To make the IS saloon fit Lexus’s strategic vision, a hybrid version of that car would likely have a four-cylinder petrol engine to give the performance of a V6 with the economy of a four-cylinder.
“But the question is how we develop a four-cylinder hybrid,” says Lexus.
The Toyota Prius uses a four-cylinder engine, but of only 1.5-litre capacity and transversely-mounted.
An IS hybrid would need an engine of around two litres capacity and the electrical hardware and batteries be packaged around an in-line engine and rear-drive gearbox and axle.
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