By design, the Lexus RX 450h plug-in hybrid, the first Lexus RX to feature a plug-in version, is also the most expensive RX and RX you can buy.
You don’t need this no-nonsense honor because electric powertrains cost more (although that helps), but because it’s packed with all of Lexus’ luxury offerings in the RX lineup. This strategy towards luxury involves valuing your time; You can spend less time doing things you don’t need to do, like going to the gas station, and more time doing things you enjoy, like enjoying a fast, winding route.
The list of luxuries goes on: a very quiet ride, insulated by suede and ultra leather; an adaptive suspension that provides a sleek ride; Technology at your fingertips and activated through your voice. an innovation that will simply ruin you for other cars; a tough journey that, despite all the care, leaves you in complete and laughable at this 5-passenger SUV.
With 304 horsepower, 37 miles of all-electric driving, and sumptuous seating and surroundings, the $70,000 Lexus RX may be the best way to spend time on the road. And you have the option to choose between an effective and quiet electric ride when you need it. or a harder, sportier ride when you feel like it.
I actually did. During my week-long driving review, I discovered more things to do than usual, and ran errands that for a long time were ignored just to be in the Lexus RX 450h. Sinking into the perforated leather seats with suede gussets, wrapping my hands around the leather and wood steering wheel, and seeing the road stretched out before me gloriously.
Turning on the RX is a sophisticated, simple gesture; The gear selector is similar to that of the Lexus LC 500: small, palm-sized, and stylish. That week was bloodless, so every time I was taken to the car, I would also press the hot buttons on the guidebook. steering wheel and seats. These also turn on the front passengers’ knee warmers. Fabric panels under the idler and on the passenger side in the glove compartment are heated to radiate warmth to you. It’s sophisticated and enjoyable.
And then, every day, I went on a trip. In silence. Every time I walked through my neighborhood, in a parking lot or in a parking lot, I was struck by the considerate atmosphere of the cabin: the silence of the electric motor, the faint purr of the hybrid engine (when the battery is discharged (depleted), the attenuation of any noise through leather upholstery and thick carpets. The cabin is flooded with sunlight from the panoramic sunroof day and night, the ambient lighting formula creates ambience (you decide the color and ambience) while adding size to the interior and highlighting vital spaces such as cup holders and USB ports.
You can hear yourself breathing, and that made me aware of my breathing; I was encouraged to breathe more deeply, to relax. I tried to stay in the car all day.
Once my oxygen was replenished, I wanted to switch the driving mode – available only via the multimedia touchscreen – to Sport mode. I immediately felt the 304 horsepower push me back in my seat as the suspension became a little more precise and the orientation a little tighter. This took me from a smooth, relaxing ride to a confidence-filled ride to merge into the left lane and lead instead of following.
The seat of the Lexus RX 450h in pepper and black
During my test drive, I have to go out to use as little fuel as possible. Every night, I rated the RX 450h on a “drip evaluator,” the popular 110 family outlet in my garage. It fully qualified both one and both nights (although if I used a 240V point two evaluator, it would fully qualify in about two hours) and I came out of both one morning with a full 37-mile fare on the battery.
I made a stop at my favorite workspace, a coffee shop across town, 23 miles away. I couldn’t qualify there, so I drove about 10 miles on fuel every day. Over the course of the week, I only used about two gallons of fuel, with the fuel gauge needle moving slightly. It was so good.
I also liked being able to press the “EV” button on the center console and drive electrically only (there’s a notification on the driver’s screen that says you’re in electric mode). But I can also let the formula tell you when to use it. The strength of the battery goes through pressing the “automatic” mode, or I can simply press the “EV Hold” button and drive on gasoline only, thus saving the electric charge completely. I usually rode on electricity and enjoyed plugging it in every night for 37 miles of quietly lovely miles the next day.
What I couldn’t do was increase battery life through regenerative braking. Although the Lexus formula has a regeneration formula (the indicator on the driver’s display indicates when a speed is charged in the battery), regeneration levels cannot be adjusted. The formula is most effective in Eco mode, less so in Normal or Sport mode. And puloadle-style shift levers serve just that: shifting gears to manual mode, not to load regenerative braking.
The tail light bar and the new Lexus badge
Lexus brought the redesigned RX in 2022 to wonderful fanfare; It was absolutely necessary for the latest generation to keep up with its evolving, unwavering external reliability. RX enthusiasts are a committed organization and they, along with all RX buyers, have been rewarded with a transformation that has propelled design from a remote afterlife into a cutting-edge future.
However, the RX has retained its iconic external appearance with the same sloping roofline and length that is large enough. Lexus evolved the “Spindle” grille with more steel and less mesh and added a soft tailgate bar with the word Lexus written on it. to update the logo badge.
Power door opener makes it easy to get out of the Lexus RX 450h
Innovation has long been the hallmark of Lexus: hybrid technology, touch controls (which were removed in the 2022 redesign) and the SUV itself; The RX is the first compact luxury SUV on the market and has been a bestseller ever since.
This has been an expectation for this design iteration; Lexus tends to have a longer wait time between redesigns than other automakers, but it was worth the wait. Many of the new features are spoilers – once you get used to them, you can’t notice that not all cars come with them.
This was especially true for electric door handles. A pebble tab on the door panel invites you to push it with your thumb; The door opens and you gently push it out. Like the gear selector, it’s a sleek and sophisticated movement that I enjoyed. Now I blame all the other doors in the car for getting me pulled and forced to open the door (it’s pretty complicated). the opposite process, once you think about it).
Other internal tweaks include a streamlined and simplified center console, buttons on the front passenger seat that allow the driver or rear passenger to push the seat forward or backward, and a 14-inch multimedia display with all the new technology. years away from the last formula and it’s almost a characteristic hole; You can drill down into layers and layers to customize just about anything. And it has voice activation. Just say “Hello Lexus” and the assistant will be there to fulfill your request.
The front-facing demonstration of the Lexus RX is groundbreaking; Slide your finger on the left or right button on the steering wheel. . . [ ] and see the replaced functions on the screen projected on the windshield.
My favorite innovation is probably in the guide wheel: touchpads on all sides that blend with the front display; This is a feature that can be added to other RX models but is popular on the 450h. When you hover over any of the buttons, watch the feature light up smoothly on the heads-up display. Driver assistance formulas and adaptive cruise control are on the left panel, entertainment is on the right side, and the functions they control can be custom-designed into the vehicle’s settings in the infotainment formula. It takes a little time to figure out how to use the formula smoothly, but it will happen. And he’s a gentile.
And then, the front-end demo is fantastic. It’s spacious, colorful, and easy to see. You can customize your view to see things like driver-assist features in action (like lane departure assist), cars in your blind spot, speed restriction signs, and the radio station played.
Environmental and illuminated controls make things easy to see at night.
This is the Lexus RX style and has a starting value of $70,580. And yet, our style of squares had about $3,000 worth of add-ons that really rounded out the package.
The RX 450h comes with a 2. 5-liter 4-cylinder fuel engine with 304 horsepower and all-wheel drive. Standard features include leather and suede interior, power-adjustable front seats with heating and ventilation, wooden guide steering wheel, and heated leather. rear seats, knee-heated front seats, ultra suede door upholstery, ambient lighting, LED headlights and operating lights with hours of sunlight, heated outside mirrors, rain-sensing windshield wipers, panoramic sunroof, cordless phone charger, virtual door handle, 14″ multimedia touchscreen with voice activation, Cloud-based navigation with free 3-year subscription, Wi-Fi hotspot, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, 10-inch color head-up display, premium sound, Lexus Safety System 3. 0, paddle shifters, and drive mode selector with Eco, General, and Game modes.
Soft, illuminated door sills are a great touch
Four of the eight paint colors are priced between $500 and $600, but all three interior options—Macadamia Blonde and Ash, Pepper Brown and Black, and Simply Black—come standard.
Buyers can upgrade with various packages, adding Convenience ($1,420), which adds a surround-view camera and traffic jam assist; Technology ($475) with virtual key and virtual rearview camera; Cold Zone ($100) with heated idler and windshield defroster; Advanced Parking with Automated Parking Assist ($480) and Forced Tailgate ($150) that adds a motion-activated kick sensor. Some accessories can also be added; I especially liked the illuminated door sills ($460) and the puddle lamp ($175), both of which I discovered in the dark.
With a payout of $1,350, the value of our frame model was $75,190, about $1,000 more than the value of the F Sport Performance, provided with about $10,000 in options. Which is perhaps another luxury; The cost of your time is rarely spent on specifying the features you want and at the same time receiving them along with everything.