The Lexus NX450h+ PHEV Takumi has been described as an "imaginative" addition to the Lexus family and is also a first as Lexus’s first-ever plug-in hybrid electric model. With a price tag of anything from £42,760, is it worth the hefty price tag? Here’s our review of the car…
The Lexus NX reviewer
I am a 31-year-old journalist driving through London to the Cotswolds for a laid-back weekend with pals.
First impressions of the Lexus NX450h+ PHEV Takumi
Easily the biggest car that I have ever driven, the NX looks intimidatingly impressive and puts my Fiat 500 to shame with its impressive size, design and style. Our car was dark grey, and I did worry how I would manoeuvre the vehicle through the famously chaotic roads of London Town, which was definitely exacerbated when the car’s nifty sat nav took me via Buckingham Palace.
However, the interiors are very comfortable and stylish, and the system’s huge screen including the sat nav, Bluetooth, music and more is very accessible and easy to figure out (the same can be said about the automatic controls once you’ve worked out how the little remote works) and - after an excruciating ten minutes trying to work out how to switch the car on (there is a large 'power’ button on the top right on the steering wheel - a far cry from where I’d usually start the ignition but still an inexcusably long time to find something so something - I’m excited to get road tripping!
How the Lexus NX450h+ PHEV Takumi drives
It was around 85 miles from London to our Cotswolds home for the weekend, but I took a tiny detour to collect a friend (confused and impressed by my ride, thought I’d won the lottery) for our trip. The electric charge would only take us so far - and sadly our Airbnb stay doesn’t have a charger, so I selected the hybrid option - you can opt for either. I preferred the hybrid option as an inexperienced electric car driver and - since I usually drive a manual - I loved the simple life of placing a car into drive and going. Cruise control is an option, but I benefitted much more from the very acute sensors during the London leg of my trip.
Going through the tricksy roads in the biggest car I’ve ever driven, it was an extra sense of security to know that the car would warn me - with amber and red signals - if I was getting too close to anything around me. Not to mention, with a 2.5L engine, it most definitely packed a punch - making the 20mph speed limit of most of London a real challenge. Fortunately - and perhaps my favourite part of the car - the Lexus projected my speed, the speed limit, and the direction of my journey at the bottom of the windscreen.
Once I was out of the city, it was amazing to see what the car can really do. I stay in the pilot’s seat for the duration, while my friend explored the different modes we could put the sat nav on and marvelled at the cordless phone charger neatly placed next to the cupholders. The fantastic blind spot lights are incredibly helpful for switching lanes on the motorway - giving you a heads up if any cars are close.
We also loved that there were separate heating modes for the driver and the passenger, both selecting the temperature we preferred, with my friend even opting for seating heating while I went for a seat cooler.
I didn’t so much as glance at the petrol during our journey - to fill the tank would cost a pretty penny, but it comfortably lasted a six-hour plus roundtrip with half a tank leftover to boot.
We drove through pretty much every part of the UK one might expect from a road trip - city driving, motorway driving and finally, driving through the countryside. With the latter, the hard brakes definitely came in handy during the narrow lanes as we met other cars on the national speed limit roads. The car’s size also meant that it was a much smoother journey over the bumpy roads than I would have expected.
Parking could not have been easier - not only does the car have a backwards camera to show where you’re going, but it also has an eagle-eyed shot of the car showing you the angle of your parking, making it the easiest parking I’ve ever done - despite parking a much larger car than I was ever used to. As for locking the car up, I was initially confused then deeply impressed by the car’s sixth sense at knowing when I was nearby with the key and automatically unlocking - though it did confuse me at first when I continuously thought I hadn’t managed to lock the door. It wasn’t until my friend tried it that we realised the car went beyond our expectations.
What the Lexus NX is like for passengers
I thought my passenger could say it better than me, so here is her POV on our journey in the Lexus: "The Lexus NX is a smooth, quiet and comfortable ride. The interior is stylish, and generously spacious and allows separate heat and air conditioning controls for both passenger and driver - the cool seat function was an unexpected bonus. The large multimedia touch screen is fast and easy to use. This car has everything you need to make those long journeys fly by."
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Downsides of the Lexus NX
There are so many impressive elements of the Lexus NX, but some of the simplest things were left wanting. I’m not sure whether it was simply minor errors with my model and not a general issue, but my keys - with a trunk opening option - wouldn’t open the boot, which we would have to do manually. First-world problems, I know, but with all the car’s bells and whistles, it seemed odd that this wasn’t automatic.
Another odd feature is that, when connected to Bluetooth music, the sat nav’s audio stopped working. As such, I was checking the sat nav much more than I would have liked - and couldn’t understand why the voice control would have disappeared. Inexplicably, it turned back on when I was around five minutes from my return home.
Lexus NX expert opinion
Our motoring expert Gareth Herincx gives his lowdown: "The Lexus NX Plug-in Hybrid is a practical, premium-quality SUV that’s comfortable, relaxing to drive, economical and beautifully finished. Offering around 40 miles of electric-only driving on a full battery charge, it's one of the best and most stylish PHEV crossovers on the market.
"What's more, you won't just stand out from the crowd, you'll benefit from Lexus’s reputation for reliability and award-winning customer service. And like all Lexus cars, the NX is eligible for an extended manufacturer warranty for up to 10 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first."
Lexus NX 450h+ Plug-in Hybrid facts
- Price: from £53,300
- Power: 2.5-litre petrol engine combined with an 18.1kWh lithium-ion battery, delivering 302bhp
- Transmission: CVT (continuously variable transmission) automatic, all-wheel drive
- Acceleration: 0-62mph in 6.3 seconds
- Fuel economy: 256 - 313mpg
- Luggage capacity: 521 litres (or 1,436 litres with the rear seats folded)
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