Photo: Lexus
Having made its debut in 500 form at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show, the next step for the fifth-generation Lexus LS is to go hybrid. That will happen with the 500h variant, which is slated to go official this March at the 87th edition of the most affluent car show of them all.
Geneva is the venue where Lexus will present the LS 500h in the flesh. Only one photograph of the thing will have to make do until then, along with a photo of the interior revealing a button labeled “EV Mode.” Toyota’s luxury arm hasn’t detailed what makes the LS 500h tick, albeit the specifications are out there in plain sight.
Here’s a question for you: what other Lexus model shares the GA-L platform with the LS? The LC, of course. Bearing in mind the LC 500h employs a 3.5-liter V6, an electric motor, and a small lithium-ion battery, the LS 500h is entitled to borrow these elements from its two-door counterpart. In U.S.-spec guise, the LC 500h develops a total system output of 354 horsepower. 295 hp are attributed to the ICE, while the remaining 59 hp come from the electric motor.
The ensemble that rounds off Lexus’ Multi Stage Hybrid System is a four-speed auto and a continuously variable transmission. Lexus explains that the two trannies coexist in the same package, the e-CVT handling the efficient part of the business and the automatic can amplify the go-faster credibility of the hybrid system. In the LC 500h, the setup allows for electric-only driving speeds of 87 mph.
If you’re still with me, I’d like to point out that the hybrid powertrain actually consists of two electric motors. The first of the lot acts as a starter, generator, and engine speed control, whereas the other electric motor handles propulsion in electric-only mode and brake regeneration. Lexus sure likes to do things its own way, ain’t it so?
While we wait for Lexus to confirm our hunch regarding the inner workings of the powertrain, it should be noted that the 2018 Lexus LS 500h has some competition to face. In the red corner we have the Mercedes-Benz S550e Plug-In Hybrid, and in the blue corner we have the BMW 740e iPerformance in rear- and all-wheel-drive guises. The Lexus and the Merc, however, are RWD-only affairs.
Here’s a question for you: what other Lexus model shares the GA-L platform with the LS? The LC, of course. Bearing in mind the LC 500h employs a 3.5-liter V6, an electric motor, and a small lithium-ion battery, the LS 500h is entitled to borrow these elements from its two-door counterpart. In U.S.-spec guise, the LC 500h develops a total system output of 354 horsepower. 295 hp are attributed to the ICE, while the remaining 59 hp come from the electric motor.
The ensemble that rounds off Lexus’ Multi Stage Hybrid System is a four-speed auto and a continuously variable transmission. Lexus explains that the two trannies coexist in the same package, the e-CVT handling the efficient part of the business and the automatic can amplify the go-faster credibility of the hybrid system. In the LC 500h, the setup allows for electric-only driving speeds of 87 mph.
If you’re still with me, I’d like to point out that the hybrid powertrain actually consists of two electric motors. The first of the lot acts as a starter, generator, and engine speed control, whereas the other electric motor handles propulsion in electric-only mode and brake regeneration. Lexus sure likes to do things its own way, ain’t it so?
While we wait for Lexus to confirm our hunch regarding the inner workings of the powertrain, it should be noted that the 2018 Lexus LS 500h has some competition to face. In the red corner we have the Mercedes-Benz S550e Plug-In Hybrid, and in the blue corner we have the BMW 740e iPerformance in rear- and all-wheel-drive guises. The Lexus and the Merc, however, are RWD-only affairs.
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