bclexus

I see that even with 7/8 bars of charge on the traction battery you can't do very much or travel very far in EV Mode - maybe travel at the speed of a slow walk through a small parking lot! Just the slightest amount of throttle to accelerate to get up to a brisk walking speed is about all it takes to display a message on the Multi Information Display that EV Mode has been disabled. I'm a little disappointed about that... Should I be? I don't know... Is this what you experience too with 7/8 bars of charge on the traction battery?

I would have thought with a [practically] fully charged-up traction battery that you could get up to around 30mph and travel a few miles in EV Mode, not just half that speed and travel only mere yards. I guess I was wa-a-y wrong 'bout that ! Are all full hybrid vehicles like that in EV Mode?

Clearly the electric motor helps the ICE to achieve a relatively high level of efficiency (and performance) and the system is at its best when the engine and the electric motor works in parallel. As a standalone source of energy the electric motor element is hardly able to do much and has a difficult time getting out of its own way.

LeX2K

That's typical. I service a Highlander Hybrid on a regular basis I've squeezed about 1 mile out of the battery but it is mostly downhill and I accelerate VERY slowly otherwise the gas engine kicks in.

bclexus

Thank you for that confirmation, LeX2K.

I figured as much - especially after I tried EV Mode with 7/8 bars a handful of times and saw how it reacted each time the same way. I felt quite sure there was nothing wrong with the car - it's just the way it is.

LeX2K

All these Toyota and Lexus hybrid systems are pretty much the same, not a bad thing they work extremely well but the traction battery is less than 2 kWh and it's not designed to be drained to zero. The system tries to maintain a charge as much as possible so you have power for hard acceleration.

Put another way priority is not at all about range on battery alone it's about efficiency and power in all situations.

bclexus

Got it! Thanks!

mcomer

Our 2010 Lexus HS 250h would run on EV up to about 25 MPH and less than a mile in stop and go traffic.
Our 2018 ES 300h would run up to about 40 MPH and about one mile. Our 2020 ESh can get up to 45 MPH
and have not yet had the time or opportunity to check out its range.

bclexus

That's a whole lot better than the GS 450h!

Im2bz2p345

I think it's about how gently you work the throttle. I don't use EV mode (haven't sat in traffic long enough to really take advantage of it), but when the vehicle battery is charged up, and I'm travelling like 35 mph or less, it will kick into EV power and coast without the ICE running until I press on the throttle hard enough.

Just my observations,

~ Im2bz2p345

dkp993

Have tried it multiple times in my ‘16 H ( usual when in traffic and bored). Seems like 25mph is the cut off when it turns off and about 25% of throttle. Most I’ve gone is a mile or 2 before it’s drained the battery and kicks the motor on.

mcomer

Greater electric range requires a larger & heavier battery (waiting for solid state systems!!).
Our hybrids have a roughly 100 lb. battery while plug-in hybrid batteries are much heavier.
The Chevrolet Volt's 400 ib battery provided roughly 40 miles use but reduced the seating
capacity to 4 passengers rather than 5. (any of us ever carry 5 passengers?)

bclexus

I have noticed the same.

I was in Sport+ drive mode today (mainly for access to the tachometer because it's weird to see the tach on zero while driving). It seemed that in Sport+ the car tended to (I think) shut down the ICE and go on EV power alone more compared to when Normal drive mode, which doesn't make a lot of sense that Sport+ would be the drive mode that EV power is used more often than Normal drive mode. But I may be mistaken about Sport+ drive mode going to EV power more than Normal dive mode, because it's certainly hard to tell for sure when there is a fair amount of coasting involved - then some acceleration with the ICE - then back on just EV power again. You know how it goes...

I went to EV Mode a couple of times and traveled pretty far (maybe a mile or a tad bit more) at relatively slow speed but there was some gentle downslope coasting involved. Then of course the vehicle speed got too fast (if close to 40 mph is too fast) and deactivated the EV Mode.

It's a learning process for sure!

bclexus

I realize the Lexus/Toyota engineers balanced the use of the traction battery with the ICE and chose the size and weight of the traction battery that would give the best overall 'combination' fuel efficiency and performance. However, I'm a little surprised that Lexus/Toyota didn't move to have the traction battery (EV Mode) propel the car further than just a few hundred yards at less than 25mph. I would have thought the engineers would have planned and designed the GS 450h to travel further (and faster) than it does. I would like to have it travel about a mile at up to 35-40mph...but it doesn't.

Im2bz2p345

Agreed; I had mentioned that for as a request/desire for a 5th Gen 450h (if Lexus ever decides to bring back the GS line).

My small family is looking at the Toyota RAV4 Prime as kid transporter/road trip vehicle. What that vehicle can achieve in amazing in terms of electric vehicle range (around 40-50 miles) + still have a hybrid engine as a backup for longer trips. What sets that vehicle apart from other plug-in hybrids is that it can operate in pure EV mode up until 84 mph. It's amazing how far battery technology has come along in the last 10 years (since 2012) when our vehicle was released.

With the next generation GS450h (or perhaps can call it GS450h+), I feel that Lexus needs to figure out a way to design the vehicle similarly to the Toyota RAV4 Prime (and Lexus NX450+). Those vehicles can use a standard 110V outlet to charge, can operate on pure EV mode, and are also a similar vehicle weight to ours. I, personally, would love to be able to use my GS450h to travel around town in pure EV mode and then use the hybrid engine for longer distances.

~ im2bz2p345

bclexus

@Im2bz2p345 - Totally agree!

That Toyota RAV4 Prime is really a sweet compact SUV! I like it...a lot! The size may not be for everyone, but I bet Toyota will sell a lot of them. In the advertisements I've seen listed 302 h.p. and I've also seen 308 combined net horsepower! I've seen 5.8 sec for 0-60 and I've seen 5.5 seconds. Wow! That's some pretty good performance.

The RAV4 Prime has an all-electric driving range of 42 miles and gets an EPA-estimated 94 MPG-equivalent in combined city/highway driving, which is good compared to other plug-in-hybrid vehicles. Under gasoline power, it gets 38 mpg city/highway combined.


I especially the XSE model and add the Weather Moonroof package and Premium package for the Audio, HUD, 9"Navigation screen and the 6.6KW onboard charger...and maybe the rear outboard heated seating - just because!

I would hope the RAV4 Prime's eCVT is as smooth and refined at the Lexus GS 450h's eCVT.

Can't wait for you to get it and tell us how sweet it is!

Looks to have a nice interior too...