Mileage Range On Battery Power

[philthy]

How far do you manage to get on Battery power alone if there is no opportunity to exceed the power limit during the journey? I'm assuming because of the weight of the car it's only going to be a mile or so and once the imit is reached I also assume the petrol engine kicks in automatically?

[Unity]

Hi,

You are correct in what you are saying. About 1 mile if you're on the flat and the ambient temperature is warm. Fuel economy is very dependent on what sort of journey you do. Lots of sitting in a traffic jam + stop start driving and you'll quickly run out of juice. I must admit that I've been really dissappointed in the hybrid system on the Rx400h. I bought it on the basis of improved fuel economy and it's not delivered. I get about 21 mpg in winter and about 30 mpg in the summer. Not absolutely terrible but not worth running the heavy maintenance costs of the hybrid system (servicing and repairs). Next car will be a diesel! I've been in a few recently and been impressed by the refinement and economy.

Unity.

[Furion]

Hi,

You are correct in what you are saying. About 1 mile if you're on the flat and the ambient temperature is warm. Fuel economy is very dependent on what sort of journey you do. Lots of sitting in a traffic jam + stop start driving and you'll quickly run out of juice. I must admit that I've been really dissappointed in the hybrid system on the Rx400h. I bought it on the basis of improved fuel economy and it's not delivered. I get about 21 mpg in winter and about 30 mpg in the summer. Not absolutely terrible but not worth running the heavy maintenance costs of the hybrid system (servicing and repairs). Next car will be a diesel! I've been in a few recently and been impressed by the refinement and economy.

Unity.

Hi

I am new to the forum and interesting this is the first post and it addresses what i wanted to know, I have been thinking of buying a used (three year old) 400H, i currently run a Touareg 3.2v6,and and wanted to change for the improved fuel economy, I get on average 23mgg and 25mpg on a run, but if the Lexus is only going to give me 21mpg in winter than that is very disapointing, I dont fully know the ins and outs of the hybrid system, but i have been told by a one or two people i might be dissapointed if fuel econmy is the reason for changeing.

I assume the engine charged the batteries which kick in when fully charged, but if electric motor is only going to last a couple of miles it hardley seems worth going for a hybrid instead of a diesel.

i do around 15k mixed driving and its seems i may as well opt for a Touareg v6 3.0L oil burner which i know will give me around 25 to 31 mpg.

It is a shame because i really do like the Lexus Rx

[philthy]

Makes you start to question what the point of the hybrid system is if it offers such a poor range. Does mean if I realy am set on an RX the 350 is going to be worth a consideration with so little benefit of the hybrid system, plus how the aux Battery on the 400h seems to go flat if the vehicle's left for long periods.

[philthy]

No forget the RX350; jus seen the CO2 emissions and it puts it in the £435 a year bracket.

[Duncan Roberts]

Hi,

You are correct in what you are saying. About 1 mile if you're on the flat and the ambient temperature is warm. Fuel economy is very dependent on what sort of journey you do. Lots of sitting in a traffic jam + stop start driving and you'll quickly run out of juice. I must admit that I've been really dissappointed in the hybrid system on the Rx400h. I bought it on the basis of improved fuel economy and it's not delivered. I get about 21 mpg in winter and about 30 mpg in the summer. Not absolutely terrible but not worth running the heavy maintenance costs of the hybrid system (servicing and repairs). Next car will be a diesel! I've been in a few recently and been impressed by the refinement and economy.

Unity.

I do NOT recognise my RX400 from this: 58-plate owned from new.

Petrol consumption is 31mpg in summer and has fallen to 29 this winter which was exceptionally cold in Decemnber.

Range on Battery power - over 4.5 miles. Just for a bit of fun when the car was new. Weather OK but autumn evening when traffic was light, mnaximum speed 25mph, not especially flat.

Cannot agree with your asertion in the slightest.

[philthy]

That seems better. It's a big heavy car so I don't expect it to go all day on hybrid power, but I was hoping for more than 1 mile or so. Most of our driving will be urban city stuff so the chance of bumping fuel economy figures up would be welcomed. If you're getting 31 mpg summer and a low of 29mpg in winter, I assume you're being very delicate with the right foot? Even so, that's the quivelent to what I currently get from my S80 D5 geartonic around town. I'd be interested to see what owners of the hybrid are achieving during city driving.

I was toying between the RX and the XC90 D5 as our replacement vehicle, but the Geartonic XC lands in the £425 VEL band unless you have the manual box, which puts it in the same band as the RX. Who wants to drive a manual in a big car. Even the Audi Q7 3.0 TDi is the same band as the RX.

[Takis]

I am tired of those who complain about the aux. Battery going flat after 4-5 years,writing articles and posts and not investing in a new Battery.

All car batteries go dead,not only Lexus!New members,should read older posts.There answers for all possible questions.

[monkeyboy72]

I wish I hadn’t read this post its really depressed me, I had my heart set on a 400h mainly due to the hybrid system, I rather naively thought the Battery power alone would last much longer than even 4 miles?, I do a lot of stop start driving especially getting to and from work and had visions of getting to work for the main part of the journey on Battery alone!.

Am I right in thinking the rear electric motor only cuts in when 4 wheel drive is needed, therefore unless you need 4 wheel drive is sits there redundant?,

I’m starting to question what is the point of the hybrid system?, is it to get the car upto 30 mph before the petrol engine kicks in, if you run the Battery out and your in a traffic queue I guess it is just using the petrol engine so in effect im driving a 3.3 litre v6 petrol vehicle, seems a shame they didn’t put a good economical diesel engine in there?.

[philthy]

I am tired of those who complain about the aux. battery going flat after 4-5 years,writing articles and posts and not investing in a new battery.

All car batteries go dead,not only Lexus!New members,should read older posts.There answers for all possible questions.

If you read the thread you'll see the issue isn't about the hybrid Battery going flat if the car isn't used for a few days; it's about how far you can get on hybrid power alone and whether there is actually any saving on fuel economy over an oil burner.

[Unity]

Hi All,

I can only speak for my own car obviously, but I believe that real life economy is highly dependent on what kind of journey you have. My journey is probably about as bad as it gets for the hybrid system to work efficiently, i.e. cold start straight into traffic (the hybrid system runs the engine to lubricate itself and get the Cat up to temp), then lots of stop/start driving through town and no speeds above 40mph, total journey distance 6 miles and the car is just getting warm when I arrive. To work efficiently the traction Battery needs a reasonable bit of charge being put into it by regenerative braking from 40+mph, which I don't get on my drive.

When I have done longer journeys through quiet A roads at mixed speeds I have got 45 mpg! Recently I did a 200 mile trip on M1/M25/M23 during the day (lots of roadworks on the M1 and av speeds of ~50-60mph) and got 38mpg. So it can be quite efficient on some types of journey. I think you should, if possible, test drive one on your daily commute to see if it works well on your drive.

In the winter the engine runs to warm the interior heater (switching the heater on starts the engine if your in traffic and the engine is not fully warmed up already). I can improve my economy to about 26mpg by turning the heater off and driving around in full winter gear but the novelty of that wears off quite quickly.

Overall, I do not question that it's a good car for serenely mile munching and can be reasonably economical on certain types of journey, but for me on my particular journey I don't get the benefit of the hybrid system and gives me about the same economy as my previous car (Audi S3).

U

[MikeyB100]

Hi all,

I've had my RX400H for about a month now - it's an 07. So far I've averaged about 29mpg - not as good as I'd hoped, but I expect it will improve come the warmer weather. It's striking how it generally does better mpg in congestion than in free-flowing traffic, provided you don't run out of Battery power of course. Recent forays round the North Circular in the rush hour have yielded 30+ mpg, for example. I'd agree with other posters that short journeys from cold starts are what drags the overall consumption down.

As I look at it, I'm getting the consumption of a diesel with the performance and refinement of a petrol engine - for me, that's good enough.

[Takis]

I am tired of those who complain about the aux. battery going flat after 4-5 years,writing articles and posts and not investing in a new battery.

All car batteries go dead,not only Lexus!New members,should read older posts.There answers for all possible questions.

If you read the thread you'll see the issue isn't about the hybrid Battery going flat if the car isn't used for a few days; it's about how far you can get on hybrid power alone and whether there is actually any saving on fuel economy over an oil burner.

Apologies,wanted to post in other thread and posted here!

P.S Why don't you slightly increase tyres pressure,to see how much MPG more you get?

[Boxbrownie]

The 400/450H is not and was never designed to be an economy vehicle, its purely a Co2 buster.......marketing love it, and it gets around congestion charging and manufacturers overall Co2 scores.

You want good fuel economy/luxury/quality blend buy a mid size diesel like a 3 series, but the 400/450H will make you feel good, if not your wallet!

[Duncan Roberts]

I wish I hadn’t read this post its really depressed me, I had my heart set on a 400h mainly due to the hybrid system, I rather naively thought the battery power alone would last much longer than even 4 miles?, I do a lot of stop start driving especially getting to and from work and had visions of getting to work for the main part of the journey on battery alone!.

Am I right in thinking the rear electric motor only cuts in when 4 wheel drive is needed, therefore unless you need 4 wheel drive is sits there redundant?,

I’m starting to question what is the point of the hybrid system?, is it to get the car upto 30 mph before the petrol engine kicks in, if you run the battery out and your in a traffic queue I guess it is just using the petrol engine so in effect im driving a 3.3 litre v6 petrol vehicle, seems a shame they didn’t put a good economical diesel engine in there?.

The point of the RX system is simple.

RX300 consumption in the 17-23 mpg range

RX400 27-35mpg range

The car does operate in 2-wheel drive for much of the time but "redundant" is not an appropriate word. Were you to buy one you would see that it is used significantly.

[philthy]

Thanks for the honest responses folks, you've helped make my decision for me.

[BGLister]

I have had an RX300, then an RX350, then the current RX400h.

OK, the fuel economy on the 400h does not blow my socks off when looking at mpg figures of 28mpg (winter) to 32 mpg (summer). However, my wallet does notice the difference compared to the 350 (which was a lovely car too). I get around 100 extra miles to a tank in the hybrid. With the way fuel prices are going, I would lie awake in bed at night of I still had the 300/350.

The driving conditions and style of driving do make a difference to the 400h's economy. Examples

1. On Battery only - drove around 10 miles at between 30-40mph, flat road (no gradients), no other traffic, no stop/start due to lights and still had some Battery power left

2. On Battery only - traffic jam on motorway, crawl a few, stop, and repeat. Probably 1 mile.

I live in West Yorkshire - it is hilly. The hybrid system works for me as half the time I am going down hill. The second motor effectively doubles the charging capacity of the system of course. It is not just a traction unit for when conditions dictate to use it. Having hybrid power also helps heave the car up hills in tandem with the petrol engine for some of the time. In a standard petrol RX, it would be costing me more going up hill, and not giving me any benefot back when going down hill. This is all driving at around town speeds.

On a motorway and doing alot of miles, there will not be so much in it between say an RX350 and RX400h, or a diesel 4x4, as the hybrid system will not be giving so much back. Every little helps though.

Overall, I think the benfit of a hybrid depends on several factors. These are: type of driving, length of journey, terrain, and style of driving. For me, I win out on the hybrid and it is a good all rounder as a business/family vehicle, comfortable, well specced as standard, good residuals, low RFL (£210 last year if I recall correctly), great on snow. It may not suit everyone, but it is nice to have a choice.

[ClubCanadian]

Had an 06 plate 400h since Nov 2010 - to date i've done around 6k miles

Ave mpg for those 6k miles 32.9 which i'm happy with. During the week my journey is around 70 miles per day mixing A/B and Motorway (sometimes alot further) - some days the motorway is 70mph, some days it's stop start.

Hope this helps

[philthy]

I've had a few days looking at all the options; the oil burners and the hybrids as well as a quick look at petrol options, which didn't last long at all! It all comes down to swings and roundabouts with them all. Some have good urban and distance economy but little in the way of creature comforts without forking out for a shed load of optional extras. Others have fairly lacklustre economy but plenty of spec. It's difficult to find one that ticks all the boxes. All in, I think it will come down to what the wife is happy to a) drive, B) look at and c) to deal with. As I think I explained earlier in this thread, my local dealership let us down badly over our last Lexus and she's reluctant to have anything to do with them again.

[Boxbrownie]

All in, I think it will come down to what the wife is happy to a) drive, B) look at and c) to deal with.

Well you cannot argue with that, no seriously......YOU CAN'T! :shutit: :D

[philthy]

Believe me, it's safer for me if I do.

[billygarrett]

I have had an RX300, then an RX350, then the current RX400h.

OK, the fuel economy on the 400h does not blow my socks off when looking at mpg figures of 28mpg (winter) to 32 mpg (summer). However, my wallet does notice the difference compared to the 350 (which was a lovely car too). I get around 100 extra miles to a tank in the hybrid. With the way fuel prices are going, I would lie awake in bed at night of I still had the 300/350.

The driving conditions and style of driving do make a difference to the 400h's economy. Examples

1. On battery only - drove around 10 miles at between 30-40mph, flat road (no gradients), no other traffic, no stop/start due to lights and still had some battery power left

2. On battery only - traffic jam on motorway, crawl a few, stop, and repeat. Probably 1 mile.

I live in West Yorkshire - it is hilly. The hybrid system works for me as half the time I am going down hill. The second motor effectively doubles the charging capacity of the system of course. It is not just a traction unit for when conditions dictate to use it. Having hybrid power also helps heave the car up hills in tandem with the petrol engine for some of the time. In a standard petrol RX, it would be costing me more going up hill, and not giving me any benefot back when going down hill. This is all driving at around town speeds.

On a motorway and doing alot of miles, there will not be so much in it between say an RX350 and RX400h, or a diesel 4x4, as the hybrid system will not be giving so much back. Every little helps though.

Overall, I think the benfit of a hybrid depends on several factors. These are: type of driving, length of journey, terrain, and style of driving. For me, I win out on the hybrid and it is a good all rounder as a business/family vehicle, comfortable, well specced as standard, good residuals, low RFL (£210 last year if I recall correctly), great on snow. It may not suit everyone, but it is nice to have a choice.

I live in North Yorkshire which is also hilly and I got pretty much the same results until I installed a Kenlowe engine pre-heater connected to mains through a time switch which is great in cold weather as well as the summer as it reduces consumption as the engine is already warm when started up in the morning.

But the biggest improvement with an average of 50 + mpg (up to 90+mpg on a couple of occasions over a distance of 10 miles when driving carefully at around 40 mph) came from the plug in kit via prius-plugin.co.uk

It came in a steel box for the Prius but I dismantled it and removed the plastic liner under the boot floor and installed the kit in there.

Works well!!!

[Boxbrownie]

I have had an RX300, then an RX350, then the current RX400h.

OK, the fuel economy on the 400h does not blow my socks off when looking at mpg figures of 28mpg (winter) to 32 mpg (summer). However, my wallet does notice the difference compared to the 350 (which was a lovely car too). I get around 100 extra miles to a tank in the hybrid. With the way fuel prices are going, I would lie awake in bed at night of I still had the 300/350.

The driving conditions and style of driving do make a difference to the 400h's economy. Examples

1. On battery only - drove around 10 miles at between 30-40mph, flat road (no gradients), no other traffic, no stop/start due to lights and still had some battery power left

2. On battery only - traffic jam on motorway, crawl a few, stop, and repeat. Probably 1 mile.

I live in West Yorkshire - it is hilly. The hybrid system works for me as half the time I am going down hill. The second motor effectively doubles the charging capacity of the system of course. It is not just a traction unit for when conditions dictate to use it. Having hybrid power also helps heave the car up hills in tandem with the petrol engine for some of the time. In a standard petrol RX, it would be costing me more going up hill, and not giving me any benefot back when going down hill. This is all driving at around town speeds.

On a motorway and doing alot of miles, there will not be so much in it between say an RX350 and RX400h, or a diesel 4x4, as the hybrid system will not be giving so much back. Every little helps though.

Overall, I think the benfit of a hybrid depends on several factors. These are: type of driving, length of journey, terrain, and style of driving. For me, I win out on the hybrid and it is a good all rounder as a business/family vehicle, comfortable, well specced as standard, good residuals, low RFL (£210 last year if I recall correctly), great on snow. It may not suit everyone, but it is nice to have a choice.

I live in North Yorkshire which is also hilly and I got pretty much the same results until I installed a Kenlowe engine pre-heater connected to mains through a time switch which is great in cold weather as well as the summer as it reduces consumption as the engine is already warm when started up in the morning.

But the biggest improvement with an average of 50 + mpg (up to 90+mpg on a couple of occasions over a distance of 10 miles when driving carefully at around 40 mph) came from the plug in kit via prius-plugin.co.uk

It came in a steel box for the Prius but I dismantled it and removed the plastic liner under the boot floor and installed the kit in there.

Works well!!!

Thats very interesting, no pricing details on the site which leads me to beleive it is an expensive alternative, so roughly how much for the conversion kit?

[billygarrett]

I have had an RX300, then an RX350, then the current RX400h.

OK, the fuel economy on the 400h does not blow my socks off when looking at mpg figures of 28mpg (winter) to 32 mpg (summer). However, my wallet does notice the difference compared to the 350 (which was a lovely car too). I get around 100 extra miles to a tank in the hybrid. With the way fuel prices are going, I would lie awake in bed at night of I still had the 300/350.

The driving conditions and style of driving do make a difference to the 400h's economy. Examples

1. On battery only - drove around 10 miles at between 30-40mph, flat road (no gradients), no other traffic, no stop/start due to lights and still had some battery power left

2. On battery only - traffic jam on motorway, crawl a few, stop, and repeat. Probably 1 mile.

I live in West Yorkshire - it is hilly. The hybrid system works for me as half the time I am going down hill. The second motor effectively doubles the charging capacity of the system of course. It is not just a traction unit for when conditions dictate to use it. Having hybrid power also helps heave the car up hills in tandem with the petrol engine for some of the time. In a standard petrol RX, it would be costing me more going up hill, and not giving me any benefot back when going down hill. This is all driving at around town speeds.

On a motorway and doing alot of miles, there will not be so much in it between say an RX350 and RX400h, or a diesel 4x4, as the hybrid system will not be giving so much back. Every little helps though.

Overall, I think the benfit of a hybrid depends on several factors. These are: type of driving, length of journey, terrain, and style of driving. For me, I win out on the hybrid and it is a good all rounder as a business/family vehicle, comfortable, well specced as standard, good residuals, low RFL (£210 last year if I recall correctly), great on snow. It may not suit everyone, but it is nice to have a choice.

I live in North Yorkshire which is also hilly and I got pretty much the same results until I installed a Kenlowe engine pre-heater connected to mains through a time switch which is great in cold weather as well as the summer as it reduces consumption as the engine is already warm when started up in the morning.

But the biggest improvement with an average of 50 + mpg (up to 90+mpg on a couple of occasions over a distance of 10 miles when driving carefully at around 40 mph) came from the plug in kit via prius-plugin.co.uk

It came in a steel box for the Prius but I dismantled it and removed the plastic liner under the boot floor and installed the kit in there.

Works well!!!

Thats very interesting, no pricing details on the site which leads me to beleive it is an expensive alternative, so roughly how much for the conversion kit?

I can't remember exactly, but I paid approx £2000 + shipping to the UK for 4Kw, but I believe it has gone up now and there are more powerful kits available.

But it is a lt cheaper that A123 kit at $10,000!! http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/automobiles/27PLUGIN.html?_r=1&ref=automobiles

You can always submit an enquiry for details from Enginer!

Good luck

Billy

[Boxbrownie]

I have had an RX300, then an RX350, then the current RX400h.

OK, the fuel economy on the 400h does not blow my socks off when looking at mpg figures of 28mpg (winter) to 32 mpg (summer). However, my wallet does notice the difference compared to the 350 (which was a lovely car too). I get around 100 extra miles to a tank in the hybrid. With the way fuel prices are going, I would lie awake in bed at night of I still had the 300/350.

The driving conditions and style of driving do make a difference to the 400h's economy. Examples

1. On battery only - drove around 10 miles at between 30-40mph, flat road (no gradients), no other traffic, no stop/start due to lights and still had some battery power left

2. On battery only - traffic jam on motorway, crawl a few, stop, and repeat. Probably 1 mile.

I live in West Yorkshire - it is hilly. The hybrid system works for me as half the time I am going down hill. The second motor effectively doubles the charging capacity of the system of course. It is not just a traction unit for when conditions dictate to use it. Having hybrid power also helps heave the car up hills in tandem with the petrol engine for some of the time. In a standard petrol RX, it would be costing me more going up hill, and not giving me any benefot back when going down hill. This is all driving at around town speeds.

On a motorway and doing alot of miles, there will not be so much in it between say an RX350 and RX400h, or a diesel 4x4, as the hybrid system will not be giving so much back. Every little helps though.

Overall, I think the benfit of a hybrid depends on several factors. These are: type of driving, length of journey, terrain, and style of driving. For me, I win out on the hybrid and it is a good all rounder as a business/family vehicle, comfortable, well specced as standard, good residuals, low RFL (£210 last year if I recall correctly), great on snow. It may not suit everyone, but it is nice to have a choice.

I live in North Yorkshire which is also hilly and I got pretty much the same results until I installed a Kenlowe engine pre-heater connected to mains through a time switch which is great in cold weather as well as the summer as it reduces consumption as the engine is already warm when started up in the morning.

But the biggest improvement with an average of 50 + mpg (up to 90+mpg on a couple of occasions over a distance of 10 miles when driving carefully at around 40 mph) came from the plug in kit via prius-plugin.co.uk

It came in a steel box for the Prius but I dismantled it and removed the plastic liner under the boot floor and installed the kit in there.

Works well!!!

Thats very interesting, no pricing details on the site which leads me to beleive it is an expensive alternative, so roughly how much for the conversion kit?

I can't remember exactly, but I paid approx £2000 + shipping to the UK for 4Kw, but I believe it has gone up now and there are more powerful kits available.

But it is a lt cheaper that A123 kit at $10,000!! http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/automobiles/27PLUGIN.html?_r=1&ref=automobiles

You can always submit an enquiry for details from Enginer!

Good luck

Billy

So slightly more than a top of the range LPG conversion. I can see the Battery conversion being ideal for short haul delivery companies or local services like on call doctors/vets I guess. For longer haul stuff LPG is probably the better alternative.

It sure is good to see a few more options available now.