Lexus’s LS-series sedans have long been highly regarded for their effortless ease, brilliant silence, and impregnable build quality. They’ve also been disparaged for being somewhat soulless. Technology lies at the core of that praise and that criticism.

The LS460, for instance, backs its direct-injection 380-hp, 4.6-liter V-8 with the world’s first eight-speed automatic transmission and uses an advanced “adaptive variable suspension” to smother any road divots that might intrude into the cabin. But topping that is the LS600hL, the first gas-electric hybrid flagship sedan.

In place of the LS460’s powerplant, the LS600hL gets a 5.0-liter version of the same V-8 and a supplementary electric motor to up the total pony count to 438. All that power is channeled through a continuously variable transmission and then out to an all-wheel-drive system. And although the LS460 is merely an Ultra Low-Emission Vehicle, the LS600hL is a Super Ultra Low-Emission machine. Additionally, if selected, either LS can park itself (or try, anyway).

Granted, the LS600hL’s fuel-economy advantage over the plain old LS460 is debatable—the hybrid is rated at 20 mpg in the city and 22 on the highway, whereas the conventional LS460 runs 16 mpg in the city and 24 on the highway. If anything, the LS600hL’s driving experience is even more remote and isolating than that of the “lesser” LS models. But it’s the only flagship around with the word “hybrid” glued to the bottom edge of its rear doors.

Src: Car & Driver