At its heart or more correctly 'hearts' beats an innovative 3.5 litre V6 petrol engine and an electric motor. The car is propelled using a combination of both power sources or each source individually, combined the GS450h pushes out about 450bhp hence the name.
That output is more than a conventional 4.3 litre V8 engine so it is no surprise 0-100km/h comes up in under six seconds and the best bit is the hybrid car averages about 36mpg in old money!
Toyota leads the world in hybrid technology having led the way with the original Prius and the current excellent second generation Prius.
Lexus is Toyota's luxury brand and it has been allowed to use hybrid power to make more powerful driver-focused cars. First Lexus gave us the rapid and substantial RX400h SUV and now with the GS450h it has a foot into the executive cruiser market with the first rear-wheel-drive hybrid.
So what is new over the RX400h? Well many key components are now reduced in size as hybrid technology evolves. Lexus says that hybrid is the future as in theory the technology can be combined with any type of engine, be it diesel or even fuel cell.
The five-seat car has instant power and packs a serious punch! Petrol engines need to spin about 1500 revs before they start to deliver any sort of power plus they usually need to rev to 6500rpm plus to deliver their maximum output, but Lexus has coupled that output profile to an electric motor that just like all electric motors delivers maximum torque or pulling power from zero rpm.
In gear acceleration is stunning and even Porsche 911-beating in some circumstances. When I say 'in gear' in fact the gears are artificially created shifts as the gearbox is a CVT (constant velocity transmission).
It all sounds fantastic but there is one little problem with GS450h and that's the little boot that holds only 280 litres, yes 280 litres! That is tiny in an executive car that should have at least 500 litres.
€777 gets you a set of Samsonite-designed luggage that is very impressive and a very efficient use of the limited space available.
What price this technological tour de force? €84,757 - after the VRT tax break which is set to vanish at the end of this year. Without the break Lexus says the GS would retail for €98,325.
Lexus will sell 100 hybrid GS models this year having already sold 170 non-hybrid GS models by mid May. Next year we can look forward to the LS600h hybrid-powered Lexus flagship, I genuinely can't wait.
A couple of Government ministers will use the new Lexus hybrid as their official car having shunned the obligatory black Mercedes E Class. Minister Dermot Ahern was one of the first converts to Lexus, having a GS300 for a number of years and he's currently on his second. There are presently three GS models on the Government’s fleet.
In fact the hybrid GS450h is the perfect car for any politician as in it they can move off silently using just silent electric power!
Michael Sheridan
