Hello all, In Japan, there was a Toyota press conference about Harrier Hybrid(Lexus RX400h) and Kluger Hybrid(Highlander Hybrid) on March 22. The video message from Mr. Cho Toyota President is available at... http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/tech/harrier_hy...sege/index.html (added comments) If you are familiar with Japanese language, please visit following tech site... http://www.toyota.co.jp/jp/tech/new_cars/h...harrier_hybrid/ http://toyota.jp/hv/entrance.html?intohsd....toyotajp.kluger http://toyota.jp/toyopet/sp/harrierhybrid/movie.html Enjoy, Ken@Japan
I love the "twin energy" graphic. Interesting that they noted that the Lexus GS (the one with the same power button as the Prius) will be coming out as a hybrid. The .kluger link to Toyota Hybrid city twin towers is graphically cool, not too hard to understand what's going on even though the language is Japanese.
Looks like the NiMH battery in the Highlander will be 288v nominal and the inverter will change it to 655v.
Re: Lexus RX400h and Highlander Hybrid are announced in Japa Link to Hybrid presentation Its really nice Flash base Harrier presentation
Re: Lexus RX400h and Highlander Hybrid are announced in Japa http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7266895/ Please note comment about 41+MPG at end of article.
Re: Lexus RX400h and Highlander Hybrid are announced in Japa <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bill60546\";p=\"75173)</div> 41.9!! I wanna believe it, but I just can't quite...maybe the city rating, but that's just huge for a 7 passenger full size SUV. Maybe they meant 31.9...that's more what's been anticipated for highway.
Re: Lexus RX400h and Highlander Hybrid are announced in Japa <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bill60546\";p=\"75173)</div> The 41.9MPG(17.8km/L) is the Japanese 10-15 mode mileage data. Prius is rated as 35.5km/L(83.5MPG) on the same test. Regards, Ken@Japan
Re: Lexus RX400h and Highlander Hybrid are announced in Japa <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ken1784\";p=\"75188)</div> The 41.9MPG(17.8km/L) is the Japanese 10-15 mode mileage data. Prius is rated as 35.5km/L(83.5MPG) on the same test. Regards, Ken@Japan[/b][/quote] Ken, could you explain "mode mileage" please?
Re: Lexus RX400h and Highlander Hybrid are announced in Japa <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco\";p=\"75194)</div> It is "10 and 15 mode" mileage test. http://www.jaf.or.jp/qa/answer/base/base8.htm The test simulates 3 cycles of 10 mode pattern as city driving and 1 cycle of 15 mode pattern as highway driving, but it is relatively slow speed. The test is done after complete warming up of ICE. I believe the EPA city mileage test in the US is done after cooling down over night. Regards, Ken@Japan
Re: Lexus RX400h and Highlander Hybrid are announced in Japa Thanks Ken. My local Lexus dealer called and advised the vehicle gets 27MPG. But I had to cancel my order due to the price; $50K with the Levinson stereo, etc. and $52K with the DVD entertainment unit. Both included all other options. I love Lexus but have pay those tuition bills too.
missing EV switch We found there is no EV switch on both vehicles. It looks Harrier Hybrid(Lexus RX400h) has SKS but Kluger(Highlander) does not. The Japanese Owners Manual can be seen at... For Harrier Hybrid; http://gazoo.com/nvis/im/torisetu/6611/M48508_a.pdf For Kluger Hybrid; http://gazoo.com/nvis/im/torisetu/8331/M48511_a.pdf Regards, Ken@Japan
Ken - Thanks for your continued information, it's great to read a lot of this stuff that doesn't get lots of press in the US.
Hi Danny, You're welcome. We found another thing on new THS-II. The key word is "Reduction Gear". As you know, Harrier and Kluger has now high power MG2. The specification of MG2 is... Max Power: 230kW (240% more than Prius) Max Torque: 333N-m/0-1,500rpm (400N-m/0-1,200rpm on Prius) Max revolution: 12,400rpm (190% more than Prius) It is now high revolution motor, and there is a "Reduction Gear" between MG2 and "Ring Gear" of PSD. The gear ratio of the Reduction Gear is 2.478, which means the MG2 torque at the Ring Gear is now 825N-m (333N-m X 2.478). The reference page in Japanese is HERE. Regards, Ken@Japan
Re: Lexus RX400h and Highlander Hybrid are announced in Japa Ok, so I'm not an Electrical Engineer. Does this picture show that the front AND rear tires work to regen the batteries? Is it just the way they chose to design the graphics. The graphic for the prius only shows what looks like the front tires regenning the batteries. If the Harrier really does use the front and rear tires, does that mean that it captures more energy and recharges the batteries faster? [Broken External Image]:http://www.toyota.co.jp/jp/tech/new_cars/harrier_hybrid/powertrain/image/01/z05.gif versus
Re: Lexus RX400h and Highlander Hybrid are announced in Japa <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer\";p=\"77658)</div> Yes. We can see pink arrows from both front AND rear tires. I think it depends. Have you ever tried to shift into B mode between the speed was 22MPH and 7MPH on Prius? You felt enough regen at that speed if you did, maybe, too much regen(reducing speed). I believe Prius has enough regen capability to convert kinetic energy to electric, however Harrier has more opportunity to do that. Regards, Ken@Japan
