NOTE: Pricing based on data collected March 2011. Costs of hybridization and forced features are UCS estimates based on information available on manufacturer websites.
See full Hybrid Scorecard methodology
Vehicle Summary
Lexus introduced the LS 600h L in model year 2008. The all-wheel-drive luxury performance sedan seats five people and gets a combined EPA estimated fuel economy of 20 miles per gallon (mpg). Despite already sporting the only eight-cylinder engine in the Lexus hybrid line, the LS 600h uses an astronomically expensive hybrid system to boost the vehicle’s power, leaving its environmental performance in the dust. The LS 600h L is a full hybrid, offering electric-only operation under certain conditions, idle stop/start, power assist, and regenerative braking.
Environmental Improvement Score
The 2011 LS 600h L is actually less fuel efficient than the 2009 model, dropping from an EPA estimated 21 mpg to 20 mpg. This backsliding slipped its global warming reduction percentage to a meager 10 percent compared with the conventional LS 460. This is a quarter of the global warming emissions improvement achieved by its cousin, the CT 200h, over a comparable conventional model. In fact, the LS 600h L joins the Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid at the very back of the hybrid pack. Like the Touareg Hybrid and Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid the LS 600h L does not take advantage of the hybrid system to improve fuel economy but instead uses a larger engine to give the hybrid more power (438 peak horsepower as compared with the LS 460’s 380), making it a classic “muscle hybrid.” In contrast, the Infiniti M Hybrid manages to strike a better balance between meaningful emissions reductions and performance.
Unlike several of the other muscle hybrids evaluated on the scorecard, the LS 600h L does a fairly good job of controlling its smog-forming emissions, something that crosses the full spectrum of Toyota hybrids. The automaker has invested in good smog controls on all of its Lexus models, and the LS 600h L matches the rest of the Lexus hybrid fleet with an EPA air pollution score of 8 out of 10. Despite this solid smog score, Lexus’s failure to make meaningful reductions in global warming emissions earns the LS 600h L a poor overall Environmental Improvement Score of 4.1
Scorecard Environmental Improvement Score methodology
Hybrid Value
In contrast to the rest of the hybrid vehicles in the Lexus fleet, which achieve Hybrid Value ratings ranging from “Good” to “Superior,” the LS 600h L has far and away the lowest Hybrid Value rating of all hybrid models on the scorecard—“Very Poor.” In fact, a customer could purchase the conventional LS 460 AWD and use the nearly $32,000 hybrid technology premium for the LS 600h L to buy a Lexus CT 200h. This exorbitant cost is further exacerbated by the LS 600h L’s meager 10 percent global warming emission reductions. Even in this high-end vehicle, this kind of cost differential helps to perpetuate the stereotype that hybrid technology is cost-prohibitive.
Scorecard Hybrid Value methodology
Forced Features
The price tag for the Lexus 600h L is just over $111,000—more than $40,000 more than its conventional counterpart, the LS 460 AWD, making it the most expensive hybrid on the market. While even its base models come standard with premium features, Lexus has forced customers to pay nearly $11,000 for features in the 600h L that are not in the LS 460 AWD. This premium is nearly 10 times more than included on any other Lexus and gives the LS 600h L a Forced Features rating of “$$$$$.” Forced features include Intuitive Parking Assist, heated rear seats, intelligent high-beam headlamps, and a 19 speaker surround-sound audio system. Click to see the full list of Forced Features.
Scorecard Forced Features methodology
Hybrid Scorecard Home
Additional Info
Visit the Who’s Got Hybrids section to read comments and stories from actual hybrid owners.
|
