For Earth Hour, your 60 minutes, from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 pm on March 26, can change the course of the Earth for the next few decades.
The first Earth Hour was held on March 31, 2007 by World Wide Fund (formerly World Wildlife Fund) Australia, a grassroots movement, inspired millions of people to act on environmental issues — by a symbolic gesture of turning off the lights. After that, Earth Hour had only grown bigger. Now, it is a worldwide event with participants from over 185 countries.
For us here in the Philippines, we know how much pollution causes harm to our environment — our pollution has been cited as one of the causes of many respiratory illnesses of Filipinos.
A large part is blamed on the exhaust systems of our vehicles. One only need to go out into the streets of Metro Manila at any hour of the day to get whiff of that. Matter of fact, with a mission to reduce our nation’s carbon footprint, the Philippine government requires motor vehicles to undergo emission testing before yearly registration. This was put into law via the Clean Air Act or R.A 8749, which was enacted back in 1999.
TOMORROW’S LUXURY CARS THAT YOU CAN DRIVE TODAY
I have often been impressed by how the technologies used on vehicles continue to improve to create a brighter future. At vehicle launches for Lexus through the years I have seen how the company has aimed for excellence in helping make a vehicle that can be driven for cleaner world.
I visited the Lexus Showroom in BGC, Taguig over the weekend and it has a gallery of information on how hybrid technology in their vehicles work. Did you know that it was Lexus that launched the world’s first self-charging luxury hybrid in 2004 — even before the first Earth Hour was held?
Today, the majority of luxury self-charging Hybrids on the road are Lexus.
With almost two million of Lexus’ luxury hybrids sold globally, Lexus is the only premium brand with over 15 years of experience in sales and servicing of hybrid cars. It has the widest range of Self-Charging Hybrids available, with five different models ranging from compact to SUV, sedans and coupés in the Philippines.
The goal? Maximize fuel efficiency and lowering emissions was the goal, and sophisticated hybrid technology—which combined motive power from the gasoline engine and the electric motor, which are proportionally engaged depending on driving conditions—became available to the public through mass production.
Of course, it was clever engineering and out-of-the-box thinking also led to other innovations that reduce energy loss. For example, the engine automatically shuts off when the vehicle is at a standstill; and converting the vehicle’s kinetic energy into electrical energy during deceleration and braking regenerates energy.
GREEN TECHNOLOGY IS EMBRACED WORLDWIDE
Lexus hybrid technology would continue to improve through the years, and the major milestones would soon follow. In 2005, it expanded use of this system to power-demanding SUVs; the Lexus RX 400h being the first of its kind.
Following the debut of the RX 400h, Lexus gradually grew its hybrid lineup by launching the first luxury hybrid sedan, the GS 450h in 2006, and in 2007 the most powerful luxury hybrid sedan, the LS 600h. In 2009, the HS 250h, followed by the first luxury hybrid compact, the CT 200h, in 2011. The ES 300h was launched in 2012, then the IS 300h and GS 300h in 2013, and the first luxury mid-sized crossover, the NX 300h, in 2014. The first luxury hybrid sports coupe, the RC 300h, was launched globally at the end of 2015.
In 2016 Lexus International would announced that it has sold over 1 million hybrid vehicles since the world’s first luxury hybrid vehicle, the RX 400h, went on sale in April 2005. Today, Lexus sells 10 hybrid models and is the luxury brand with the widest hybrid lineup.
LUXURY GREEN MOTORING IN THE PHILIPPINES
Hereabouts we saw the saw its first Lexus hybrid in the form of the CT 200h in 2011. Today, the LS, ES, IS, RX, and NX hybrid variants are available locally. The LS 500h flagship model is equipped with the new Lexus Multi Stage Hybrid System, a technology that transforms the performance and driver appeal of hybrids, providing improved responsiveness and more rewarding, linear acceleration, particularly when moving off from stationary.
The new IS 300 Hybrid Premier and the IS 300 Hybrid sport sedans were born and bred at the Shimoyama Technical Center —where the toughest and most challenging roads in the world have been recreated. The outcome was an IS lineup that is agile and provocative. The IS 300h—while boasting hybrid technology—thoroughly espouses Lexus’s DNA.
The Lexus Multi Stage Hybrid System also features ‘M’ Mode which gives drivers the ability to initiate direct and responsive gear shifts for the most sporting and engaging drive yet from a Lexus hybrid. A new lightweight and compact electric motor and a lithium-ion battery offset the weight of the added automatic transmission, and so the Multi Stage Hybrid System weighs the same as the current hybrid powertrain―an amazing feat of engineering.
THE FUTURE OF LEXUS
Earth hour is a way for Lexus to show how much it values the earth and how it helps in today’s environmental issues. Another way is how the brand has positioned Hybrid Drive to help address this through enhancing its hybrid lineup and encouraging its widespread use.
Lexus’s core vehicle technology hopes to help reduce CO2 emissions while providing a pleasurable driving experience. Ambitious goals have been set for 2050, and even more Lexus models will be available with hybrid technology before then—helping pave the way for a greener future.
WHAT IS THE MAIN EVENT IN THIS YEAR’S EARTH HOUR?
This year’s Earth Hour is more than a one-night event. It could also decide the state of our environment in the next 10 years and beyond. In short, Earth Hour 2022 is an hour for the future.
Just like Lexus, let us join this year’s Earth Hour on March 26 at 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. by simply turning off our lights.
The Earth Hour initiative this year will be mostly virtual, with the pandemic threat still looming. Aside from the lights off event, the plan is to take over all the social media platforms and direct the conversation to Earth Hour.
To do this, the Earth Hour organization will be dropping a must-watch video as the lights go out. All you need to do is standby on social media and share the video on your wall, to your friends, on Twitter, or even as private messages. Every share counts, and it can all add up to an unmissable movement.
* * *
To learn more, visit lexus.com.ph or Lexus social media pages on Facebook and Instagram @lexusmanila. To arrange a consultation, visit the Lexus Remote page at https://fal.cn/3eSWW . You may also download the MyLEXUS App available on both Android and iOS users to receive live updates and access other premium services.
