Driving the 2013 Lexus ES 300h

There have been five generations of the ES sedan since its introduction in 1989, and more than one million remain on the world’s roads. But the model never was available with a hybrid powertrain until this, the ES 300h, was introduced at the New York auto show in April.

Lexus dealers will begin taking delivery of the ES 300h in August.

With an E.P.A.-certified combined fuel economy rating of 40 miles per gallon and a seamlessly delivered 200 horsepower from its four-cylinder Atkinson cycle engine, the sedan could be fairly read as a have-cake-and-eat-it-too proposition. Pricing, which won’t be released until closer to the sale date, may be the most important determinant of the car’s adoption by customers. The nonhybrid ES has moved further out of the entry-level luxury segment with each redesign. But at a drive event for the news media held in this affluent tristate suburb on Tuesday, Brian A. Smith, vice president of marketing for Lexus, said the premium that would be levied on the buyers of the hybrid, versus the nonhybrid ES 350, would be “the lowest in our lineup.”

The styling differences between the ES 350 and the hybrid are minor; a discreet rear spoiler and hidden exhaust pipes are among the few telltale signs of the hybrid. Both cars have a 0.27 coefficient of drag, approaching the territory of the Toyota Prius, the volume-leading hybrid for Toyota, the parent of Lexus. The ES has a thrusting prow with deeply recessed fog lights and, in between, the two-tiered “spindle grille” that Lexus committed to with redesigns of the ES as well as the GS sports sedan.

The bolder elements of the ES’s front end do not carry over so well to the interior, where the spindle is echoed as a frame around audio and climate controls. The look is squared off and angular, a misplaced nod to the 1980s, rather than aggressive or elegant. That said, optional bamboo wood accents, aligned with the sustainable image projected by the hybrid, are a nice touch, especially for a sedan certified by California as a super-ultra-low-emissions vehicle.

 

Passengers front and rear are well accommodated, but hybrid customers sacrifice roughly three cubic feet of trunk space to the car’s 1.6-kilowatt-hour nickel-metal-hydride battery pack.

On the suburban roads and parkways where I drove the ES 300h, the car was responsive, especially when using the the dash-mounted selector to dial in the more robust throttle and steering response of the Sport mode. That selection also switches the hybrid power monitor to a tachometer. Eco mode emphasizes fuel economy, but response was still respectable, while E.V. mode permits electric-only runs over a maximum distance of 1.5 miles, provided the driver doesn’t exceed 25 m.p.h.

Steering felt nicely weighted, and though the ES 350 entered a corner with a touch more alacrity than the hybrid, the ES 300h did not feel noticeably heavier. Toyota says the hybrid system adds only 130 pounds to the ES’s curb weight.

Of electronics that may come to irk some drivers, I’d add the highly sensitive lane-departure alert system, which emits a rather insistent beep. Some drivers may want to deactivate it, which is possible, but it could be a lifesaver for drivers prone to drowsiness behind the wheel. There’s also a blind-spot monitor and a rear-cross traffic alert.

The success of the ES 300h is not a foregone conclusion. Lexus’s best-se

lling hybrid is the RX crossover, priced from $46,785. At the lower end is the CT200h at $29,995. The HS 250h, based on the Japanese-market Sai (sold as the Avensis in other markets), was a slow seller and was discontinued for the 2013 model year. The ES 300h could be saddled with the accusation that it’s a Toyota Camry Hybrid in fancier dress, but given its thoughtful and surprisingly stylish execution, at least the ES 300h shouldn’t suffer the ignominious fate of the HS 250h.

Courtesy of The New York Times