Green Speed Demons: Fastest Hybrids On Sale Now
- by JIM GORZELANY, ForbesAutos.com
Most hybrids rely on small, underpowered gasoline engines paired with electric motors — great for reducing fuel consumption; not so great when it comes to acceleration. A new generation of sporty hybrids is in the works and ought to give the segment an image makeover after coming to market. But those who require a vehicle with gutsy acceleration need not put off buying a hybrid until then: Some models already on sale get better-than-average gas mileage without being slowpokes.
The fastest hybrids on the market, highlighted in the accompanying slideshow, are rolling compromises. Measured against non-hybrid competitors, they’re not necessarily the speediest. And measured against all hybrids, they’re not the most fuel efficient. But for drivers who want a vehicle that balances power with fuel efficiency, they’re worth considering.
The five-passenger Lexus GS 450h — which tops our ranking of the most powerful hybrids available — is as quick as the much smaller and lighter Porsche 911.
General Motor’s new full-size SUVs, including the Cadillac Escalade Hybrid, Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid and GMC Yukon Hybrid, also made the list. They offer plenty of pep on the pavement and unprecedented towing capability for hybrids.
In Pictures: Fastest Hybrids on Sale Now
One drawback to all hybrids is that they cost more than their conventional counterparts. The models on our list are $2,780 to $32,000 more than comparable non-hybrid models from the same manufacturer.
The extra expense is for the added technology. Conventional vehicles have only a gasoline engine. Hybrids have the gasoline engine along with one or more electric motors connected to a battery pack that automatically recharges itself.
But with rising gas prices, even the least fuel-efficient hybrids with the steepest premiums over comparable conventional models have become more appealing — especially for those who don’t want to be sluggards on the road for the sake of better fuel economy.
Take for example the fastest hybrid currently on the market based on 0-100 km/h acceleration time: the $71,100 Lexus GS 450h. An electric motor mated to its V6 engine increases fuel efficiency while actually adding power.
With a 0-100 km/h time of 5.2 seconds, the GS 450h is speedy enough to be a match for the Porsche 911. Yet it manages class-leading fuel economy for a luxury sedan of its size: 10.6 L/100km in the city, 9.4 L/100km on the highway.
Hybrids tend to be most efficient at slower speeds, where their electric motors can do most of the work to propel the vehicle.
But the hybrid GS 450h is half a second quicker from 0 to 100 km/h than its non-hybrid V8-powered twin, the GS 460, in addition to being 15 percent more fuel efficient in combined city/highway driving.
Typical hybrids
When most people think of a hybrid vehicle, a super-high-mileage model like the Toyota Prius usually comes to mind. Currently the top-selling hybrid in the United States by a wide margin, the Prius is nonetheless underpowered even by economy car standards, a sacrifice necessary to help achieve its lofty 5.1 L/100km.
Sluggish as it is, the Prius would be even less zippy without its electric motor, which boosts the car’s puny 76-horsepower gasoline engine up to the equivalent of 110 horsepower.
So how can the same mechanical wizardry used to create the most fuel-efficient vehicles on the market also augment acceleration and performance? According to Marc Ross, a professor of physics at the University of Michigan, drivers need look no farther than the electric power source, which supplies lots of low-speed power (called torque) to augment the gasoline engine.
“That is probably the technology’s most important application,” Ross says.
GM is another manufacturer putting hybrid technology to good use in powerhouse vehicles. The Cadillac Escalade Hybrid, Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid and GMC Yukon Hybrid incorporates electric motors into an ingenious transmission that helps boost the fuel economy of the vehicles’ robust V8.
The 8.3 second 0-100 km/h time for these heavy, seven-passenger vehicles isn’t too shabby.
But what’s more impressive is the towing capability their hybrid powertrains offer — 6,200 pounds (over 2,800 kg).
Just as Lexus uses hybrid technology to boost performance in its GS 450h sport sedan, GM uses it to preserve the rugged towing, hauling and off-road capabilities its full-size SUVs are known for, while improving fuel economy by up to 31 to 50 percent in combined city/highway driving over the conventional models.
The Cadillac Escalade, Chevy Tahoe and GMC Hybrids get an estimated 11.2 L/100km city/10.7 L/100km highway with two-wheel drive and 11.8 L/100km city and highway with optional four-wheel drive.
As with all hybrids, GM’s hybrid SUVs cost more than their conventional counterparts depending on equipment level.
Fuel Efficiency as an Afterthought
Drivers can expect to see more high-performance hybrids on the market in coming years. On tap for 2009 and beyond are hybrid versions of Porsche’s Cayenne and yet-to-debut Panamera ultra-premium sport sedan.
BMW will also put out a hybrid version of its new X6 crossover utility vehicle, while Mercedes-Benz will incorporate a hybrid system in its top-of-the-line S-Class sedan.
Still, fuel efficiency is not necessarily a major selling point for such expensive luxury vehicles.
Hybrids like the $125,400 LS 600h L, which is the second-fastest hybrid currently on the market, must contend with the fact that getting respectable fuel economy is way down on the list of considerations for its buyers.
“The LS 600h L is the only hybrid in the over-$100,000 prestige segment and is shopped against V12-powered models from BMW and Mercedes,” says Lexus spokesperson Greg Thome. “These buyers value innovation, comfort and roominess, performance, style, safety, and exclusivity over fuel economy.”
The LS 600h L goes from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.5 seconds and gets 11.8 L/100km city/10.7 L/100km highway. The power and performance of its V8 engine coupled with an electric motor is in league with some of the largest conventional engines on the planet, such as the V12 engines that power the BMW 760Li and Mercedes-Benz S600.
Compared to the Lexus LS hybrid, the BMW and Mercedes sedans not only get worse fuel economy — 21.4 L/100km city/13.8 L/100km highway and 18.1 L/100km city/11.8 L/100km highway, respectively — they also cost more. The sticker price on the BMW 760Li is $21,900 higher than the Lexus LS 600h L, and the Mercedes S600 costs $30,900 more.
As impressive as the capabilities of the LS 600h L and GS 450h hybrid luxury sedans are, they occupy a narrow segment of the market. Lexus’ sales targets for these two hybrids are roughly 2,000 units per year for each model.
Kevin Riddell, manager of automotive powertrain forecasting at J.D. Power and Associates, said Lexus buyers are more interested in exclusivity than gas mileage.
“Part of Lexus’ prestige is its ability to cater to those wanting a crème-de-la-crème hybrid vehicle,” Riddell says. “It’s not likely that the appeal of saving a few miles per gallon is the reason affluent buyers are, say, spending more than $30,000 to purchase a hybrid LS instead of the conventionally powered version.”
But things are different in the broader segment of the market, which has yet to fully embrace the concept of a “hybrid hot rod.”
“Most hybrid buyers tend to look at fuel economy, environmental impact and advanced technology as the most important factors in their purchase,” Riddell says. For the hybrid buyers, “attributes like performance are not rated as high as they are with the average new-car buyer.”
Doing the Math
Our ranking illustrates that those who want to buy a powerful hybrid today are not out of luck.
But you might wonder whether such a hybrid offers any real value besides the environmental benefit of improved gas mileage.
Let’s analyze how our top-ranking Lexus GS 450h stacks up to the competition on power, sticker price and fuel savings.
The advantage of the hybrid powertrain comes into sharp relief when compared to Lexus’ own conventional GS sedans. The GS 450h hybrid is speedier and more fuel efficient than its non-hybrid V8-powered twin, the GS 460.
So the Lexus GS 450h hybrid will save you money on gas and still outperform the conventional GS sedans.
But this hybrid beats competing non-hybrid models from other manufacturers on both price and power.
It costs $11,700 less than the competing BMW 550i and $14,200 less than the Mercedes-Benz E550.
Both of those cars have conventional V8 engines that are larger and less efficient than the GS 450h’s hybrid powertrain. And compared to the hybrid, they are actually slower to hit 100 km/h by about 0.2 seconds.
Of course, a major selling point of any hybrid is that higher fuel efficiency translates into savings at the gas pump.
Fastest Hybrids on Sale Now
We’ve rated the fastest hybrids currently on sale based on 0-100 km/h acceleration times provided by the respective automakers. These represent full-throttle, flat-out acceleration times that most motorists will never achieve during regular driving, but they are the industry’s widely accepted benchmarks of speed.
Aggressive driving can reduce a conventional vehicle’s gas mileage by as much as 33 percent at highway speeds and by 5 percent in the city, according to Cathy Milbourn, a spokesperson with the EPA. The losses in gas mileage could be higher for hybrid vehicles, particularly in city driving. That’s because many hybrids are designed to run in their most efficient all-electric mode at lower speeds and under low to mild acceleration.
The bottom line is that we include 0-100 km/h acceleration times not as a goal drivers should strive for, but as a way to compare the performance of hybrid vehicles relative to each other and to conventional vehicles.
In Pictures: Fastest Hybrids on Sale Now
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