hieronymous

My current model IS has the standard parts bin Toyota dynamic CC, flick the lever up/down for a 1km//h / 1 mph adjustment each flick, or hold up/down for multiple 5 km/h / 5 mph adjustment(s). For constant speed CC, flicking the lever gives the same outcome as for dynamic CC above, while holding the lever results in a continuous speed change..

After 12 years of variously owning 2 Prius’s, a Nissan Leaf, a MY2019 Hyundai Kona EV (current) and a MY2021 IS 300h (current), with no 12v problems, my 2 cents worth is: Your biggest problem is lack of information, on a daily basis you have no idea what your 12v is doing. This didn’t matter in ICE cars with large cranking capacity - it certainly does with EVs/hybrids. Meter testing only provides a voltage at one point in time, whereas you need battery history over days/weeks to look for patterns of behaviour. Solutions such as the Noco are last resort, the “ambulance at the bottom of the cliff”. You still have no idea if/when your 12v is going to fail, and if it has failed once, then it is more likely to again. As in life, solutions of the “primary care at the top of the cliff” sort, are the way to go. The one I use is the BM2 battery monitor, usually widely available on Amazon, EBay etc. It runs 24/7 on the 12v terminals with minuscule drain, records full voltage history for months at least, provides 1 day / 7 day charting, and feeds all this to an Android/IOS app via Bluetooth. It is widely discussed on many EV/hybrid forums. I have 1 of these for each car, for daily perusal over breakfast. So EASY.. Both have been continuously running since 2021, totally reliable. Highly recommended!!

As a previous enthusiastic owner of 2 Prius’s, a “better” hybrid was high on my wish list, and this was the outcome. I was fortunate to get mine in 06/21 as covid was starting to bite into supply times. It performs effortlessly, but can also easily run on the smell of an oily rag.. These 2 pics show it up quite well..

Test it yourself instead of relying on the advice of an anonymous stranger. Lock the car. Unlock, open, then re-lock the boot. Walk away out of range, put the key fob down. Try opening the driver's door without the key fob (you should know how to do this first)..

I have the current IS300h F-Sport, now with 19" wheels. It was my choice for rear wheel drive and adaptive suspension, the best options for good handling. The front wheel drive ES is a big limo in contrast, though has marginally better economy, more room in the back, and a spare wheel (I think).. My IS ride is armchair smooth and quiet on a good surface, a bit noisy on coarse chip (like all tyres), never harsh even with the big wheels. So your choice is between handling, and roominess..

Threads like this one are valuable for any Lexus owner new to hybrids, not just the OP. I also recommend the BM2, see @tedd's post above - on my IS300h, Kona EV and house generator. The bluetooth range is limited to about 10m, but I can easily check all 3 over morning coffee with the phone app. Regular (daily) checking is the answer to small battery issues, and the BM2 is a great solution. In a decade of hybrid/EV ownership, I've never been caught out...

Using a multimeter is little better than guesswork. I use the small BM2 12v battery monitor, widely available, £25 or so. It is wired to your battery terminals, gives you data as in @Herbie's table above, and transmits by bluetooth to an app on your phone (android or iOS I think). Data is shown as realtime voltage, or in 1 day / 7 day charts on demand, up to 2 months data. I have 3 of these, for my IS300h, my Kona EV, and my switchboard backup generator - they are invaluable. I also have 1A smart battery maintainers on the IS and the generator, timed for 20min topups every 4 hours, same as the EV built-in schedule. All batteries stay at optimum voltage regardless of use. The peaks below are the 4hr maintenance.

I’ve tested this by the usual method - from a service station adjacent to a motorway, by filling the tank from a reliably hands-free, auto-shutoff nozzle, running a motorway loop (50ml) back to the same nozzle, and refill. The IS300h dash readouts (reset and refill) both matched the pump receipt, within the limitation of data to one decimal place - it’s close enough given the general assumption that station pumps should be accurate, maybe.. However, it is noticeable that day-to-day short running, especially in winter, can result in quite a gap between the reset and refill values. Cold starts, and manoeuvring in and out of garages and car parks, use a significant amount of fuel, which is usually ignored. So, while a reset result can be a useful snapshot of a particular route or set of conditions, especially over longer distances, the refill value is a much more accurate indicator of typical consumption.. So the 60mpg (posted above) is one reset value from the current tank, but I have also had 51mpg. However, the refill value is steady at 56mpg.

My 2021 IS300h F-Sport runs 235/40x19 (F), 265/35x19 (R), but in our current winter temps of about 15C still is returning 58mpg on the current tank, and on a recent 75mile run returned 60mpg. Hybrid fuel economy is always, and only, down to speed, or more accurately, average speed - our limit is 100K, and I cruise at 90GPS (59mph indicated). Having come to the F_Sport from 2 Prius’s, I also use cruise control as much as possible, and generally hyper-mile letting the hybrid make the decisions. Despite the big hike in the fuel price (currently here about 1.60 pounds/litre), the 300h remains competitive with my Kona EV at public charger rates, both about 8p/km.

It sounds like you mainly want lower fuel costs ahead of looks and performance. Hybrids are perfectly happy sitting garaged like any car, they never have hybrid battery problems until extremely high mileages, so I assume you mean the 12v battery instead. Like much on the internet, there is a lot of nonsense floating around about hybrid 12v batteries. I bought a new IS300h F-Sport last year, following 2 Prius’s, also an EV with some free power over that time, so the hybrids have had plenty of garage days. The Prius’s never had a 12v battery issue, ever. The F-Sport in our current cooler months has the 12v battery voltage down to 12.4V after about 10 days garaged, so I might put a small maintainer on it, but it starts just fine at that level, so just a precaution.. Any time you use your car, the 12v battery gets a topup - hybrids are no different. So daily use (read daily commute) will keep your 12v in good shape. For any car, it is about being driven, not more, but more often/regularly. However, your 6000km/year commuting, for a 5 day week, is only about 24km/15ml a day return, 12km each way with a long break in between. Your car isn’t ever getting fully warmed up over such a short distance, so I’m not surprised you describe your IS250 as a gas-guzzler. A hybrid would improve that, but not to what they are fully capable of. Your commute is short, so your annual fuel bill isn’t enormous. It’s debatable whether it’s worth changing at all. If it were me, I would be looking for a 2nd-hand EV at a good price; for short running (i.e. town use), EV’s can’t be beat for low running costs...

At a rough guess, “p........g myself laughing” ??

As @EvilRacer notes, cars respond to throttle input - what happens depends on the skill of the driver. Summer tyres will slip hitting ice or diesel on the road, but this is rare; you should not get spinning otherwise. EV drive modes don't prevent anything; they each provide the full range of performance. Differences felt are due to different mappings of throttle travel, so in Eco the throttle feels less responsive because you have to push it further down to start with. But if you floor it, you will get max acceleration. Sport mode provides a much more sensitive reaction immediately, but requires an educated foot to gently feed power to the wheels. It's all about practice of the skill required, but anyone can do it...

The annoyances are of your own making. Repeated wheel spin is a breach of your licence - the authorities regard that as aggressive driving without having proper control of the vehicle. If your charge range is consistently much less than the manufacturer specs, your car is trying to tell you that you have a lead foot, that you have an aggressive driving style. The charge range is a prediction for today’s driving based on your recent driving. Don’t expect any better mileage until you ease off the throttle and drive smoothly...

Actually, it is everything to do with outdoor temperatures, and more generally, with the weather. The used hot water is replaced by cold water entering your tank under pressure. The cold water usually is ground reticulated through pipes. Think about what happens to ground temperature during the winter. The tank temperature is initially pulled down by the incoming cold water, much more so in winter. The tank element then has to reheat the water, which takes far longer in winter, and, depending on household usage, may NEVER rise to peak summer temperature. In many jurisdictions, power production is substantially hydro, so network engineers are constantly load balancing the network to avoid draining the lakes too much in dry periods. Hot water reheating causes a huge morning surge in demand, so often lines companies can control and spread the timing of hot water reheating via “ripple control”. Your household power supply may consequently be insufficient over a 24 hour period to fully replenish your tank in mid-winter... ,

In the life of a car's appearance the No. 1 killer is UV - sunlight. No amount of waxing and polishing over years of ownership will prevent paint deterioration if your vehicle isn't kept undercover. If you don't have a garage, then invest in a UV resistant car cover. I regularly check my cars for the birds and bees, poo that is, and use a solvent to clean it off; it is quite acidic. Otherwise, just an occasional detergent wash, rinse, and a careful drying with a quality chamois cloth. I bought 2 Hondas new circa 1990, maintained them as above, and eventually sold both at 24 years. Style-wise, they looked their age, but the paint/panel finish was still gleaming. Despite their age, I got a worthwhile trade-in price for both..

Also in the manual you will find something like the following that you should know: Operation of the air conditioning system in Eco drive mode In Eco drive mode, the air conditioning system is controlled as follows to prioritise fuel efficiency > Engine speed and compressor operation controlled to restrict heating/cooling capacity > Fan speed restricted when automatic mode is selected To improve air conditioning performance, perform the following operations: > Adjust the fan speed > Turn off Eco drive mode Additionally, if your vehicle has seat heating, it is quickly felt, and draws only a modest current...

This is a good read.. https://www.dailycarblog.com/2021/08/britains-least-and-most-reliable-cars-revealed/

The VGate adapters I have (and others) reliably turn off after 30 minutes, never had a problem leaving them connected, in 2 Prius's, Kona EV, and now in the IS, over 8 years. I also have battery monitors (BM12v) on both Kona and IS, no evidence of any drain...

After-market HUDs are minimal functionally, and have fixed layouts. Torque Pro is a bit geeky, but it’s capability is enormous if your school-level maths is up to managing standard equations. TP comes with the Prius Gen3 pid set(below) - not saying the contained pids are all functional with the IS except for the small selection I’ve used, but they are all there for testing... exportedPIDs.csv

Unnecesary, I'm never wrong 😷😇

And TP has a HUD mode, will a pseudo HUD do?

@ColinBarber and @Mincey, so this is using Torque Pro, an Android-only phone app. I bought a large, cheap'ish Samsung A02s with a 6.4" screen, wifi only as I just wanted the display. TP will run on other brands, but Samsung is recommended by TP's developer. Of course, you need an ODB port bluetooth scanner to pair with the phone - lots of cheapy's out there (some work), I have bought 4 VGate units over the last 8 years, all good. See the TP PlayStore listing/notes. There used to be a free TP Lite to check for compatibility, might still be there..

Here in Auckland NZ, I picked up my new IS 300h F-Sport at the end of June, coming from 9 years with first a Prius C, then a Prius PHV. What I was looking for was a better Prius, and my expectations have been fully realised, exceeded in some respects. The new driving experience is completely familiar, a Toyota hybrid through and through, but with class! Also with some surprises - on my first 2 days I drove a 50km (50kph limit) city loop in flowing traffic, then a 100km motorway loop at 90kph (actual) using radar cruise control (100kph limit); these returned economy numbers of 4.2L/100km (67mph) and 4.6L/100km (61mph) respectively. I was blown away by just how efficient this model is, and am really looking forward to our summer to start on the long distance trips I am planning, for which I bought the car. The single limitation for me is the lack of a HUD, but I was confident I could get around that, so the included screenshots show what I have come up with. Toyota appears to have standardised its hybrid models' CPU design, such that access to the Parameter ID's (pids) for one model gives access to the others - I am very familiar with using these for Prius's. The android app here is Torque Pro, and it comes with a set of pids for the Prius Gen3, which appear to be fully applicable to the IS - there are more than 300 pids, and a cursory scan suggests they all produce data. In addition, TP incorporates some universal pids (open source) which manufacturers can choose to use (or not). The pids in the screenshots are a mix, some of which are immediately usable, also a few requiring a little fine tuning to match the numbers on the IS dash. I also created a few "virtual" pids, that only exist in the TP ram cache on the phone while running, such as one to store the fuel price. So here are 2 dashboard screens from my HUD; now my IS 300h F-Sport is perfect!

You might be interested in the latest from my part of the globe, fresh advertising today... https://www.lexus.co.nz/en/motorshow/all-new-nx-world-premiere.html