Lexus LBX long-term test

The car Lexus LBX 1.5 Hybrid Premium Plus | Run by Darren Moss, deputy digital editor

Why it’s here To see what our much-praised Car of the Year is like to live with on a daily basis, providing frugal transport while not sacrificing SUV practicality.

Needs to be Frugal, fun to drive, and able to function as a mobile office when needed

Mileage 1013 List price £34,505 Target Price £34,087 Price as tested £35,605 Test economy 56.2mpg Official economy 61.4mpg Options None

9 July 2024 – How far we've come

It’s easy to take the fuel-sipping hybrid nature of my Lexus LBX for granted. It’s quiet, it’s refined and it’s ruthlessly efficient – indeed, I’m getting upwards of 56mpg without really trying, for which my bank balance is thankful. I reckon with an extremely green right foot I could get close to the 64mpg my car is officially capable of.

Yet in some ways, my LBX is a backwards step. You see, I recently got to spend some time in the original Honda Insight – which, along with the Toyota Prius, is considered to be one of the founding fathers of hybrid cars.

Unlike the Prius, and my LBX, the Insight can’t move on electric power alone – making it more akin to a mild hybrid – but its electric motor boosts the efficiency of its 1.0-litre petrol engine to such a degree that it was officially capable of returning 83.1mpg when it went on sale in 2000. 

Combined with low-profile tyres, a shape designed to make it slip through the air as easily as possible, and a gear-shift indicator for its five-speed manual gearbox, it won’t surprise you to learn that in its day, the Insight was one of the greenest cars around.

Despite that efficiency, however, I know which car I’d rather tackle a long drive in. The Insight’s low profile and extremely low weight help it to feel agile and peppy, but it lacks the refinement and comfort of my car. And while the Insight’s instruments looked futuristic for the time, they’re nothing compared with the fully digital and customisable controls of the LBX.

With the touch of a button, for example, I can set my car to run on electric power for as long as possible, or switch to Eco mode to maximise efficiency from the two power sources.

The Insight may have lit the road ahead, then, but it’s the LBX which carries the hybrid torch these days.

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