Automakers are starting to turn away from the notion of the performance hybrid, the term coined to market gas-electric vehicles based on extra pep instead of fuel thriftiness.
Instead of just emphasizing performance, Toyota's luxury Lexus division plans to hawk its high-end hybrid vehicles as being better for the environment because they pollute less than rival brands.
"That was always supposed to be part of the message, but it just hasn't come through," says Mark Templin, the division's new general manager. "It legitimizes what we have been doing."
Each of three Lexus hybrids only achieves one or two more miles per gallon than comparable non-hybrid versions. The $104,000 Lexus LS 600h L super-luxury sedan gets 21 m.p.g. in combined city/highway driving, the $41,180 RX 400h SUV achieves 25 m.p.g., and the $54,900 GS 450h sedan merits 23 m.p.g.
They are listed as being cleaner than comparable non-hybrid rivals from other luxury automakers by the Air Resources Board of California, whose regulations are tighter than federal standards and emulated in a few other states.