But as global awareness for greener motoring rises, the time is ripe for South African motorists to adopt Lexus Hybrid Drive with?in the first range of performance hybrids available locally.

Common perception is that hybrid technology exists solely to tackle environmental considerations, intent on dulling the senses the motor car has come to represent for passionate motorists.

But if superchargers and turbochargers can be bolted to internal combustion engines to deliver enhanced performance results, why not a powerful electric motor that has enormous torque potential?

Lexus Hybrid Drive has developed on Toyota Motor Corporation’s Hybrid Synergy Drive technology to deliver a very real and completely tangible performance drive?train.

The combination of a V6 petrol engine and a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (an electric motor) through a sophisticated Constantly Variable Transmission (CVT) results in impressive driving performance.

The result is a powertrain that delivers first and foremost impressive performance, offering a very real and exciting alternative to more traditional approaches to power.

But in the process, both fuel consumption and emissions are lowered, improving running costs, while benefiting the environment.

Lexus Hybrid Drive is a so-called full hybrid, making use of all six technologies that define a hybrid vehicle.

The electric motor is a compact permanent magnet type, which allows for maximum torque to be reached instantly while making virtually no sound.

The water and oil cooled AC synchronous motor adds substantial torque (available from zero rpm) and power to the petrol engine at full throttle, significantly improving performance.

The electric motor also functions as a second generator by capturing kinetic energy created by the sheer momentum of the vehicle in motion when not using power (for example, during braking) to recharge the batteries and allow the technology to be self-sustaining.

The 650V motor is managed by a Power Control Unit.

The electric motor and V6 engine are mated together and controlled through a sophisticated Electronically Controlled Continuously Variable Transmission (E-CVT).

Said to be the brain of Lexus Hybrid Drive, the Power Control Unit (PCU) allocates the two power resources available to either of the Lexus performance hybrids to the various components of Lexus Hybrid Drive.

The vehicles start in electric mode, but as the car’s speed and torque increases, the PCU automatically switches the V6 petrol engine on to supplement power. When the car reduces speed for inner-city traffic, or comes to a halt, the PCU switches the petrol engine off again so that no fuel is burned and no carbon emissions created.