ganzoom

Which why the eGolf has been such a sales success ;)

^ Weekend just gone, Leaf used everyday for multiple trips. Lexus sat on the drive iced over. Wife was main driver every trip and picked up keys to the Leaf every time. I'll take the driving experience over soft plastic, a fancy badge any day of the week. The laggy, noisy, unrefined drive train on the IS feels totally redundant compared to the instant torque of the EV motor. Every time I drive our IS I end wondering just how good it could be if it had a proper EV drive train. The killer though, our IS300H cost £35k and has already lost about £10-15k in deprecation. The Leaf £200/month with no deposit for 24 months, oh and fuel cost over 12k miles = £150. The fact a cheap electric version of Nissan Note can deliver a better driving experience than a 'premium' saloon is the problem Lexus has.

Absolutly agree, we own both, the Leaf wins by a country mile, as demonstrated by the fact its done more miles than the IS depsite been in our possession for a shorter amount of time :). If it was up to me I would get rid of our IS today for a 30kWh Leaf or even the updated Zoe. But the IS is my wifes car and she's far too sensible to PX a 2 year old car that we paid cash for on the basis of deprecation is worst in the first 5 yeara of ownership. Anyways the saving grace is I only have to drive the thing on the occasional basis, but annoying I'm still tasked with filling up the thing with petrol every few months :(.

I really like alot of parts of our IS300H but its increasingly feeling like a out of date machine despite ours been not even 2 years old. Last week I swapped cars with the wife as she was on childcare duty, left for work at my usual time and ended up been late because I had to stand out in the cold defrosting the IS like a lemon. I'm now too use to been able to pick up the phone 10 minutes before leaving the house, sending a command to the car to start warming up and be greeted by a warm/defrosted car all ready to go when I step out of the front door. With the Leaf soon to make way for a Tesla I fear the gulf in tech will soon be even larger. After just a week with the Leaf and its prewarm feature my wife is now for the first time considering the possibility of going fully EV her self :) I think a prewarmed car that can drive it self may just be deal clincher for her... Lexus has ALOT of catching up to do on the car technology front. https://youtu.be/VG68SKoG7vE

The infotainment system in the IS is the worst feature on the car. Smart phone connectivity is basically Bluetooth music streaming and that's it. Forget about Car Play. The iDrive system in my old BMW 335i which was built over a decade ago has more functionality and better design than the system Lexus use across their whole product range. So if infotainment is top of your shopping list I wouldn't bother looking at any of the current Lexus range.

The ML stereo in our Premier is ok but nothing mind blowing. You really have to feed it a good quality source. DAB sounds awful on it where as Spotify using Bluetooth streaming sounds so much better. We went with Premier as that was the only way to get the pre-emptive braking/safety pack, which thankfully Lexus now includes as standard kit.

If its anything like the system in the new RX than the underlying menus/features are identical, but with bigger higher res screen and noticeable quicker responses interms of changing menus/function. A worthwhile upgrade but more a like software update rather than new software/features.

The safety pack is really useful the blind spot monitoring and traffic reversing warning thingy, glad we got it on our pre-facelift IS, and good to see Lexus putting into all but the basic trim for no additional cost.

This is just not correct, the Toyota hybrid setup achieves better efficiency through a very efficient combustion cycle using the electric motor to compensate for the lack of torque in the atkinson combustion cycle. Our IS300H gets better mpg than our diesel Civic in all conditions regardless of the manner driven despite the Civic been roughly 300kg lighter. Weight also little impact at M-way speeds, not when your looking at 300kg of difference. Its the aerodynamic efficiency that makes the difference. This aero test by Car and Driver shows the importance of aero, despite weighing a massive 680kg more and been a much bigger/faster car, a Tesla Model S uses exactly the same amount of power to sustain 70/100mph as a Toyota Prius. http://www.caranddriver.com/features/drag-queens-aerodynamics-compared-comparison-test-drag-queens-performance-data-and-complete-specs-page-7 Ofcourse that doesn't take into account rolling resistance and engine thermal efficiency. But as you can see form the graph below aerodynamics is by far the biggest contributor to energy consumption at M-way speeds. If your really obsessed by M-way economy than a pure EV should be your dream car. The thermal efficiency of the electric motor is about 90% at any speed compared to less than 50% for even the best combustion engine at optimum revs. Add in better aero thanks lack of air intakes/exhaust system this is the reason all EVs score >90mpg in EPA tests (the latest Hyundai EV is over 120mpg) but even the best combustion cars (like the Prius) struggle to hit over 50mpg. The current IS250 is rated at 24mpg by the EPA so over 100mpg less than the best EV and half the efficiency of car like the Prius, and even the 4WD NX300H is better at 30mpg. And don't compare the EPA mpg tests with the joke European tests we have, it was the EPA that first picked up the dieselgate saga, and their mpg rating are very close to real life mpg.

According to howmanyleft BMW barley sold 500 340is this year so far. Whilst a few members might want a bigger displacement engine its not what the majority of the public want. A 350IS would sell in double digits here in the UK. However the 330e selling considerably better than the 340i. Plug in cars is the future of high performance motoring not larger displacement engines. The EV I'm about to take delivery will crack 60 in 5.5seconds, yet cost me about 3p per mile in fuel, £0 VED, no regimented service requirements, why on earth would I want buy a V6/V8 car which offers the same performance but x5-10 more expensive to run?? Oh nd an AWD EV is actually more efficient than a single axel driven EV because you can set up different gearing for the two motors. Quicker, more efficient, less maintenance, this is what really got me interested in EVs. Just a shame Lexus has zero plans to introduce any plug-in models.

You must have the heaviest right foot here, you do know we have speed limits here in the UK :).

What effects efficiency/energy usage the most at M way speeds isnt weight its aerodynamics. Which is why a 2 ton Tesla is more efficient and uses less energy at 70mph than my sub 1.5ton Nissan Leaf. Diesel as a fuel contains more thermal energy than petrol, and diesel engines run a higher compression ratio, so are more efficient. But the Toyota hybrid petrol units have been shown to have just as good thermal effiency as diesel engines by running the Atikinson cycle and electric power to make up for reduced torque. Our IS300H returns better mpg than our old diesel Civic in all conditions. IvI've seem some really impressive mpg readings on long trips. This was 100 miles on M1 than 20 miles in the car park that is the M25/North circular at rush hour.

Depending how your with a spanner even if you get a traction battery fault all that likely needs to be done is to replace one cell. Having seen how easy it is to do I'm pretty sure if you can fit your own brake discs/pads you can probably manage it your self without ever going near a main dealer. I certainly would give it a good go.

The traction battery is essential to the Toyota/Lexus hybrid drive trains. A non functioning battery will cause all kind of error messages and pretty horrific economy/performance.

The Lexus hybrid tech is same as in the Prius, essentially 200k miles+ with no real impact on performance. There will be degradation but because the battery only ever operates at around 50% charge levels the end user will simply not notice degradion till it's very very bad, essentially the battery will/should last the life time of the car.

How much electricity do you think it takes to refine a gallon of petrol?? How much energy is needed to extract and transport the crube in the first place?? Look it up the answers and the results may susprise you. As for future generation capcity, look at what the Germanys have managed. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-16/germany-just-got-almost-all-of-its-power-from-renewable-energy

Just a fleeting vist to the Tesla website will show you cost of motoring is the last thing that am bothered about. Im happy to pay the premium because in my view its worth paying extra for EVs.

^ Just think what has to happen in a combustion car when you acclerate. 1. Input from throttle pedal detected. 2. Throttle body opens 3. Increased fuel goes in to the piston 4. Fuel has to be compressed 5. Fuel has to detonate 6. Torque is generared at the crank 7. Power transfered to wheels via gearbox In an electric motor: 1.Throttle input detected 2. Increased electrons move into the motor 3.Torque is generated 4. Power sent to wheels, no need for gearbox If you were designing a car from scratch which of the above two powertrains would you choose?? Bear in mind one has a few thousand moving parts and can only deliver 35% thermal efficiency in a very narrow operating window whilst the other has 1 moving part and is >90% efficient across its operating window from 1 to 10k rpm. Its no coincidence the worlds fastest trains are electric powered and not diesel driven. The combustion engine has had its day and I cannot wait till they dissappear from our streets.

You really do have to experience it in person to get it. I lost interest in my old BMW within 100 yards of the Leaf test drive. Yes the Leaf is very slow compared to my old BMW, but instant torque means instant throttle response and I mean instant, ive never driven a combustion car that comes close in throttle response. The IS300H in comparison is like having to use morse code to communicate your right foot with engine output. Your always in the right gear, add in brake regen where slowing down adds energy to the battery back, the driving experience is on a different level. I simply cannot go back to the crude, antiquted way of a combustion engine. Like many aspects of life once your experienced something better its hard to go back to the past. If I couldn't afford a Tesla I would be ordering the newly released 40kWh Zoe. BMW, Nissan, Renault, Tesla all do EVs, and I've driven them all, and I love the way all of them drive. Infact at city centre speeds the Leaf is best of the bunch, quiter than i3 and much more economical than a Tesla. But don't take my word for it, rather than wonder why most EV owners love EVs go and try one for your self, you might just be surprised at what you find.

^^ Well we just have to agree to disagree. But my views are based on my experiences of been a self confessed petrolhead and car ownership, not preconceptions based on no real life experience .

Your seriously comparing the weight of a 7 seater SUV with a BMW hatch back. Why don't you look up how much a similar sized Range Rover weighs compared to a Model X, or even a Jag XF compared to a Model S. I give you a hint, they all weigh a lot more than a BMW hatch back .

Having previously owned a 400bhp, RWD, twin turbo in-line 6 BMW I can tell you given the choice now I would take the Leaf with it's 10second+ 0-60 time over my old BMW. I never don't quite get people who have never driven an EV can draw up conclusions about something they have never experienced.

I 100% disagree, try a EV and than your see what am talking about. There is no comparison.

^^ For a weekend family trip a ride on a steam train is fun, but I don't think anyone would wish to do their daily commute in one. The EV powertrain delivers the holy grain every single car manufacture has been trying to achieve since the invention of the car, instant torque, no nasty vibrations, and power but without effecting economy. Combustion cars will always be around, much like horses still are, but they will be relegated to the role of weekend toys. I'm not the only person who have totally lost interest in combustion cars after driving an EV. It's the future, but actually it's something you buy/drive here and now. My experience of moving from combustion cars to EVs is the same as the when I knew my old Palm Pilot was as good as dead the first time I played with an iPhone, or the first time I edited a digital photo taken by a digital camera. The current generation of EVs are only the start, individual torque vectoring at each wheel, motors built into the hub of the wheels, reduced sized of engines/lack of need for exhaust systems will allow car chassis to be totally redesigned. We associated noise with speed because uptill now that's all we have known, but EVs are going to quickly make even the quickest combustion cars feel like shopping trolleys. Tesla aren't even a sports car manufacture but they have already got to the point where it's the physical lack of grip between the tyre/road that is impeding the ability of the motor to put down more power. The Model X we have ordered is the 'slowest' version they do, yet it cover the 0-60 sprint in less than 6 seconds. I honestly cannot wait to see what Porsche can do with the Mission E, or a company like McLaren. 0-100 times in the single digits are doing to become the norm. The case of if we need that kind of performance, or if human drivers should be given access to this kind of power is whole different debate :).

The lack of noise in the IS cabin shows up all these little things, the fan noise really irritate me. Even on lowest setting I find it too loud especially compared to the Leaf where you have to turn it up to half max before the fan is audible.