(Credit: Lexus)
When we first saw the Lexus' new luxury hybrid, it was being revealed at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. Recently we were given an opportunity to preview Lexus' new HS 250h, a vehicle that the automaker is calling the world's first luxury dedicated hybrid. It also calls the HS an economy luxury car, which to us seems a bit of an oxymoron.
As I approached the vehicle, my first thought was, "Oh my, they've Lexus-ified and hybridized a Corolla! This is going to be a disaster." I couldn't have been more wrong.
True, the HS 250h looks like your run of the mill boring Toyota/Lexus econobox, but under the rather plain skin is a rather exceptional vehicle, particularly when it comes to cabin tech.
The floating center console lifts the controls up to be easily reached.
(Credit: Lexus)
The HS 250h's dash is an ergonomic dream. Its floating center console lifts the climate and audio controls up to where they can be accessed without reaching. The flip up navigation screen is moved up to the top of the dash, where it can be viewed out of our periphery without taking our eyes off of the road.
At the bottom of the console, Lexus' new remote touch controller falls naturally into the drivers' hand. A sort of joystick-trackball hybrid, the remote touch controller uses a control stick that is moved with your fingertip to select options from the HS' icon-based interface. Movements are 1:1 with where the pointer is on screen, so there's never any issue with losing cursor. Haptic force feedback notifies the user through touch when an option has been selected, which assists in navigation without taking eyes off of the road for too long.
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