The Lexus RX Hybrid car was first introduced in January 2004 at the North American International Auto show. This car, Lexus RX 400h became the first luxury hybrid. In November 2008, Lexus launched an absolute redesign of this hybrid crossover, the second generation Lexus RX 450h at the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show. RX 450h was programmed to go on sale in various continents of North America, Asia, Europe and other markets in 2009 as a 2010 model.
The new 2010 Lexus RX 450h hybrid will start at $ 41,660 for the front-wheel drive version and $ 43,250 for all wheel drive in addition to $ 875 for destination charges. This holds for a minor decrease in price than the previous model RX 400h.
This new RX hybrid will have a modernised hybrid system with 3.5 litres, V6 Atkinson-cycle engine producing 295 hp, which accounts for 27 hp more than the currently outgoing version. In this car, the fuel economy has also been improved with Toyota claiming a 16-20% increase. EPA estimates are recorded to be 32 mpg city, 28 mpg highway, 30 mpg combined for FWD version and 30/28/29 for the AWD.
Two more systems are also added to Lexus RX 450h’s Hybrid Drive: an exhaust-heat recovery system in order to reduce the engine warm up periods by optimising engine start- stop times and a cooled exhaust gas recirculation system to reduce fuel-pumping loss. It has a wheelbase of 107.9 inches, is 187.8 inches long, 74.2 inches wide and has a height of 66.5 inches.
This hybrid car has a distinctive framework with an updated front look, LED headlights, and different wheels. The Lexus 450h hybrid car’s LED headlamps are similar to those of LS 600h. The new RX 450h has many high-tech gadgets, including a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) navigation system, featuring a completely new “Remote Touch” controller.
This remote touch is placed on the centre console, and is comparable to a computer mouse. While RX will feature voice recognition as typical of these hybrid cars, the new navigation system will also include a new informal language voice-recognition system that will acknowledge conversational commands. XM NavTraffic also joins standard XM satellite-radio capability and new NavWeather features.
This new RX will also be offering a wide-angled side view monitor. It has a camera located under the passenger side-view mirror. The driver can therefore easily check the otherwise hard to view areas on the passenger side of the vehicle by just selecting a button on the navigation screen or the steering wheel and view the camera image on the navigation screen.
The RX 450h is equipped with 10 standard air bags for safety, which include front knee, front side seat mounted, rear-side, knee-air bags and side curtain. Among other safety features, this car has a standard stability control, ABS traction control and hill assist, which helps in preventing the vehicle from rolling back on an incline. Along with these, adaptive front lighting, dynamic cruise control and pre-collision system are also available.
