Click the Lexus LS600h for a high res gallery

It must be nice to be Sir Paul McCartney. Lexus offered to give the über-famous Beatles front-man a brand new car. He settled on an LS600H, the hybrid flagship of the Lexus brand. According to a source familiar with the matter, Paul "ordered the hybrid limo because it helps to reduce emissions." Those emissions took a giant leap forward before Sir Paul even got behind the wheel, as the vehicle was delivered by plane. The estimated carbon footprint of the trip comes to 38,050kg, which, for perspective, is ten times what it would have been if the Lexus had been delivered by boat. Put another way, according to Co2balance.com Director Mike Rigby, "That is the equivalent of driving the car around the world six times." Even the air freight shipping company was surprised, with a spokesman quoted as saying, "Obviously we were happy for the business but everyone was shocked. The carbon footprint must be enormous." McCartney is reportedly rather unhappy about the chosen method for delivery. Thanks for the tip, Pat!

[Source: New Car Net, The Telegraph]

Click the Lexus LS600h for a high res gallery

We don't often get the chance to be chauffeured around in the backs of super-luxurious cars. Sure, we occasionally have ridden around in the belly of a limo for weddings and what not, but those rentals are nothing like the real thing. According to The Chauffeur magazine, the best £50,000 to £100,000 car to be driven in is a hybrid, the Lexus LS 600h L to be exact. Powered by a hybridized V8 engine, the long-wheelbase Lexus flagship's rear seat is surely a nice place to sit back and relax, but one of the reasons the vehicle was chosen has to do with its economy... fuel economy that is. Sure, the reclining rear seats with shiatsu massage may have had something to do with the choice, but it's the fuel economy that really seals the deal in Lexus' favor, right? Anyone?

Be sure to check out our review of the extended-length Lexus hybrid. The full press release from Lexus is after the break.

In a Lexus LS 600h, going on sale at the beginning of October, there is a lot of technology in the hybrid powertrain under the hood. But, a new standard feature, the Pre-Crash Safety (PCS) system, will up the ante by figuring out if the driver is paying attention, calculating if a crash is about to occur, and then do something about it.

in the images above you can get an idea what the system does. The little box on top of the steering wheel can see your face, and it judges if you're looking at the road ahead or not. If you're not, it buzzes at you. Cameras on the outside of the car can guess when an accident is about to happen, and if so, the headrest moves forward to help stop whiplash. PCS will soon be standard in the LS 600h, the LS 600h L and the LS 460.

You can read Lexus' comforting explanation of the system after the jump.

[Source: Lexus]

Lexus wants to add to their US sales total by over 100,000 units a year and they are planning to trade on the environmental reputation they built with the Prius to do it. The new tag-line Lexus just introduced is "Gives more to the driver, takes less from the world," but the applications of hybrid technology in the Lexus lineup are clearly geared more toward improving performance than making much impact on efficiency.

Lexus already got reprimanded by the British advertising watchdog OFCOM for emphasizing the environmental friendliness of the RX400h in spite of the fact that it has CO2 emissions well above the average for European cars. Fortunately for Lexus the US government is unlikely to do anything about misleading advertising; after all why start now? One possible reason for Toyota to use Lexus to sell hybrids is that they can command a much higher price and likely generate enough profit to offset the loss they are probably taking on Prius and Camry hybrid sales.

[Source: Detroit News]

Sure, it costs a pretty penny, but how does the Lexus LS 600h ride? That's the question that Nihon Car recently had the chance to answer, when they spent a week with the world's most expensive production hybrid car. Nihon Car is not focused on the greener side of things, and their mission was to figure out "how is it to drive such a gigantic machine on a daily basis?"

The short answer, they say, is that this is a gentle beast to drive. It's smooth and powerful, and while not the greenest thing on the planet it certainly is better than competitors in its class. It's also a very safe ride and all of the technology packed onto the four wheels means you're better off just trusting the car as you move comfortably from here to there.

For the long answer, read the whole thing.

[Source: Nihon Car]

One of our eagle-eyed readers happened to accidentally record an automotive program recently that included an interview with Lexus PR Manager Bill Ussery. Ussery gives the interviewer the full rundown on the Lexus RX400h hybrid crossover, explaining that there is no need to plug it in since it generates it's own electricity. This of course will be a disappointment to many of our readers. You can watch the video after the jump.

[Source: Veoh, thanks to John for the tip]

Longtime Toyota supplier Denso has developed some new components for the updated hybrid drive system on the Lexus LS600h. The new power control unit (PCU) and battery cooling system are designed to meet the higher performance demands of the $100,000+ luxury and sedan and maintain the serene cabin environment that LS has always been known for. If you've ever driven an LS you'll know it's like sitting in a living room. A very quiet living room. It's definitely not a driver's car since the driver is completely isolated from the environment.

If you check most hybrid vehicles you'll almost always find an extra air intake somewhere in the cabin for pulling in air to cool the battery. To reduce the interior noise level on the LS Denso has devised a system to use the rear seat air conditioning system to provide chilled air to cool the battery so that less airflow is required from the cabin. Oh, by the way did you know The LS has a separate air condition system for the rear seats? Denso has also developed a new power control unit that bumps the battery voltage from the standard 288V up to 650V. Presumably this allows for more of a power boost from the hybrid system on the LS600.

[Source: Denso]