MPalmer

Part essay, part review, here's my dive into Lexus' three plug-in hybrid SUVs (NX 450h+, RX 450h+, and TX 550h+), what they're like to drive, and pros and cons of purchasing this type of drive train.

https://www.clublexus.com/articles/plug-in-hybrids/

Toys4RJill

Great write up. I always enjoy reading your article’s.

if it were up to me. I’d just buy the regular gasoline 2.4t. The added hybrid components add more cost and one has to really think about the long term reliability if one keeps their car a long time. The price difference is just way too much IMO. Now battery depletion of the EV part, I believe when that happens the vehicle defaults to regular hybrid mode, so you lose 65hp I’m guessing @MPalmer do you know?

Anyways. I agree with you for the most part, the payback might not be worth it.

MPalmer

I would say that's a fair guess in terms of power. But I'm not exactly sure how Lexus and Toyota's engineering/tuning works after the battery is in its "discharged state" (IE, EV Mode unavailable) because, as I understand it, it's never fully discharged.

SW17LS

Living with one of these vehicles its not just about fuel savings, the EV drive of these when they are in full EV power is superior to the experience you will just have with the turbo 4.

They are never fully depleted, so you don't lose power when the EV battery is exhausted. They just operate like a regular hybrid and will still cruise and accelerate some on just battery.

For my case, the price difference is roughly $6,000, if you ignore the tax credit (for me the hybrid was $1,500 LESS because of that), for us we go from needing to fuel up once every 300 miles to once every 3,000 miles, if not longer than that in regular driving. The savings add up pretty quick. Like I said though the driving experience is so much better on top of any gas savings.

For instance if I were going to get a Lexus TX, I would only consider the TX550h+

BayeauxLex

+1 on this. Currently 5,714 miles on this tank of gas. Will probably add gas this weekend as we may take it on a short 400 mile road trip. I believe the car is smart enough to fire up the engine momentarily to either assist in heating or I guess to make you eventually use some gas. Today was the 2nd time I noticed it lost 1 mile of gas range while driving in EV mode. Going on 4 months on current tank of gas.

SW17LS

Does the Rav have a heat pump? Pacifica doesnt. When it’s real cold it will run the gas engine to heat the cabin…

I said to my wife, the EV drive makes every car feel like a luxury car. Drive your PHEV RAV and then drive a 4 cyl RAV, nobody would rather have the 4 cyl RAV lol

BayeauxLex

Yes it has a heat pump. If I pre heat it from the app, it will run off EV as it defaults to EV upon every startup. I believe under 14 degrees it will start up the engine to assist with heating.

LOL. I drove my Prime and my sister’s NX 350 F sport back to back and I prefer the Prime however her NX has better sound dampening. In the NX, have to wait for the transmission to find the right gear and for the turbo to spool. It’s not instantaneous like driving in EV mode with ECVT transmission.

situman

Hybrids are great if the synergies are balanced without each drivetrain being over reliant on the other. I'm regularly running the battery down to 1 bar on my Sienna and the engine comes on more than I would like and its not exactly the most powerful thing ever.

MPalmer

Wow, fascinating updates from the owners, thank you.

Possibly silly question... do you have to worry about your fuel going bad or water accumulation as if you're driving a vehicle that sits too much?

SW17LS

The heat pump is even better than what I have then, if you pre-heat then it wont run the gas engine. My garage stays about 50 degrees in the winter so ours never gets cold luckily.

Imagine the NX with the PHEV!

Thats a good question. I know the Pacifica will cycle the engine so that for an amount of time/miles if the engine hasn't been used it will run it with "Engine Cycle Mode" in the message screen, so that it can cycle the fuel and the engine oil. I have never seen it on mine, because we've travelled so much the engine has been used, but one of the PHEV Pacificas we drove was in that mode.

BayeauxLex

I believe this may be a reason why my engine has randomly turned on 2x but honestly I’ve never noticed when it was on. I know it turned on at some point because I will notice 1 less on my gas/HV range.

At the time finding a NX PHEV is like finding a needle in a hay stack. Even finding a Prime XSE with premium package felt like a barn find. I had to travel 4hrs away to find one for sticker. It originally had a $8k markup. I believe the person who originally ordered it back out of the deal after waiting so long. I found it at the right place right time. Trailered it back home.

Also I believe Lexus just added a pano roof option to the 2024 PHEV NX. I don’t think it was available on previous years. The NX has less interior space than the Rav although they are cousins. And the NX doesn’t have a spare tire (run flats). Rav takes regular gas vs premium for NX but being same powertrain I’m not sure regular would hurt. Rav has slightly better EV range.

SW17LS

Oh I believe it, they are impossible to find

mextreme

Great write up - I wish all articles provide similar examples that saving money while driving via EV isn't necessarily cheaper then a good hybrid.

As someone living in CA I suggest people consider a hybrid unless they have a lot of excess solar they can put into the car.

If you want a car to be more green then yeah - it usually costs more at the front and maybe more while driving it.

Just to nit pick - even though the battery is sized at 18.1, that range is not used 100% need to subtract 10% top and bottom.
A full charge on our NX450H+ is consistently around 13.7 kWh measured by ChargePoint EVSE. New cars can reach 14+ kWh for a while.

MPalmer

Thank you for this. When writing, I reached out to Lexus to ask about charging inefficiencies as well as usuable battery space (ie, how many kWh would folks see if they could monitor the full charge), and Lexus swore up and down the useable amount was 18.1 kWh, which is why I quoted them (because it didn't feel quite right).

How many miles of EV-only range do you typically see?

If it's still 37 miles on 13.7 kWh, then recharging costs in LA start to become a lot closer to premium fuel. And you'd think Lexus would want to point out that their vehicle is a lot more efficient than it first appears.

Thanks again.

jataylor77

Long story short: After owning a 2024 NX450h+ I would say that the ROI is dubious with the plug-in. I absolutely love the vehicle in every way, but the tradeoff with cost for the plug-in over the hybrid is not worth it for the vast majority of folks. I typically use up most of the 38-42 miles indicated as available on EV only. The vehicle has used 32 gallons TOTAL over the first 2,900 miles. Based on electricity cost in my area and the energy usage per mile (which the car tells you), it would take me five years to cover the cost differential for the plug-in aspect over just a hybrid for MY typical use (which is mostly using battery and sometime the gas engine for long trips).

My sense is that the hybrid gives me 33% ++ or thereabouts over the non-hybrid. The purchase cost is not so much as to not want one. Getting one is another question.

BTW.....the wife now wants an RX hybrid......which is taking a very long time to find given our pickiness in options. That is why i paid so much attention to the plug-in VS hybrid only discussion.