The Lexus RX400h
Published: 4th September 2004
Lexus RX400h
The World’s First Performance Hybrid SUV
The revolutionary Lexus RX400h four-wheel drive sport utility vehicle is the world’s first performance hybrid SUV, a petrol/electric powered car positioned in the premium segment.
The RX400h is powered by Lexus’s Hybrid Synergy Drive, a full hybrid system that allows the vehicle to operate in petrol or electric mode alone, or in a combination of both, according to driving conditions. This produces a unique combination of high performance, quiet, seamless progress, frugal fuel consumption and ultra-low carbon dioxide emissions for its class. Such is the potency of the hybrid system, the car can accelerate from rest to 62mph in 7.6 seconds, yet in combined cycle driving can match the fuel consumption of a typical family saloon with a four-cylinder petrol engine.
The powertrain comprises a conventional 3.3-litre V6 petrol engine with front and rear electric motors, together delivering a maximum power output of 268bhp via a seamless, continuously variable automatic transmission and intelligent electric four-wheel drive. European sales of the Lexus RX400h will commence in the first half of 2005.
