Globe Drive

You know the hybrid car market has evolved when some models are "dedicated" hybrids and others aren't.

What is a dedicated hybrid? According to Toyota, it's one that has been built from scratch, as opposed to an existing model that has been modified to accept a hybrid system.

Sounds a little like splitting hairs, but the new Lexus HS 250h, says Toyota Canada's managing director Stephen Beatty, is "the world's first hybrid-only luxury vehicle."

It's also part of his company's push to get more Lexus hybrid vehicles on to the roads of the Great White North. Thanks in large part to the success of the Prius, Toyota has sold almost 2 million hybrids worldwide so far, with its luxury division accounting for about 184,000 of those. At this point, Lexus sells one hybrid vehicle for every five of its other models.

Toyota/Lexus thinks that Canadian consumers need more upscale hybrid vehicles, and in keeping with a depressed market and all-time low automobile sales, the new HS 250h is the company's first four-cylinder version. "It's a luxury car with a conscience," Beatty says.

Dedicated it may be, but the HS 250h is still built on an existing platform. In this case, it's the Avensis sedan, which is manufactured in Britain and sold throughout Europe.

It has a 2.4-litre, four-cylinder gas engine, also based on the power plant of an existing model - the Venza - mated to an electric motor, with a nickel-metal-hydride battery pack made by Panasonic, and a constantly variable transmission, for a total power output about of 187 horsepower and about 138 lb-ft of torque - "about" because these numbers can fluctuate, especially torque output, due to the fact that the drive train's efficiency depends in large part on the state of the battery pack's charge, engine load, and driving mode. While driving, you can choose between "Power" and "Eco" settings, and the performance difference is dramatic.

Either way, Lexus is claiming impressive fuel consumption figures for the HS 250h: a rating of 5.7 L/100 km in combined city-highway driving, which puts it leagues ahead of anything else in this class.

In fact, there really isn't anything else quite like it at this stage of the game, and it is indeed the only four-cylinder/hybrid luxury car on the market. Lexus is pitting it against the likes of the Acura TSX, BMW 335d and Mercedes C300.

Unsurprisingly, the HS 250h has a plethora of intriguing engineering features, not the least of which is a unique heat recovery system that takes heat from the exhaust system and utilizes it to warm up the engine's coolant more quickly. This in turn allows the hybrid drive system to revert to battery power and shut off the gas engine more readily when it's not needed and, in the process, improve fuel economy - by more than 7 per cent, according to Mark Stuyver, Lexus' manager of advanced technology and power train.

Lexus held the Canadian launch of the HS 250h in Winnipeg and this particular feature is bound to be welcomed by drivers come wintertime. As well as improving fuel economy, it means a warmer cab, faster, when the mercury starts to drop.

Lexus has also made fairly extensive use of ecologically friendly material in the construction of the HS 250h. Things like seat cushions, body trim and various upholstery parts are made from non-recycled plant matter such as castor beans, and the volume of recycled material used throughout the car is claimed to be some 50-per-cent more than that of most other conventional models.

Lexus introduced its lifecycle vehicle assessment system in 2005 and, in a nutshell, this measures each car's environmental impact, taking into account things such as emissions produced during its construction, carbon dioxide created during the disposal of the car at the end of its life and emissions produced during its operation. Apparently, the HS 250h emits 33-per-cent fewer emissions over all during its lifecycle than a non-hybrid vehicle in the same market segment.

For all its technological sophistication and environmental responsibility, the HS 250h feels very much like a Camry with a dose of Prius behind the wheel. There are differences, of course, but assembly quality is as tight as a drum and performance is comparable to a four-cylinder version of Toyota's best-selling sedan.

A couple of small things, however: the back seat does not fold down or have a pass-through, because that's where many of the hybrid drive train components are located.

And you can order Lexus' centre console-located Remote Touch System, which is essentially a stationary mouse that lets you access things like the sound system, climate control, GPS and so on. Virtually identical to the same feature found in Lexus' RX350 SUV, it works well and is very easy to get along with. I figured it out almost right away.

Still, the over all driving experience of the HS 250h would have to be rated as reassuring and placid, rather than spirited or exciting. Which will likely suit prospective buyers down to the ground.

"First and foremost," Beatty says, "customers are looking for the luxury car experience. We like to think of the HS 250h as purposeful technology wrapped up in a thoughtful design."

globeauto@globeandmail.com

2010 LEXUS HS 250h

Type: Five-passenger, luxury, hybrid sedan

Price Range: $39,900-$48,750

Engine: 2.4-litre, four-cylinder gas engine with electric motor

Horsepower/Torque: 187 hp/138 lb-ft

Transmission: CVT

Drive: Front-wheel-drive

Fuel Economy (litres/100 km): 5.6 city/5.9 highway; regular gas

Alternatives: Acura TSX, BMW 335d, BMW 328i, Mercedes-Benz C300

*****

Like

• Unassailable fuel economy
• Sensible ergonomics/switchgear
• Tight assembly quality

Don't like

• Drivetrain wants to "hunt" during highway driving
• Not the most exciting car out there