textured leather upholstery feels more like leatherette and makes the upgraded semi-aniline leather a worthwhile upgrade.”

They might, however, cut some slack when learning that the HS has extended its green credentials beyond the hybrid powertrain with the use of earth-friendly materials. Lexus says that the hybrid car was the first vehicle in the world to use interior “ecoplastic,” Some 30 percent of the cabin and cargo area is covered in a plant derived, carbon-neutral material that will recycle easily. The appearance and feel is indistinguishable from the standard trim.

High-Tech Gear Galore

One of the characteristics that has always set a luxury vehicle apart from the crowd is the latest in automotive high technology, a trait Lexus has excelled at. The HS 250h offerings are extensive, starting with the Tech package option that has four video cameras – an up front wide-angle can peek around blind corners at low speeds, another is for backing up, another is for a lane-departure warning and inside, a camera monitors the driver’s face for distractions or drowsiness. There’s also radar for the cruise control, and a final touch is a head-up display with steering wheel controls.

If that’s not enough, the optional navigation system incorporates real-time traffic and weather, and casual-speech voice recognition. It even lets the owner customize the levels of haptic feedback in the mouse-like controller mounted on the console.

And, of course, there’s the standard expected luxo features such as leather seating – 10-way power-adjustable for the driver, eight-way adjustable for the front companion – Bluetooth for phone and music streaming and USB/iPod connectivity. A nice touch is softer-closing power window switches from the uber-luxurious LS sedan.

On The Road

Wringing performance out of a car and, at the same time, having it sip low quantities of fuel is a difficult task. But the HS compromises between the two fairly well. While approaching a steep hill with the accelerator pushed to the floor, Popular Mechanics noted the positives and negatives of the powertrain: “The little Lexus makes good use of the hybrid drivetrain; you can actually feel a swell of torque. The downside: The HS 250h’s cabin is a bit buzzy and – like all hybrids – the continuously variable transmission is flavorless compared to a traditional geared transmission.” As for combining fuel economy and performance, Motor Trend seems to have nailed what the HS is all about, “How to describe the HS driving experience? ‘Efficient?’ Yes. ‘Soothing’? Maybe. ‘Luxurious?’ Mostly. ‘Exciting?’ No. It’s just not the car’s mission.”

In The Marketplace

When the HS 250h was introduced in 2009, the questions were how it would relate to the two other compact Lexus models, the sportier IS and the more conventional ES front-wheel-drive sedan, and would it grab some prospective Prius buyers? The IS and ES fared reasonably well in 2010 while the Prius continued to dominate hybrid vehicle sales. As for the HS, it did surprisingly well, racking up 10,663 units sold, enough to be the seventh best-selling hybrid.

The automotive marketplace is ever changing and for 2011 the HS 250h faced new challenges. The first came from Lexus itself in the form of the new sporty compact CT 200h. The four-door hatchback not only delivers better fuel mileage – 43 mpg city/40 highway/40 combined – the $29,120 starting price is $7,230 less than the HS. These differences were manifested by 2012 sales numbers: The CT 200h was the third best-selling hybrid last year, racking up 14,381 sold compared with the 250h’s 2,864 that relegated it to the 14th position.

Then there’s Lincoln’s MKZ Hybrid. Its $34,330 starting price bests the HS by $1,575 and is larger and delivers way better fuel mileage, 41/36/39. And even though the HS 250h has clearly expanded Lexus’s green appeal, for a few thousand less, the Prius does offer luxury appointments like leather upholstery, and even a couple techy gizmos not found on the HS. So, more than a few astute buyers make take the advice dished out by Car and Driver: “If the HS 250h isn’t going to drive any better than the Prius, we’d rather have the mileage-and the lower monthly payment-of a Prius instead.”

But as Motor Trend pointed out, there is one thing Prius buyers cannot have: The Lexus dealer experience when buying and servicing their cars. And that is part of the Lexus luxury persona.

Prices are Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) at time of publication and do not include destination charges, taxes or licensing.

This page was updated on Jan. 25, 2012. The first comments in the thread below were started when the article was first published.

The post 2012 Lexus HS 250h appeared first on HybridCars.com.

Lexus HS250h

Toyota is recalling 17,000 units of its 2010 Lexus HS250h hybrid, due to a fuel tank issue. The company will also halt production and sales until a remedy can be found.

During a test conducted by an agency contractor, fuel spillage from the vehicle exceeded federal regulations. According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, the problem could occur when the car is “rotated on its longitudinal axis to each successive increment of 90 degrees following an impact crash test.”

The problem is currently being investigated by Toyota. By conducting the recall, and the halt to production and sales, Toyota is exercising an immediate response and a high degree of caution. The company was criticized earlier this year for a sluggish response to widely publicized issues with runaway acceleration of various models, and a “brake feel” problem with some its hybrids.

Investigations by Toyota and federal agencies failed to produce evidence of a verifiable or persistent safety problem with acceleration or braking. Since the public scare earlier this year, the story has almost completely vanished from the media.

Regarding the HS250h’s fuel tank issue, Toyota said in a release issued Friday: “At the present time, Lexus has not identified a remedy to address this issue, but it is working hard to do so promptly and will notify owners as soon as one is developed. Until then, as required by federal law, dealers will not deliver any new vehicles (of the model) in their inventory…until remedied.” Questions and concerns may be directed to Lexus at 1-800-255-3987.

The post Toyota Takes Swift Action on Lexus Hybrid Fuel Tank Concerns appeared first on HybridCars.com.

The Mercedes S400 hybrid was the first hybrid from the luxury carmaker. Mercedes, and other luxury brands, will increasingly go hybrid.

Great hybrids. Big jumps in MPG. But luxury, all too often, means low volume.

The field of hybrid gas-electric vehicles is expected to triple from about 20 today to 60 or more by the middle of this decade. If current trends continue, much of that growth will come in the luxury segment. Ford will offer a Lincoln MKZ Hybrid—essentially a luxury version of the Ford Fusion Hybrid—later this year. That news, which leaked out prior to the official announcement from the New York Auto Show, follows last month’s reports from Mercedes and Lexus that more luxury hybrids are on the way.

Is the availability of the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid worth getting excited about? Yes and no. The MKZ Hybrid will beat the fuel economy of the Lexus HS 250h by about 6 mpg—while providing room for an additional passenger. Moreover, Lincoln’s first hybrid could more than double the conventional MKZ’s current 18 mpg in city mileage. That’s a big deal.

Unfortunately, the conventional Lincoln MKZ is not a big seller—so don’t expect much of an impact on overall hybrid sales. That follows a pattern in which Ford produces a stellar hybrid product and puts marketing dollars behind it—but fails to pump out enough units to raise it above niche status.

Luxury Brands Go All Hybrid

There’s more cause for celebration—sort of—for green car fans. Numerous media outlets are reporting that Mercedes-Benz will go 100-percent hybrid with its next-generation S-Class lineup in America—excluding the $130,000 AMG models. In other words, you won’t be able to buy an S-Class that doesn’t have a hybrid system—lifting the fuel economy of the entire line. Bear in mind that the S400 Hybrid is the least expensive of the S-class models—although it sells for nearly $90,000. The other S-Class models move up in price toward Tesla territory and beyond. That renders the impact of an all hybrid Mercedes segment as mostly symbolic—until Mercedes goes all hybrid for the relatively proletariat E or C classes.

On the other velvet-clad hand, the recently announced Lexus CT 250h luxury hatchback could really move the needle for hybrids. The Lexus CT 200h would be Lexus’s first compact car, and the first compact hybrid sold by Toyota in the US. The model could also become the least expensive Lexus model—maybe just above $30,000. And it will be Lexus’s most efficient—with mileage reaching toward Prius-levels.

The CT200h could go on sale in the US as early as next year, when it would become the fifth Lexus hybrid model. That pushes the hybrid-ness of the brand even further. No other brand has more gas-electric vehicles—and no other brand has hybrids from the top of the line to the bottom, and in every size from compact to SUV. The Lexus RX450 SUV and Lexus HS250h sedan are already produced in decent volumes, and were among the best-selling hybrids for most of the last year.

The hybrid wave was slowed down by the economic recession. But it’s looking more and more like the recovery is going to start with the luxury segment—and slowly make its way to plebeian brands of nearly every size and shape, and every price point.

The post Luxury Hybrid Category Gets Crowded appeared first on HybridCars.com.

Top: Mouse-like control of screen functions.
Bottom: The Lexus HS 250h cockpit meets the computer work station.

Cars with Built-in Mouse Pads

The Lexus HS 250h and RX 450h hybrids place an oversized monitor more in line with the driver’s field of vision, and control of that monitor where the driver’s hand would naturally fall. A hand rest contoured to fit your palm has a small finger pad that works like a trackball. It’s connected wirelessly to the vehicles infotainment system, and moves a cursor across the screen. An “Enter” button on either side of the hand rest provides point and click functionality.

“This is much more like navigating a smart phone or any other kind of consumer electronics than what you think of as rather arcane interfaces in a lot of cars today,” said
Brian Cooley, CNet’s Cartech Editor at large.

Lexus calls the system “Remote Touch,” and it’s a big improvement over the previous generation of dials that force you to scroll through cryptic or cumbersome choices.

Cars.com reviews the Remote Touch system.

The mouse/joystick/trackball thingy also employs “haptic” technology that adjusts the resistance felt by the driver. The driver feels like the pointer is gravitating toward, and locking into, the big icons on the screen. The feeling is similar to a bump or rolling a ball over a flat surface and into a depression, and is reminiscent of the Wii controller.

Vehicles equipped with the nav package also feature a “casual-speech voice recognition system” that means not having to touch anything. Users say “Find XM Channel 150” or “Make it cooler” to affect entertainment or climate functions. In a step that will add, rather than reduce, distractions, Lexus recently rolled its “Enform” infotainment package that brings weather, sports, and stocks to the center monitor. (Warning: Watching the performance of stocks in your 401k is a sure fire way to get into an accident.)

The final step in blurring the lines between the real and virtual worlds is the Lexus heads up system. Your speed and other control systems are projected directly out in front of the vehicle as if floating on the road. If you’re using the navigation system to plot your route, an arrow will be projected before you get to your next turn. The “Lane Keep Assist” system uses a special camera and sensors to warn you that you are drifting in the next lane. If you start to leave the lane, the system will alert you and even try to steer the vehicle back into its lane.

When Jalopnik posted on the Lexus Remote technology, one commenter named Jo Schmo wrote, “So the shifter is shoved off to the side to allow a mouse to take its place? What is the world coming to?” The reply from sos10 was, “It’s a hybrid.”

Jo Schomo wrote back, “Good point. I suppose it won’t be long before cars are drive-by-mouse anyway. Right click to exit car, roll down windows, etc.”

The post Lexus Hybrids Merge Mouse, Monitor and Windshield appeared first on HybridCars.com.

The Lexus HS250h—which will become the most efficient luxury vehicle on the US market when it begins selling in late August or early September—is rated at 35 mpg in the city and 34 on the highway. The base MSRP is $34,200. The Lexus HS 250h qualifies as a Super-Ultra-Low-Emission-Vehicle (SULEV).

According to Toyota officials, employees are working overtime to meet the demand in Japan—which is benefiting from a one-year subsidy for eco-friendly cars. Incentives in Japan have helped make the Toyota Prius the No. 1 selling car in Japan for the past three months, and helped put the 2010 Honda Insight in the top five since its introduction earlier this year. The eco-friendly incentives are scheduled to expire on March 31, 2010.

Toyota produced 2,000 units of the HS250h in July. Nikkei reports that Toyota will nearly triple the production of the Lexus HS 250h hybrid by October.

The post Toyota Boosts Production of Lexus HS 250h Luxury Hybrid appeared first on HybridCars.com.