andye39s

No but I haven't seen that particular one. Thanks for posting!

mikemu30

Is the new NX in US showrooms now?

NJRonbo

Anyone want to take an early guess on what a loaded, luxury NX 450h+ AWD is going to be?

If we are talking $60k, that’s pretty close to a Genesis GV70 loaded with waaay more luxury and technology.

Those are my two top vehicle choices right now, and honestly, I’ll deal with the low gas mileage I’ll get on the Genesis if the NX is going to cost nearly as much.

Of course, I may be overshooting my price guess considerably. I just priced the current NX Hybrid and loaded it up with all the options and it came to just over $52k. So I am hoping for a small premium when it comes to the PHEV 2022 version.

mikemu30

You're probably in the ballpark. With Genesis, you get a really nice car but a really crappy Hyundai dealership network and likely awful depreciation.

NJRonbo

Nobody here has reported such. I know the two dealerships in my area don’t have any in their showroom.

ncatoffic1

Word is that the cars will be in the showroom in early October. No specific info on which exact trims though

lesz

Since the introduction of the first generation NX, a well-equipped NX has had an MSRP that has typically been around $10,000 higher than the MSRP of a similarly equipped RAV4. Right now, a RAV4 Prime XSE (if you could find one), would have an MSRP of somewhere around $49,000. So, that would put the MSRP of a loaded NX plug-in hybrid at around $59,000 if the relationship between pricing of the RAV4 and a similarly-equipped NX holds as it has in the past. And those prices don't include any mark-up over MSRP that a dealer may be charging.

Also, with regard to whether a plug-in hybrid is the right vehicle for someone, there are a number of things that need to be considered. For me, even though the concept of a (more) electrified vehicle is appealing, I'm not sure that a plug-in hybrid would be right for me at this time. If most of my driving was likely to be under 30 or 40 miles per day, that would be great, but I live in the middle of nowhere. Most of my driving trips require a 75 mile or more round trip. That would mean that, for about half of my driving, I would not be able to take advantage of the extended electric range of a plug-in hybrid. Also, the rural electric cooperative that supplies my electricity has rates that are quite high, and those high rates would offset most or all of the economic advantage of driving a fully electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle. Even from an environmentally-friendly point of view, the electric cooperative generates most of the electricity that it provides with coal. So, an all electric or plug-in hybrid would not be doing the environment any favors.

Also note that the NX plug in hybrid, because of the much larger hybrid battery, is likely to weigh almost 50% more than a regular NX Hybrid. For the RAV4, the RAV4 Prime weighs about 1800 pounds more than the regular RAV4 Hybrid, and I'm sure that there will be similar weight differences for the NX. That means that, when the vehicle is being powered by the gas engine, fuel economy for the plug-in will be much worse than it is for the regular hybrid. And, even though 300 hp sounds impressive, once the battery is largely depleted, the horsepower and torque that is otherwise potentially available is no longer available.

So, while the idea of a plug-in hybrid sounds nice, depending on how and where one drives, there may be significant downsides to a plug-in hybrid.

NJRonbo

This is very, very valuable information and may give me a second thought on what to purchase.

I drive a hybrid sedan and get about 40MPG. That’s pretty damn good. The NX is rated at 36MPG for either hybrid or PHEV.

The great thing about a hybrid is that it’s constantly recharging the battery on its own. You are always going to get a balance of battery and gas power which is automatically controlled by the vehicle.

And, yes, having 30 miles of pure electric is great to have while driving around town doing tasks. However, once you deplete that — especially on long road trips — you are facing diminished horsepower and MPG.

I was pretty hyped to get the 450h+ but after reading what you posted, I might step down into the hybrid model.

Of course, someone else in this forum may come along and sing the praises of going with the 450h+ and change my mind.

gompka

iTrader: (6)

They should have done an nx500, if it fits the IS it should also fit the nx.

lesz

Another way to look at the fuel economy is to consider that, because of the weight of the hybrid battery, the RAV4 Prime (and, likely, the NX plug-in hybrid) weighs about 5500 pounds (compared to about 3700 pounds for the regular hybrid). So, that means that, when the car is powered solely or primarily by the gas engine, you are driving a vehicle that weighs very close to what a Lexus LX weighs, and you are doing it with a 4 cylinder engine. A vehicle with that kind of weight, when it is using the gas engine, is going to suffer with regard to both fuel economy and performance. The fuel economy stats for the RAV4 Prime are based on some sort of balance between using electric power and using the ICE. When most of the driving is done with electric power, fuel economy should be very good, but, when the vehicle is using the ICE or even a blend of the ICE and electric power, fuel economy is going to take a big hit.

For me, when I got tired of waiting for Lexus to introduce its second generation NX, I bought a RAV4 Limited Hybrid last fall. It is my first hybrid vehicle. So far, I couldn't be more pleased with the RAV4. During the winter, I was averaging a little over 40 mpg. Since the weather warmed up in the spring, I've consistently gotten 52+ mpg. While I drive somewhat conservatively, I try to make sure that I'm not driving in a way that annoys any traffic behind me. I'm sure that the 2022 NX Hybrid will perform similarly.

NJRonbo

Les, you are making a lot of sense. Here in NJ, I only get a few months of outstanding fuel economy with the hybrid. Cold weather kills MPG.

I might forego the plug-in and just stick with a hybrid. It will certainly be an easier vehicle to obtain.

Thanks for your very informed input. It might help many of us make a better choice.

Freds430

Remember however the 450h+ will come with a $7,500 federal tax credit.

andye39s

IIRC the RAV4 PHEV is around 4400 pounds. My guess is the NX PHEV will be 2-300 pounds heavier. It can't be 5500 pounds. I am counting on the NX PHEV to be $60k. Might even go over if equipped with every single available option. You get $7500 in federal tax credit on the PHEV.

In our Ioniq PHEV (rated 29 miles EV range and 52MPG gas), when I go on a long drive that far exceeds the 29 mile rated EV range, I let it run on automatic where the car switches between running pure EV mode or in hybrid depending on driving conditions. When going uphill at highway speeds, I always force it on hybrid mode as not to deplete the battery. Climbing hills going highway speeds on an EV really tanks the average. I've taken 300 mile round trips (to Atlantic City to name one) with the car averaging over 70MPG. This is the beauty of a PHEV, you can choose to spread out the EV range to have crazy average MPG. In a PHEV with its much larger battery, you can recapture more energy from regen braking compared to the HEV with the much smaller battery. This offsets some of the added weight.

And I agree, the new Genesis models are beautiful. The GV80 and GV70 look like a Bentley, but until they do a HEV or PHEV, 20-something MPG simply is unacceptable to me now. Hyundai dealer experience vary greatly though. To be fair, I've visited not so great Lexus dealers also.

NJRonbo

Andy, I am learning more about PHEV vehicles. Can you tun a PHEV vehicle like a hybrid if you want, whereas the battery recharges itself or are the two technologies completely different?

And to add to the question, you can control how much you want to use that 30 miles of EV? So if you turn it on and off at the proper times you can actually obtain 70MPG?

ncatoffic1

If you care about power, the hybrid has the lowest of all of the NXs. That is one of the reasons I was leaning towards the PHEV. I have been spolied by German power, and while i am sure I now want reliability over power, the hybrid seems a tad bit underpowered