"They are here to stay."So claims Andy Pfeiffenberger, the head of Lexus Europe. Perhaps in the future things will be different, but in their current state, hybrids are nothing more than a band-aid. And if what they have now is all they have to offer, Toyota/Lexus is in a very sad state.
For starters, hybrids as we know them now do very little to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. The fact is, they still need gasoline to run. Sure they may use a bit less, but like I said... they're just a band-aid. Hybrids on our roads today are doing little to wean us off gasoline, and nothing to promote alternative energy solutions.
Just look at the hybrid offerings from Lexus themselves:
The GS450h is the hybrid version of the GS350. The 350 is powered by a 3.5L V6 and gets a combined EPA rating of 10.7L/100kms (22mpg). The GS450h is powered by the same 3.5L V6 (I wonder where they got the 450 nomenclature from?) but with the addition of the electric motor puts out a few more horsepower, while consuming 10.2L/100kms (23mpg).*
That's a grand total of 4.6% improvement in fuel efficiency! (And don't forget that they both need Premium pump gas too...)
Wow!!
That figure is even more amazing when you factor in the price. What does the privilege of 4.6% improvement in fuel economy cost you? Try $11,250 in the United States, or $18,200 in Canada!**
Let's do the math on that:
In the USA it will cost you about 25% more to save 4.6% on gas.
In Canada it will cost you over 34% more to save 4.6% on gas.
Andy Pfeiffenberger had better hope Toyota/Lexus can come up with something much better than that if they truly believe that hybrids aren't just a transition technology and really are here to stay.
*Fuel economy figures taken from fueleconomy.org.
**Price differentials based on MSRP, taken from lexus.com and lexus.ca respectively.
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