It was a battle between ALLABTB and MAKER, but BTRYPWD won out to be our first personalized license plate ever!  I have to say, it's a bit of a let down to get the letter from the Dept. of Licensing telling you your plate has been approved (yea!) and you can expect it in 6-8 weeks (boo!). 

Hey, if you're bored and want to play the "what would my license plate say" game, hop on over to the Washington Sate DOL to see if someone has already taken your idea.  Just click on the Personalized Plate Search link.  Warning: Someone has already snagged KTHXBYE.

b.

There is a lot of discussion amongst new 400h owners about what type of mileage everyone is seeing.  I love this quote from the thread:

"The Prius people make getting mileage a sport, there's a technique for it. "

I envision a line up of Prius owners in some abandoned parking lot late at night, racing for pink slips based on who gets the best mileage.  Sort of like "The Fast and the Furious" but instead it's the "The Leisurely and the Frugal.

At any rate some folks are concerned they are not seeing the numbers that Lexus has advertised for the 400h, so a user Ron posted a great thread highlighting hybrid resources, etc.

"There are several government web sites that have this kind of data but the one below gives the maintenance and mileage results of actual test vehicles, not manufactures data and not the unrealistic EPA data:

http://avt.inel.gov/hev.shtml

One of the things that caught my attention was the very high reliability of the Prius at even 100,000 miles per car usage. I suggest that anyone who is still unsure of whether the Rx400h is a car they want spend some time on this web site before deciding.

The Japanese Toyota site has a very good description of the Prius technology links below:

http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/tech/environment/

Another useful link is this model that explains how the continuously variable transmission works:

http://homepage.mac.com/inachan/prius/planet_e.html

Another link with info:

http://www.eere.energy.gov/cleancities/hev...components.html"

Oh, and at the end of the post he notes that he just purchased one, his first new car since 1976 - GO RON!

b.

After driving the RX400 for three days, I have quickly become obsessed with tracking my gas mileage, something I never really gave much thought in the past.  All I kept track of was how many miles I had left before the next fill up, and never considered doing the math on what I was averaging per mile or trip.  Now, I have more information regarding gas mileage than I would even have thought to ask for; all with the touch of a finger.  There are a couple of screens I can monitor while driving (mind you I'm still keeping my eyes mostly on the road.  really.), one of which shows me which engine is powering the vehicle and the other shows average mileage per 5 minute period.  By keeping track of these details for each trip, I'm getting a pretty good idea of how my car uses gas and the best way to drive in order to acheive the highest mpg.  The range has been crazy, from 10 mpg driving up a steep hill to 72 mpg cruising down a city street.  Granted it all balances out in the end, and I've noticed anywhere between 27-33 avg mpg per trip.  It may not be the 50-60 mpg that the Prius can get, but it's what I was hoping for when I made the decision to go with the Lexus.  At any rate, the moral of this story is I think every car, hybrid or not, should give the driver this type of information.  Having such real time knowledge of gas consumption may go a long way towards encouraging alternative fuel sources and modes of transport.  It's pretty clear listening to talk at the pump these days that folks are a bit shell shocked regarding the rising price of fuel, and perhaps feel that literally the price of ignorance has become too high.

b.

Today was the 35th anniversary of the American holiday, Earth Day.  Although it wasn't planned, we celebrated in a very appropriate way by picking up our new Lexus RX 400h, the first SUV hybrid based on the Toyota technology used in the well known Prius.

There will be tons of pictures to follow, but for now I'll point you over here to take a look at the first batch.  This car is such a smooth ride, I think I will actually welcome stop and go traffic (imagine that in Seattle), just to watch it switch over to the electric motors!

Fourm poster RX400h over on the Lexus Owners Club forum does a nice job covering his first day, and includes a couple of pics.  I'll try and do the same over the next few days, but for the moment I'm way to giddy to start wirting a review.

The sweet irony of the day is that with clear blue skies and a temperature of 73 we traded in our convertible.  I was sad to see the coupe go, because there really is nothing like driving with the top down on a hot and sunny Seattle afternoon.  But, I'm guessing in no time, I'll be thinking there is really nothing like filling 'er up once a month. 

b.