JessePS

RX400h (running only on the electric motor)



IMHO, too bad it can only go upto 25 mph (40 km/h) than switch to the engine Hopefully they bump it to like 31 mph (50 km/h) in the next RX hybrid. It be pretty interesting if you could drive 1000 km just on the electric motor only. True it take you 2-3x longer to get were ever your going.

Rockville1

In designing the 400h, Lexus opted for performance over fuel economy. That is why the engine kicks in so quickly when accelerating - as opposed to the Prius that is optimized for fuel economy. So although the 400h sacrifices economy, you benefit by having improved performance with a smaller ICE engine pluse you eliminate far fewer greenhouse gases.

IMO, I don't beleive anybody should buy a hybrid car witht the idea of saving money on gas. People should buy a hybrid for the many other cool features, including improved fuel economy (the 400h is subperb in the SUV category, ony surpassed by the Ford Focus); reduced green houses gases, improved performance; and awesome use of state-of-the-art technology.

silvervett

Heck my Jeep gets 10 to 12 on the low side and 14 to 16 on the high side. The RX gets 20 to 24 on the low side to 28 to 30 on the high side, and that was with it filled up with more than 1,000 pounds of stuff driving at speeds of up to 80 MPH on a trip from NY to TX so unlike many that complain about the mileage I am very pleased. I am not sure of this and I can't check till I get back to Texas but the last time I drove the car the engine seemed to kick in at a little over 10 MPH. I am driving the car back to NY next week and have an appointment set up at the dealer for April 6 to see if he can do something to get the car to run on just the battery till about 20 or 25 MPH

Rockville1

I have gotten the vehicle up to about 25 MPH w/out ICE comming on, but you have to accelerate very slowly (doesn't work well at traffic lights, but useful in heavy congestion on the highway).

Also, once up to cruising speed on a straightaway you can let off the accelerator to cut off the ICE, then gently push the accelertor to drive on battery only (even at highway speeds). This works on flat terrain but not on uphills.

silvervett

Thanks I'll have to try the highway thing, but the low speed thing bothers me more I did experiment in a parking lot and no matter how slow I went and how light my foot was on the accelerator the ICE seemed to come on just above 10 MPH. It is frustrating that my car is about 1,600 to 1,700 miles away and I can do anything out. I guess it should be due for an oil change by the time I drive it back to NY so I'll have the dealer check it out when I get the oil changed.

nobuddy

you need a very gentle left foot to keep the 400h on electric only. Also, if the pavement is even slightly uphill, it's harder to stay on electric only.

Last night, I was able to get up to about 40mph on electric only on level pavement. Had another car been behind me, though, they would have been quite unhappy

Getting an average of 26.5 MPG, low of 24.5 and high of 28, so we are quite happy with the fuel economy of the 400h.

JessePS

thats some awesome mpg ... plus almost doing 40 mph on the electric motor awesome.

one thing i was thinking lexus should have some sort of system set in place for the hybrids that you can choose when you want to use the electric motor. Like if you only want to run the electric part of the motor because you know you wont be going far and you don't have to drive fast you just select that and you can run on the electric motor for like say max 40 mph which would be sweet

silvervett

I drove it today 3/31/07 for the first time since 1/28/07. I used a real light touch on the gas pedal and got it up 35 MPH on battery only. I was able to drive a real long distance on Battery only but I forgot to look and didn't observe the distance

Update, I never paid much attention to the display before but today on my ride back to NY I noticed that every once in a while the ICE turned off and I was on pure battery power on a almost level road for a few tenths of a mile. The road was almost level but there was a very slight down grade, I was moving at about 55 or 60 MPH on pure battery power. Has anyone else noticed this.

I reset the computer at every fill up and my MPG was about 26 and on the last computer reading it was 28. To me that is fantastic. I did not do an actually calculation by recording miles and exact gallons pumped.

Nextourer

Hmm.. they lowered the threshold for the RXh? The Prius' threshold is 55km/h in EV Drive Mode. (i.e. the button).

You can go into hyper stealth mode above that but the engine is turning over to keep the electric motor from overspinning.

Rockville1

Yes, I do this all the time. Once I get up to cruising speed, whether its 40 mph or higher, I let off the accelerator than gently reapply just enough so that car is running only on battery. As you stated, I can drive quite a distance, up to a few tenths of a mile, just on battery. Only works on very flat or slight downgrades as you noted.

This is a great way to maximize fuel efficiency. Since temps have warmed up, I have been averaging 29.0 to 29.5 on the last two tanks of midgrade. I have noticed a substantial loss in fuel economy with regular gas and I have found no difference in performance or economy between midgrade and premium, thus I go with midgrade.

Nextourer

Ideally, the best way to maximise efficiency is to NOT use the battery or the engine.

It's called Gliding and on the Energy Monitor, that means no arrows shown at all whatsoever.

In this mode, your engine is off so no fuel is used BUT you're not using the battery either so you're conserving electricity too.

nobuddy

In my other car, this state is referred to as "Parked."

Nextourer

haha or pushing the car down the hill.

joedaddy1

iTrader: (1)

you know what.. they should have an economy bump where the car use the elctric mode more

ler0y

Heh heh, I drive using the pulse and glide method all the time, and I rarely exceed the speed limit. I'm sure that I **** off a lot of people behind me, but I make a special point to stay in the right lane and not the passing lane so that I can drive that way. Now I just cruise up to red lights without touching the pedal at all whereas I see tons of impatient people flooring it so they can get to the red light faster and wait longer. I time it so that I try to get to the intersection just as the light is turning green so that I don't have to hit the brakes at all.