Here’s an interesting fact: the Lexus LS600hL’s batteries alone produces more power and torque than the Scirocco you’ll find on page 94. And that 221bhp and 221lb ft of torque is before you get to its second engine: a 5-litre V8 with 389bhp.

Normally, this isn’t the type of lux-Toyota you’ll find on the pages of evo, but considering Lexus is – in its own words – making hybrids to develop ‘the ultimate zero emissions performance car’, perhaps we should take notice.

As a test, last July Toyota handed over several hybrid Camrys to be used as taxis and both BMW (with its X6 and 7-Series) and Mercedes (with its S400 BlueHybrid) will join in by either the end of this year or 2010 in introducing the petrol-electric concept to the Gulf.

If you’re not familiar with how the hybrid system works, here’s a short introduction. At low speeds, the engine cuts out and the LS600 runs on electric energy alone. When you need more power, the petrol engine steps in seamlessly to deliver the grunt. The battery is recharged by the engine or from energy regenerated from the brakes when slowing down.

The combination of these two power units in the LS600hL makes 439bhp (not 610 as you might think) and there’s an urgent surge of acceleration at any given point you choose to prod the throttle. It’s partly thanks to the batteries producing maximum power at 0rpm. At 189bhp/ton, it’s not going to reach Mercedes AMG territory, but it still feels rapid for something that’s more super-luxury yacht than car. Even at 120kph, the loudest sound doesn’t come from the wind, the road or the engine; it comes from the fan of the air conditioning unit.

So onwards with performance. It’s equipped with a variable LSD, which distributes torque from 48:52 to as much as 31:69 front to rear, and its air suspension has a ‘Sport’ mode. But don’t be fooled, it’s in no way “sporty”.

There’s no composure in its ride. It’s bloated and wallows (like a yacht, incidentally) at any given situation that requires a swift twist of the wrists. It settles only when the understeer kicks in, and even then, it’s too taut and you’re heading towards the edge of the road with the electronic aids working overtime. The steering also has no feel when you begin to turn it – unlike an S-Class AMG Merc.

Trying to make things more interesting with the ‘S’ mode in the eight-speed(!) gearbox is a bit of a waste of time: you have to nudge the gearlever back several times before the transmission makes up its mind exactly which one of the lower gears it wants to be in.

And on the all-important environmental factor, the LS600hL does fairly well for something with a 5-litre V8. You get a claimed 9.3L/100km and 219g/km of CO2 emissions. For the record, a similarly powered S-Class 500 will drink 11.8L. However, the less powerful and slower S400 petrol-electric that Mercedes is introducing to the Middle East consumes 7.9L and emits 190g/km of CO2.

To summarise then, the LS600hL is slightly flawed in its “performance” pretensions, but it’s still an amazingly over-engineered car that has tonnes of appeal to the power-hungry, environmentally conscious business executive.

The irony of producing a 5-litre engine and then mating it to an electric power unit to make a car seem like it has environmentally friendly credentials hasn’t escaped me. Although in a region with cheap petrol and few diesel pumps to encourage less L/100km, perhaps this ‘green’ solution isn’t such a bad option.