Not Completely Sold on the Hybrid

I was fortunate enough to be given the new Lexus RX400h as a loaner car while our car was being worked on. It is a SWEEEEEEEEEEEET vehicle. I always knew the Lexus SUV was really nice and my husband and I were actually just talking about what our next SUV should be - so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to "test drive" the Lexus SUV since the service consultant asked what kind of loaner I wanted.

I really wasn't expecting a brand new, fully loaded hybrid SUV - but I'm not complaining. Two years ago, we toyed with the idea of getting a hybrid car - but because of the size, we were not sold (too small). So this was a great time for me to figure out if I could be "green."

The coolest thing about the hybrid is that they provide graphics to let you know when you're using battery/cell power and when you're using gas/engine power. Usually when you're coasting, going down a ramp, snailing through traffic (aka - not using your gas pedal), you're using battery power. Accelerating or keeping your foot on the gas will display a little engine graphic. It's really quite cool. Also quite cool, and a bit unnerving (at first) is when you're at a stop light or stuck in traffic, the car will idle, like all other cars, but then it seems like the car powers down. The radio is still on, the air is still blowing...but you don't feel like the car is "on" - and it's really not - it's conserving energy. But once you need to get going, it's almost like starting a golf cart - a little slow, but once you start moving, it moves.

We started out with a little under a half a tank of gas. I would say in the two days that we've had the vehicle, I drove it 80-ish miles and the gas is almost at 'E.' For a hybrid (even an SUV hybrid), I would think that it would conserve more gas than that....so I'm a little disappointed....not in the car itself - I am about 90% sold on the Lexus SUV - but in the hybrid version....

Maybe I just don't know how to be green.