Lexus News - Lexus refines hybrid drivetrain for RX450h, 28 mpg city/27 highway

January 8, 2009 by tsikot

Lexus refines hybrid drivetrain for RX450h, 28 mpg city/27 highway

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Lexus RX450h

A few months back at the LA Auto Show, where Lexus introduced the world to its latest RX450h hybrid crossover, the automaker was not yet ready to reveal its price or fuel mileage ratings. Things are still a bit hazy on the pricing front, but we do have some preliminary mileage data to share, along with an entire novel’s worth of incremental detail changes that all add up to create a better hybrid. First, the mileage: an EPA-estimated 28 mpg city and 27 mph highway (26 mpg for the AWD), which is an 8-12 percent improvement of the old RX400h. We couldn’t possibly cover the minutiae nearly as well as Lexus has already done, so check past the break for the entire press release.

The other salient details include a new exhaust heat-recovery system that helps the hybrid perform better in cold temperatures, a new ECO driving mode and a new EV drive mode that allows the RX to run on electricity alone with zero emissions under certain circumstances. All this and a 20 percent boost in power… sounds like a winner so far. Expect to see the new RX450h on dealer lots in a few months time, and look for pricing information closer to the launch date.

Gallery: LA 2008: Lexus RX 450h