In a recent Drive Australia article about Lexus and its “No Diesel” position, brand vice-president Mark Templin hints that new hybrid technology is on the way:
Templin said about 80 per cent of Lexuses sold in western Europe are hybrids, similar to the percentage in Japan, where the desire for cutting edge technology is partially driving their popularity.
He added that Lexus was working on its next generation hybrid technology, which would raise the bar for the technology its parent company, Toyota, has made its own.
“There’s some technology that’s coming for hybrid in future that’s going to make it even more exciting,” he said, refusing to go into details. “You’ll have to wait and see.”
He said rather than a giant leap in hybrid technology it would be “consistent technological advancement”.
Outside of improvements to the existing technology, there are two segments where I’d like to see the Lexus Hybrid Drive in the near future: something high performance like the production LF-LC, or something heavy duty like a LX 600h.
(Of course, there are multiple issues with either application — for instance, there’s a weight penalty with all battery power, and so far Lexus has only paired their gas-electric engine with a CVT transmission.)
Where would you like to see Lexus hybrid technology go in the coming years?
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