It was an interesting week to say the least. By the time the Lexus pick-up team arrived to retrieve their prototype, I was clear that I would likely measure all hybrid vehicle test drives by this first one. This was not my first hybrid test ride, nor do I hope it is my last, but I found myself more attached than I wanted to be as I saw its sleek yet short silver body reflect brilliantly for the last time. Yes, I am waxing (or waning perhaps) poetic for a car . . .

I come by it naturally as my father had a love for cool cars and gadgets – the Lexus HS 250h hybrid presented a satisfying blend of both.

A few of the ergonomic and gadget-type features that I loved had little to do with the hybrid or eco-factor. However, a couple of things in particular stuck with me and I suspect will be incorporated to some degree in most hybrid cars – or they should be for at least one model generation:

1.  The in-dash computer screen showing the live-action drivetrain and energy consumption value screens was highly educational and helpful in retraining driving habits to conserve fuel. I know Toyota does this, but I’m not sure if all of them include this nifty, informative feature.

2.  The gauge that replaces the normal RPM gauge also helps to moderate driving to accommodate a more fuel conservative approach to acceleration from a light or dead stop.

It became somewhat of a personal game to see the green light come on the dashboard ‘EV’ indicating I was, for the time the light was green, not burning fuel or emitting carbon dioxide.

As you can see/read from my posts, I’m not well-versed in the technical side of hybrid vehicles, nor do I really want to be. I want to have a comfortable, safe ride that offers a better deal for the environment than many cars available today. The Lexus 250h may not be the most efficient of the new eco-tech cars coming out, but it is a great transitional vehicle that is likely to be dependable as it is backed up by a major car producer. I’m all for these wonderful new independent companies that are emerging with fresh ideas, but for now, I think many folks just need a low-stress vehicle to cross the bridge as new companies and technologies emerge on the far, but not too distant horizon.

BTW, my average mileage was 30.9 MPG. It only made it to the open highway once and I probably had the air conditioning on the ENTIRE time, so I have no doubt I could’ve done better. I was told the vehicle can get into the high 40s, but I didn’t get there in 5 days.

The number one question out of everyone’s mouth was, ”How much?” I didn’t know at first and we all tried guessing. I would’ve guessed between $45 – 50k. I was impressed when I found out it was just under $35k for the base model, which I believe has most of the bells and whistles I got to play with.

Look for this fun eco-ride by the end of next summer . . .

eat. blog. be merry!
gd meg

Green Diva Meg's family playing in the driveway

On day 4, I was inspired to actually lift the hood (or bonnet, depending on what type of english you speak) to see if the engine was as new and space-age as the interior of the vehicle and to see what 187 horsepowered hybrid engines looked like.  My co-worker, Eric who is somewhat of a gearhead and was very anxious to see the goods under the hood, and I were both a little mystified – of course, I come by this naturally when it comes to car engines. This car, being a prototype and brand-spanky new, had a sparkling clean status that seemed surreal. But, most of it was covered pretty securely in a message we both took to mean, “you have no idea what you are really doing or even looking at, so whatever is beneath here, you don’t need to see.” Eric, who drives a sporty Audi TT, spun it around our large building and parking lot a few times and while he is a man of few words, his grunts and various sounds were those of positive impression. His pleasant surprise of its power to move and smooth ride is an impressive endorsement to anyone who knows him. You’ll just have to trust me on that.

Other engine stats include:

2.4-liter Atkinson Cycle inline-4 (presumably this is fancy jargon for peppy 4-cylinder)

DOHC, four valves per cylinder with Variable Valve Timing with Intelligence (VVT-i)

Electric Drive Motor – High-output, permanent-magnet electric-drive motor

Front-wheel drive

187 Horsepower

Electronically controlled continuously Variable Transmission (ECVT)

Still had a half-tank of gas.

More on the final days . . . stay tuned.

eat. blog. be merry!
gd meg

Day 3 was painful because I had to go to work and my ability to drive was severely limited for most of the day.

Still loved the ride.

Hooked up my phone to the built-in bluetooth, hands-free system, which was a fairly painless process, but friends on the receiving end of these hands-free calls complained about the volume and my sounding ‘far away’ (which could be attributed to my lack of height – perhaps I am at a greater distance than the average person who would be driving the car?).

Using the USB port, I hooked up my iPod and prepared to rock myself to work. While it seemed to play okay, it locked up the device controls and I was unable to make any changes from the iPod itself. It seems I have to preset the music and then plug it in. Perhaps it is better with an auxiliary plug, which is also available, but I don’t have one of those cords handy. Will have to work on that one more.

Otherwise, the sound system is very good and as you can tell, a priority to me. I’m kind of superficial in being less concerned about what is under the hood than I am about the ergonomics of the experience.

Speaking of ergonomics, I read in the press release that some of the materials used for the dashboard are made from natural castor seeds and renewable kenaf plans, rather than petroleum-based sources. VERY cool.

I promise I’ll get into what is under the hood . . . that’s tomorrow’s post.

eat. blog. be merry!
gd meg

Day 2 was Sunday. It was a gorgeous day - a good day to have the sunroof open as I found more reasons to drive around and play with this new shiny eco toy. While cruising on a major interstate bouncing in our seats to the rather good sound system, my daughter noted with alarm we were going 80 mph. Yikes. We gently applied the breaks and discussed how smooth a ride the vehicle was. We also noted that when the music was off or very low, there was not much exterior road noise. You are kind of cacooned in your own little peaceful, sci-fi environment.

My right hand is getting more comfortable resting on the peninsula where the mouse for the computer system is (where the gear shift should be), and I am quickly getting used to maneuvering it for simple processes without getting too distracted.

My phone has matched up with the built-in phone system nicely. I rather enjoy NOT having the bluetooth jammed on my ear.

Explored more of the computer screens and the dashboard information and found that I was using an average of 29.9 MPG. As with Wayne’s car the computer screen with the live drive-train animation tells you when you are using battery and when you are charging  and is interesting.

Also noted that the usual RPM gauge on the dashboard didn’t have the traditional numbers, but had blue, green and white sections indicating charging, eco/battery use, or ‘power’ mode. It helps to see that when you hit the peddle to the  metal upon a green light, it zooms up to the ‘power’ mode and the MPG goes down on the computer screen. hmmmmm. A more gentle start keeps it ‘green’ on the gauge and I suppose quite literally as less fuel is used if any.

Still learning. Still playing. It’s getting harder and harder to imagine giving this car back on Friday. I’m getting painfully attached to it.

eat. blog. be merry!
gd meg

I don’t do this ‘green diva’ thing for the financial rewards (slim pickins these days), but there are times when a special event or product review opportunity comes along and I experience a sense of purpose and well, it is just flat out fun!

This week is one of those times when I love being a green diva. The smart PR folks for Lexus found me and decided I should test drive this beautiful not-available-till-2010 HS 250h hybrid sedan. Unfortunately, I’m on lock-down at my office most days and couldn’t get to the event in NY back in June. I whined a little by email with this sweet PR rep about how my man, Wayne drives a Lexus 400h and he rarely shares it.

She indicated that the cars would be back on the East Coast in July and she could hook me up with a ONE WEEK test drive! I asked her to repeat that message and she confirmed that they were offering to drop off a car anywhere I needed them to and let me play with it for a week and then pick it up at my convenience at the end of a week. Hmmmmmm? I played along, but expected a catch, like a huge deposit or ransom to include one of my children or something.

Apparently there are no catches and it’s all real and I aim to give you a daily account of my experience in fostering this car that I will want to adopt at the end of this week . . .

LexusLog :: Day 1

We were all sprawled out on our back deck enjoying the gorgeous day when this fabulous silver Lexus arrived in our driveway. This nice man walked up to me as I sprinted and practically stumbled down to meet him. He simply asked if I was Megan McWilliams. I said, “yes.” And with that he handed me over this key-like apparatus and gave me about 30 seconds of instruction on how to start the car using the button. He may have given slightly more instruction, but I was still in shock and am certain my jaw was loose without words. He had to leave as the ‘follow’ car was waiting in the road and he was gone within 5 minutes. Was he real?

By then, we were all standing around opening doors, crawling around it and gawking at this brilliant beast that was now blocking every other car in the driveway. Once the shock started wearing off, my first instinct was to hop in and go for a ride. Now, what did he say about starting this thing . . . ?

The key wasn’t really a key, but some type of wireless electronic device that just needed to be near the driver inside the car to make the push-button thing work. After 20 solid minutes of pushing buttons and trying various configurations, we were about to panic when we figured out that you had to push the button, which wakes up the computer screen that unfurls itself from a sleeping position on the dashboard, wait a moment, and then put your foot firmly on the break before pushing the button to start the car. Of course, the car doesn’t make ANY noise when it starts, but we were used to that from Wayne’s car. The novelty of that hasn’t worn off on me yet.

I did some errands, but was totally distracted by the space-age configuration of the dashboard and driving area and the mouse like computer operations at my right hand, where the gear shift used to be. I heeded Wayne’s warning NOT to get too distracted by these features and crash this phantom car that appeared in our driveway. Good advice.

Later that evening, I attended a small gathering of women to celebrate the ritual passage of one of those decade birthdays – 30. Since every single one of us was over 40, we all sat in a circle and talked about what our lives were like at 30. Yikes. We all agreed were were better off where we were and wished her luck . . . but, not before we went outside to gawk at my surprise ride. They were all amazed – not only by the Jetson, futuristic value of the shiny silver car, but that being a green diva could bring such treats to my doorstep.  I really hadn’t had time to play enough to answer most of the questions.  I went home exhausted and a massive storm started up, so I did not take the time to explore further.

Yes, day one went well. Stay tuned for day two.

eat. blog. be merry!
gd meg