Slucky

Hi All,

Just posting my recent MPG of 49 MPG on my IS F Sport on a recent trip to Inverness, Scotland from London and I am amazed. 
A mix of 55- 75 mph on the road. 
 

15 minutes ago, ColinBarber said:

The IS is lighter, although not that much. The GS figure you have is wrong because that is the kerb weight, the gross is 2,265 Kg.

My bad, yes that is correct 2,235 – 2,265 kg depending on model

From my understanding the GS was built with lighter aluminium components across its platform, which would reduce the weight.

Do notice the weight on my IS 300H, and sometimes hear the engine having to work hard to get to a decent speed on the motorway.

My bad for not going into the details.

The 2AR-FXE engine is based on the 2AR-FE. The key difference between the 2AR-FXE and 2AR-FSE engines was that the latter had direct fuel injection in addition to conventional port injection.

NX 300H and the ES 300H both use the 2AR-FXE Engine

IS 300H and the GS 300H both use the 2AR-FSE Engine

Not saying the 2AR-FXE Engine is bad, the efficiency of the combined motors is increased.

The UX on the other hand uses the M20A-FXS Engine also used on Toyota Corolla Hybrid and C-HR Hybrid 

Anyone looking to know the difference between all Lexus models that have the 2.5 Litre engine, below is official figures.

Included the UX 250H in the list, even though its a 2.0 litre, I think its holds its own ground among the 2.5 litre engines, plus it has a better hybrid system.

If you can, a F-sport with all the toys and ML audio is what I got.

One look was all I needed to purchase mine, still get lots of looks when I cruise around town. Its Unique.

If it helps, there are a few good ones on Ali express, for both, the more pricy ones are better in quality as the cheap ones are not worth it.

In terms of specs and difference between the IS and NX, official figures from Lexus

Same engine different output.

The UX has the 2 litre engine but more efficient hybrid system.

Welcome to the IS section and hope you enjoy and understand your new purchase. 

Coming from a IS Fsport. I find the cabin quite snug and dashboard is laid out well with controls in reach. Mind you, It only grew on me after a few test runs. 

Not worth getting DAB radio. Had my old IS 250 with no DAB, invested many DAB radios, modules etc. The best DAB reception I had was getting an external magnetic antenna which was better than the windscreen antenna, which are absolutely useless. 
Best solution use your phone and connect via aux. And use radio apps. 

Thank you all for your views and comments of this topic, it has been most engaging.

@Linas.P@Steve@Malc@Herbie@royoftherovers@matt8@Zotto

To conclude:

Cost has always been a drag on fuel cells. The refuelling infrastructure, safety issues and production, even if these issues were all suddenly ironed out, hydrogen lost to lithium ion a long time ago as an automotive fuel.

Despite years of promise and a few attempts at production models, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles haven’t managed to capture the imagination of car buyers.

The amount that has been committed to the lithium ion supply chain, excluding charging infrastructure, is around $600 billion. Hydrogen is $40bn max (analyst figures).
It’s a completely different scale. In many respects, lithium ion is too big to fail over the next 10- to 15-year period.

Fuel cell vehicles have a huge potential, but not for the next two decades, by then the EV technology would have a huge advancement.

Toyota is convinced hydrogen has a place in the future of cars, However, the lack of infrastructure, support, demand to support fuel cell vehicles remains a monumental challenge. How long they will keep this project going, remains to be seen. The world is changing at a ever growing pace, and innovation needs to keep up the pace, otherwise it loses to newer technology.

From where I see it.

In the end, Hydrogen vehicles might be the technology of the future, but future of hydrogen would benefit commercial fleets more.

In cold weather, mine looks like it’s smoking cohiba’s from the rear 😄

The F Sport models benefit from adjustments to the front and rear suspension and the electric power steering to enhance handling without compromising ride quality. 
I own an F Sport, and find the ride quality is fine. Bought mine as I like the front look and the party trick as @Linas.P mentioned, is something else. 

Spitfire

18 minutes ago, matt8 said:

I found this video - Model S vs. Mirai - quite interesting and fairly balanced. I'd have expected the Toyota to get a bashing because it's not given the hype a Tesla gets. In this case, not so. I'd give hydrogen a go if I had the means to fill up nearby.

Thanks for the video link Matt. 

This is a good comparison from "Captain Slow" between the two technologies. 

Personally hydrogen vehicles remind me of LPG vehicles. 

7 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

This is just kind of sad that as always instead of "better" technology we have chosen the one which was marketed better and more readily available. Yet it could still come back to bite us in the *** when few decades ago we will realise that we made irreversible damage by digging all lithium up.

Unfortunately we live in a society driven by profits and the now generation. While the world and environment we live in, suffer. 

23 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

That is true, but you see - we already waste ~50% of electricity we produce. This is because electricity cannot be stored. However, it is not too difficult to electrolize the water into hydrogen at the power station and store it. This is especially true with nuclear power.

The renewable energy itself has issue and that is something I have already touched on. But that said it is difficult to find respectable source which is not afraid of pointing those issues out.

So there seems to be more cons in trying to implement hydrogen cars than pros.

The fuel source is a big issue, the infrastructure is a big question mark on who is going to build it, certainly not Toyota. 

The ROI they have invested in hydrogen will be less than they hoped for.

This is like the high definition disk war between the Blu-ray and HD DVD, only this time it's Electric vs Hydrogen.

This article here from Forbes addresses many points mentioned on this thread.

Namely the big elephant in the room: the fuel source itself. 

To summarize, if you think there aren’t enough charging points for BEVs, try refueling a hydrogen car – particularly in the UK, where there are just 10 refueling spots in the entire country. Whereas Tesla also invested in the infrastructure to support its new energy cars, Toyota is leaving this side to somebody else, which is creating a real chicken-and-egg situation. Which company is going to install hydrogen stations with no cars? And who is going to buy a new Mirai with nowhere to refuel it?

Hydrogen is also very costly, and even though Toyota expects prices to halve in a few years, that would still make fuel cell vehicles (FCEVs) more expensive to run than BEVs. Most hydrogen is still made from fossil fuels (“blue” or “grey” hydrogen), and even with carbon capture that means FCEVs fueled from this supply aren’t as green as a BEV powered by renewables. It is possible to make hydrogen by electrolyzing water. But the plants to do this are much more expensive than a charge point, and the electrolysis process is much less efficient – around three times less than a BEV. It’s not very green to waste two thirds of the supplied energy.

22 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

I guess few reasons... One is that they actually working on BEVs now, if I am not mistaken they planning 8 Toyota EVs and 2 Lexus EVs (rumour has it one saloon) by 2022. And two - domestic market. You see in Japan and I assume Korea (both nations without huge oil reserves), and both nations where auto manufacturers have a lot of influence is easier to implement hydrogen infrastructure. On to of that Japan is not even nuclear now, so it is much harder for them to justify increasing electricity consumption to satisfy BEV needs. 

Lexus quietly published a video highlighting the electric and hybrid technologies it's developing for the next year/s on YouTube - here 

And the footage reveals a camouflaged vehicle on their test track.

That is a great article John. 

Lithium mining is causing as much damage to the environment as other fossil fuels, but because they are helping to drive down emissions, the mining companies have EU environmental policy on their side.

40 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

Finally, why Toyota is not embracing BEV - for one, because it is fundamentally worse technology and secondly because they have wasted a lot of money on HCEV and finally because they are realistically behind the competition now as they focused on HCEV which kind of failed.

So knowing that Fuel Cell technology was going to take longer to adopt, why are they still pushing these new vehicles in the market and not concentrating on EV tech.
I know they used the UX 300e as a test vehicle, as its not a proper EV platform. And the new EV platform they announced is using a dual drive system. 

Thanks for the detailed view Linas.

I do understand that FCEV tech is much more eco friendly and as the hydrogen industry grows and production ramps up, FCEV cost will continue to lower.

Only two manufactures are currently heavily invested in FCEV, one being Toyota and the other Hyundai. 

But as you mentioned, its not just the cars, but the whole infrastructure that needs to be taken into account.

The current Mirai specs are not Tesla standards either.

Maximum power output (DIN hp) 154
Maximum power output (kW) 113
Maximum torque (Nm) 335

Maximum speed (mph) 111
0 – 62 mph (secs) 9.6
Cruising range (miles)* up to 342

Number of Hydrogen tanks 2
Fuel tank capacity (litres) 122.4 (front 60.0 / rear 62.4)

So few questions and answers by Toyota:

Q HOW DO I REFUEL A FUEL CELL CAR?
A You can refuel in approximately three to five minutes at a hydrogen station using a pump – much like a petrol station pump – with no odour or risk of spillage.

Q HOW MUCH WILL IT COST TO FILL A FUEL CELL CAR’S TANK?
A. Today the cost is comparable to that of filling a petrol car’s tank. 

Q WHERE CAN I REFUEL?
A Dedicated fuel stations are being built in conjunction with the vehicle roll-out in a combination of standalone and forecourt sites. The stations are being clustered to ensure customers have a good back-up and easy regional access suiting the 300- mile range. The first areas covered are:
London (5 stations), Swindon, Sheffield and Aberdeen. The first Shell station opened at Cobham services with 2 more planned later in 2017.

Having first heard about Toyota looking into hydrogen powered cars, I thought this technology was not viable, due to the safety and the infrastructure. 

I understand they have put a lot of money behind fuel cell technology and the CEO even laughed at Tesla few years ago.

Now they have just launched a second generation Mirai hydrogen fuel cell car. Links here and here.

The Mirai is on the UK Site - here

Why are they not embracing the EV tech as much as the other car manufacturers. 

This I cannot understand, love to hear your comments.