Behold the 2010 Lexus HS250h. What do you think? Kinda hot, right? Looks pretty sharp. Looks a lot like the Lexus IS, maybe with a little bit of RX & ES thrown in. Well, look closer, you may even see a bit of Prius in there, too! What?! Yes, folks, this is a new hybrid. Lexus plans to release this vehicle sometime this summer. You Lexus guys probably caught on already, but that little “h” means this puppy’s packin – a cool IMA hybrid system, that is!

Say what you will, but green is in. And the guys over at Lexus have been putting their own twist on hybrid technology for a few years now. Lexus has proven that you can still enjoy power and performance, while employing hybrid technology to help reduce fuel consumption and pollution. The slowest Lexus hybrid does 0 – 60 MPH in about 7-seconds (faster than most original vintage muscle cars), but most Lexus Hybrids get to 60 in about 5-seconds. Pretty impressive. Sure, you may not save the planet yourself, but, hey, every little bit helps! The downside is that all of Lexus’ hybrids have been pricey to say the least. The least expensive Lexus hybrid you can buy STARTS at nearly $43,000! Well, Lexus hopes to change that with the HS250h.

No official word on pricing yet, but Lexus plans to position this car somewhere near the IS, which starts at $31,000. Not bad when you consider the uber-dork Prius starts at $22,000, with most selling for nearly $30,000! Think that’s a bit high? Well, keep in mind the average new car sale price last year was just under 30 grand. Yep, 30 grand.

Lexus (and parent company Toyota) knows the Prius, as fantastic as it is (haha), has given hybrids a bit of a… um… er… reputation, shall we say. And that rep isn’t exactly cool. They hope to change that with this car. Despite sharing a lot of common hardware with the upcoming 2010 Toyota Prius, the HS250h will be unique in many ways. It will offer increased performance, luxury, and technology in a package that is attractive and desirable. I think they’ve done a great job, from a design perspective. We’ll have to wait and see how the performance stacks up. But given the high level of performance and value offered by its existing hybrid line, this Lexus should be a strong competitor. As of right now, it is the only dedicated hybrid premium vehicle, all others come in regular gas versions, as well. The HS250h is hybrid only, baby.

Who’d be interested in this car…

-Tuner looking for a cool second car (or third, or fourth…)
-Tuner who has a wife who wants a hybrid but doesn’t want a Prius in his driveway!
-Tuner who wants something new that no one has yet
-Tree-hugging tuner who doesn’t want to look like a tool
-Smug tuner who likes to smell his own farts (HAHA – see South Park)

I have no doubts Lexus will sell a ton of them. In fact, I think the HS in HS250h stands for “Hot Stuff” because I am almost tempted to ditch my daily driver BMW E46 ZHP M-Performance Package for this bad boy!