Hybrid Vehicles Guide

Overview: Your head collides with your seat, and the world around you begins to disappear with frightening ferocity. The car continues to rocket forward, and so long as your foot remains on the gas pedal, you are helpless to stop it. The speedometer rises so fast you can’t begin to focus on where it’s at, and once it finally does level off, you find yourself on the upper end of the 100 miles per hour spectrum. This car makes no compromises, no concessions, and yes, it is a hybrid. And boy, do we love it.

Driving the GS 450h

At first glance, this sedan appears sedate and rather bulky. The swooping lines and well defined curves create a majestic, if somewhat regal, appearance. Once you climb inside, the same qualities can be found within the cabin. The interior is well appointed, and the voice activated GPS unit gets a nice big LCD screen.

The controls are all easy to locate, and there are hints at the vehicles hybrid nature throughout the cabin. Press the button for the vehicle to turn on and the voltmeter lights up, letting you know just how much juice the electric motor is going to give you.

Then, in that brief moment after you’ve pressed the pedal, you can perhaps wonder what this car will feel like once it begins to accelerate. And then it happens: the car launches forward with such force that you may find yourself taken completely off guard. We only wish that there was some way to record our facial expression the moment that we realize that this was no somber sedan- it must have just been terrific.

The GS 450h takes off faster than a Cobalt SS, Mustang GT, and is nearly as fast as the 307 horsepower 350Z. Yes, a 350Z! It becomes clear that this sedan, though not a sports car, was not meant to be on the tame side of things. Hitting triple digit speeds in this Lexus is comfortable, and oddly quiet. Gosh, we can hardly contain ourselves!

Conclusion

This sedan is proof that a hybrid does not have to be a boring, sleep inducing vehicle. Never mind all of the features and technology inside the car, it’s the technology and sheer force underneath the hood that gets us excited. And, despite all of this power (nearly 340 horsepower from a 3.3 liter six cylinder/electric motor combination), the GS 450h is still capable of churning out over 30 miles per gallon. That we really like.