The 2023 RX 450h+ is the first plug-in hybrid for the RX. It very well could be the best RX ever made – but there could be some drawbacks…
I’m in the 2023 lexus rx 450 h plus plug-in hybrid this is the first plug-in hybrid for the lexus rx we have this plug-in hybrid the 450h plus that is on the nx for the new redesign in 2022 here in 2023 with the new fifth generation lexus rx redesign we’re seeing it reprise its role it will not be available at launch here in north america when is launch well
Production for the rx starts in october and the canadian and japanese plants and then uh they will be available late 2022 but not for us with the plug-in hybrid the plug-in height will be available we don’t know exactly when but at a later date so 2023 calendar year sometime for this vehicle we don’t know everything about it so even though i’m driving it it’s a
Euro spec model i don’t know official horsepower numbers i’m guessing it’s around 306 horsepower i’m also assuming it’s the 18.1 kilowatt hour battery we see in the lexus nx for example um but just going up this hill the the torque is so much more noticeable and the engine’s not nearly as obtrusive as it is in the much more affordable uh 350h hybrid there’s also
The 500h hybrid uh and make sure to watch my video first driving impressions of those as well i’m not going to do like a walk around on this because this is the only plug-in hybrid here at this us driving event so it’s it’s getting swapped around between journalists very very quick so i don’t want to you know be selfish and do a walk around inside and out just know
That it’s pretty much identical except for a couple of these buttons over here such as the eevee hybrid vehicle hold charge button you can swap between how the vehicle uh behaves so right now i’m in hybrid vehicle mode and then now i’m in ev mode and now i’m in hybrid mode so you can and then you can hold it for charging the plug-in hybrid battery so there’s lots
Of different things you can do and there’s also auto ev hybrid mode button so just kind of letting it do its own thing so you’re not going to get full performance you’re not going to get a full 300 plus horsepower if you’re in ev mode only you’ll be limited to 200 in some horsepower because you’re taking out the assist from the four-cylinder naturally aspirated
Engine so if you’re wondering where the heck i am you haven’t watched my other videos i am outside of santa barbara california to drive the new rx it’s absolutely stunning out here in this small wine country i don’t know it could be big for all i know i just know it’s probably smaller than napa valley for example or sonoma but i’m going to take a right here and
We’re going to get into the acceleration do a quick zero to 60 and have some fun in this new plug-in hybrid for lexus so let’s just make sure it’s in hybrid mode and then we’re gonna get into uh sport mode here and this is gonna be slightly downhill and i’m not gonna torque break it because there’s traffic coming so three two one go slightly out of turn felt some
Tire slippage this is definitely quicker okay there we go everything’s in kilometers per hour so it said i was going 100 like wait a second it’s not that fast it’s because it’s in kilometers not miles so 0-60 and 6.65 you know maybe slightly downhill but that was a pretty flat portion and i was turning right 6.65 i got 7.4 in the 350 turbo and 7.8 in the 350
Hybrid so you know it’s it’s a pretty quick vehicle 6.65 i won’t be surprised if you can get faster when you’re not turning and the conditions are better so pretty impressive overall right there with the acceleration and i’m just going to hammer down and almost hit that bird there uh but yeah the the responses are the electric motors then the gasoline engine kicks
In more like a traditional ecvt hybrid we see from toyota and lexus overall very very responsive and pretty darn quick this is going to be the second quickest vehicle in theory behind the 500h so i’ll be testing that vehicle put those numbers up uh uh the 0 to 60 numbers compared to this um that i got alexis is estimating like a 5.9 second 0 to 60 somewhere around
There for the 500h so we’re going to get in the brake test real quick here and now a little yaris right there brakes are excellent and this vehicle is even it might be the heaviest of all the uh lexus rx’s because we have that large 18 assuming 18.1 kilowatt hour battery at the bottom of this vehicle but the brake feel felt very very strong and maybe it helps that
That that battery weight is very low in this vehicle didn’t feel any noticeable pitch and dive going on there either now i put it back into auto ev mode and i’m going about 80 kilometers per hour which i’m guessing is around 50 50 55 and it’s in full ev mode it’s gonna definitely like be getting into ev mode a lot more often than your normal hybrid assuming there’s
Enough juice in the battery speaking of juice in the battery it says 29 kilometers left so i’ll put what that is in miles it’s probably something like 18 miles i really don’t know off the top of my head but that’s how much juice i have left in this battery assuming max range is probably in the mid to low 30s again that’s just my guess of course your mileage will
Vary it wouldn’t be hard for me to get well over maybe even into the low 40s with miles per range in florida for example where it’s flat and warm all the time getting in the brakes a little bit throwing it in the turn it definitely feels heavier in the turn than the 350 uh that i test drove just before this so definitely feels heavier in the turn but quicker to
Accelerate and the braking like i said felt really really strong in this not much different than the 350h and the 300 350 turbo now this vehicle is probably going to sit on top of the expense of product stack just because uh batteries aren’t cheap batteries are very expensive it’s not a small battery being 18 kilowatts so this vehicle more than likely is probably
Going to be a luxury trim only here in the united states when we get it don’t quote me on that but there’s a possibility and more than likely it’s going to cost the most it’s probably going to start around 55 to 60k and maybe top out around 65k possibly more and with the ev tax credit it’s not going to qualify anymore because the the government has changed the ev tax
Credits where the vehicle is built in japan which this will be the the plug-in hybrid for example as well as a front-wheel drive 350 those will be built in japan as well uh anyways visibility and japan doesn’t get the eb tax credit for eevee or plug-in hybrid anymore so it is what it is there the plug-in hybrids are the best of both worlds you get great acceleration
Not quite as fast as an ev but it’s typically way outpacing um gas counterparts for example like i’ve already proven with a 0-60 here it’s quieter and smoother than let’s say the turbo model um and you’re going to spend a lot less on gas if you’re able to plug this in on a regular basis and if this is getting over 30 miles of range it won’t have any problem taking
Care of the majority of people’s daily driving it all depends on how much you drive right but just around town this would be a great vehicle but the thing is if you’re not driving it that much it’s hard to also justify you know the small range that it gives you in the high price tag but it does give you the best of everything it’s the no compromise powertrain great
Acceleration great performance uh great quietness great great luxury uh and the smoothness that it provides uh electric feel and electric practicality by plugging it in at home and not using that much gas so it just costs a lot and that’s where the downfall of the plug-in hybrid is again we don’t know exactly what this is going to be priced up if i had to take
A stab i would say 65k is is just my guess what we’re going to see most of these go for and just accelerating here about i’d say 50 60 percent whisper quiet no vibrations coming through at all it’s it’s absolutely brilliant now we have three hybrid variants a 500h this plug-in hybrid and the 350h is this the best out of them i would have to say absolutely but
Like i said comes in at a cost the 500h though is going to give you that performance similar to this at least when it comes to acceleration it will actually outperform this when it comes to braking uh and cornering as it is a lighter vehicle with bigger brakes and the 350h is going to be the more commoners hybrid the one that i would probably be getting because it
Just is not going to cost you a normal leg you’re going to get 35 to 40 miles per gallon depending on your driving habits and it’s still going to be almost as smooth as this but not quite because you still are going to have that gasoline engine cutting in a lot more often than this one does so why is america not getting that launch well it’s because toyota doesn’t
Have an infinite amount of these battery packs we know that from the nx plug-in hybrid we know that from the rav4 prime so toyota and lexus have to be strategic about which markets see it first in europe things are a lot more strict over there china the electrification market is a lot more intense as well so that therefore north america is the last to get it out
Of its three major luxury markets for lexus i’m not that sad about it i get it as a consumer but at least we have three other powertrains to wet our appetite in the meantime waiting for this to come to market as an additional option now i’m not going to do a full exterior interior overview of this vehicle if you want more information on that definitely watch my
Walk arounds of let’s say the 350h or the 350 turbo because those are both luxury grade and are essentially identical on the exterior and interior of this vehicle so definitely check those out as i head back to the winery and i can’t wait to see your questions and comments down below on oh i’m just gonna do one last zero to sixty because i can right i think i’m
Still in sport mode i’m still in sport mode we’ll see if we’ll we’ll put it in auto mode i can torque break a little bit and go i felt like it didn’t launch as hard there to be honest 6.65 so i don’t remember what it was before but i think that’s a pretty similar result even though i torque braked it there but i don’t think the torque brake did help torque
Braking helped it so anyways i’m going to end it there thank you so much for watching my first driving impressions real short only about 15 minutes here with this plug-in hybrid rx 450h plus who knows maybe one day i’ll be saying rx450e fully electric version we know the rz is coming out later this year early next year and i wouldn’t be surprised if they can slot
That battery pack in this vehicle that has an identical wheelbase we’ll see time will tell anyways got to cut myself off check in the next video take care of yourselves and make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss the remaining coverage of my lexus media drive for the new rx okay all done thank you for watching peace out you
Transcribed from video
*TESTED* This "Plug-in" 2023 Lexus RX 450h+ could be the best RX ever… By Kirk Kreifels