In their initial incarnations, hybrid electric vehicles in the North American market weren’t the most attractive or luxury vehicles. You bought them out of care for the market, and that was that. Later generations of hybrid vehicles brought sporty designs and handy features. However, in my humble opinion, hybrids didn’t break into the high-end luxury market until they were offered by Lexus. Lexus is offering hybrids in their LS, GS, and RX models.

Aside from the obvious luxuries that come from being part of the Lexus family, the Lexus hybrids offer a number of other handy features. First is an increase in effective horsepower. As you might know if you have looked into the mechanics of hybrids, the electric system can work in tandem with the gas powered system (depending on the power train chosen) providing more torque and resulting in greater power for the car. In the hybrid configuration Lexus has chosen, the V6 engine included in their hybrids function with the power of a V8. The system also features regenerative braking to help charge the batteries.

In addition to the increase in horsepower, the hybrid Lexus system offers decreased noise (smaller engines and battery power) and increased fuel economy (not unusual for a hybrid of any sort). These are fairly standard features of any hybrid, but that doesn’t make them any less useful. Using an “enhanced control continuous variable transmission” the vehicles ensure a smooth ride as transfers between electric and gasoline mode are virtually seamless.

While the Lexus Hybrid doesn’t go far into new ground for the hybrid genre of automobiles, it still promises the luxury and performance that has built the Lexus brand name.