Stephan Hill of Hill's Panel Products- a £10 million- turnover kitchen and furniture business in Oldham- comes over all-environmental as he puts the Lexus GS450 Hybrid car through its paces.

My first reaction when asked if I would test-drive a Lexus for Fleet Times was " I hope its one of those new hybrid ones", thinking they were only made in the 4 x 4 variety. Iv always fancied a go in one of those, but when I got there it seems they've brought out a saloon car version. Not a problem- I didn't have much furniture to shift that weekend anyway.

The handover by Lexus Manchester's sales manager Ian Harvey was one of the best I've had when picking up a new car- informative and thorough without going over the top and sending me to sleep. So, pumped up with enough information to allow me to drive at least off the forecourt, I set off.

The first thing you notice about this new Lexus is that there's no key, at least not of the type that I'm used to.  In fact, as long as you've got the fob in your pocket, this clever little machine knows its alright to go- all you have to do is push the big button that says 'start'.

When I pushed the button, not a lot seemed to happen. Sure, the steering wheel moved into position and the dashboard lighted up like a Christmas tree, but apart from the little light that says 'ready', there was no indication the vehicle was actually on and no engine noise whatsoever. Would this work? I put it into gear, took the foot controlled handbrake off and Flippin Heck, so it does!

The lack of noise is due to the fact that it's an electric car. Well, sort off. It combines electric motors with a V6 3.5 litre petrol engine, which works in tandem to give 340 bhp with the fuel consumption of a 2.0 litre car.  I'm told some clever wizardry switches it from electric power to engine power (or a combination, if needed), depending on the demands of the driving.

So off down the road I meander with no more noise than the gentle shh of the climate control. What going to really happen when I put my foot down, i'm wandering? Well, at the first opportunity I give it a go, my shirt gets pushed back into the soft leather and without a roar or a detectable gear change it was off like wet snow off a polished shovel.

I was told by the good Mr Harvey that in a track test against a Porsche 911, the Porsche failed to put any significant distance between the two, but as I didn't come across any Porches on my way home, I'll have to take his word for it.

When you eventually get time to have a good look around the inside of the car, you realise there is an incredible amount of gizmos to play with. So many, in fact, that they've even had to hide a few behind a little flap so as to not frighten off technophobes like me.

One nifty thing that impressed me my 16 year-old daughter was that when the Lexus is in reverse, a camera image of the view behind you comes up on the dash display complete with some sort of cross-hair target so you know where to aim.

The ride is as you would expect from a comfortable car, and it is much more spacious than it looks. It's a car you feel cosseted in, safe from all the nasty ills of the outside world; a car in which your heartbeat will barely ever raise above 40 beats per minute.

This is also a car that will excite the top end of the company car market, with good fuel economy and low CO² emissions. In fact, it will probably force Gordon Brown to rethink his car strategy.

However, I'm afraid it didn't really excite me enough to rush out and put down a deposit. Practical and powerful it may be, but I think I'll wait till I'm older before putting in my order.