2024 Lexus RX450h+ | Anti EV Usability
The Lexus RX this is one of the Brand’s bestselling Vehicles across its history and with the updates to this generation it’s made it a bit more appealing it’s less polarizing while some people still do not like the way that the front end looks I mean it’s modern Lexus basically
Every single model is going to follow this formula and they are selling quite well at this point we’ve already covered this vehicle uh in different trim levels and now it’s time to discuss one of the most important versions this is the rx450 plus the plug-in hybrid this
Bridges the gap between a full EV and in many cases when you look at Lexus and Toyota they are not ready to commit to a full dedicated electric vehicle at this point that’s competitive with some of the other brands but their plug-in hybrid system is one of the best in the
Industry so it makes sense that you would be looking at this very seriously and we’re going to talk about the price during the drive-in in the shop because that’s a completely separate issue so the pros and cons of the RX is this is one of the most refined vehicles that
They make it is quiet it is far superior than the NX in terms of comfort and quality materials it feels more solidly built it’s quieter on the road there’s better visibility it feels far more substantial when you sit in it the material choice of course with this it’s
Almost like a mono spec for the plugin so you get their best materials on the inside you get the uh soft touch materials on the door which is like a microfiber with the speaker Grill blended into it you have Leathers across the side of the door great cup holder
Storage or great bottle storage in the door unlike other Lexus products and the interior is very well thought out where you put things there’s a good blend of still leaving some physical controls and uh things that have been relegated to the new Toyota connected touchcreen which is largely intuitive if you leave
It in auto mode some of the negatives here are uh it doesn’t make a lot of sense at this price point that they would give you this wood option or this fake wood option I know it’s probably a wood veneer but it looks like Walmart furniture that you would get for $20 it
Is so it just looks like plastic so if you’re going to do wood why not make it look like real wood or at least feel like real wood and not just generic plastic it’s very Chrysler esque from 1990s uh everything else in terms of fit and finish is excellent in here uh the
Seating Comfort is superb the adjustability is great the back seats are very roomy and the hatch space because this is a dedicated two- row vehicle there’s a lot of space in the back so overall the refinement the quietness and the the comfort of the rx450 plus is a big highlight the
Technology in this car is lacking in some cases um it’s very finicky in terms of the safety system with the ey tracking you you literally have to turn it off it’s always beeping at you for something the door handle situation this is one of my biggest grievances with
Modern lexuses when you looked at the old es the ls and of course the lc500 they had switched over to having a physical door handle that was flowed really well into the door panel design they threw out one of their best features for these digital handles and
It’s not that I have a big problem with the digital handle is there’s lag to it and then the door never shuts like you always have have to slam it and you know I’ve got out of things like some of the luxury products where they have soft
Closed doors this does not have that uh just getting out of the Honda Pilot is a long term you can just push that door gently and it always closes it always latches this car it’s never latching the door and part of it is you know the electric door handles have that lag so
You’re constantly having to get them open delay try to close them in the outside there’s delay and lag namely in the winter it’s really frustrating and it’s something I’ve noted on pretty much every Lexus that does this so it’s something to look at before you commit
To this but we’re going to go in the shop talk about what they did here and then take it for a drive Mark we’re in the shop with the brand new Lexus RX 450 plus luxury edition this thing’s about $70,000 starting and it largely is mechanically
The same as the Toyota Rav 4 Prime I’m sorry Jack let’s correct you right there it’s mechanically the same with the drivetrain as the Lexus NX plug-in hybrid so when I’m paying $70,000 I’d like to know that my uh well I mean Toyota and Lexus they share all their
Everything right that’s how this this works and that’s why these things work so well because they’ve scaled it out quite a bit and that’s a unique perk or my view con of the Lexus RX versus its competitors like the XC90 pH or the BMW X5 pH with the b58 and zf8 speeed
Automatic gearx was waiting for that to pop in you know what that car has aluminum suspension double Wishbone front and rear and it does not have an ecvt and those vehicles are rear biased versus front biased like this is but you know what the Lexus has it has the
Spindle body design and a seamless Grill at the front that provides a strong clean presence expr expressing athleticism and finesse in a sophisticated Dynamic shape that’s what you’re getting there it also has something the BMW does not have is it the Lexus driving signature yes okay H it has more covering than the
Rav 4 this is supposed to be more of a luxury vehicle on the inside drive it and you feel it it’s like there’s night and day difference there’s no comparison between the rav which we joking around about and there’s no comparison between the NX despite it being on the same
Platform it feels far more isolated it it has better damper technology despite this not being completely covered up namely in the rear uh this is a very very isolated vehicle for 70,000 You could argue when you look under here that doesn’t add it does not look like a
$70,000 car but for the people that are buying it when they’re not living underneath the car they wouldn’t know that this isn’t a luxury platform and it is they make a lot of changes to the bodies and luxus to make them feel more refined and it does pay off so let’s get
Into the tech stuff real quick before we drive this so This has a 2.5 l naturally aspirated gas motor or engine it makes 177 horsepower and then the rest of the power comes from the three electric motors two in the front one in the back that’s how it gets e all-wheel drive the
Total system outputs 304 horsepower that’s recommended 91 octane where the RAF 4 Prime is 302 it’s the same the engine tuning is going to be different and the trans tuning there’s things that are carryover of course like the steering racks the same as the Rav 4
Prime SC the battery pack is the same 96 module 18.1 KW hour pack but unlike the Rav 4 Prime this only gets 36 mil yeah 36 to 38 miles of EV only range where the Rav 4 Prime gets a little bit more and it’s down to tire and weight and all
Size and all other fun stuff but you know really Jack uh what you’re getting here is laxus’s you know really tried and true plug-in hybrid system if you said oh I’m going to buy a plug-in hybrid out of any brand which one would you trust to keep to keep Lexus yeah so
With that let’s go take this for a quick Drive Mark rx450 plus luxury edition I’m going to start this off in the E driving mode because that’s why you’re buying does it have fake engine noise that place Mozart it does not it just hums like a monk honestly Nemo this is totally fine that’s really why you’re buying
This right you’re Buy buying an rx450 because you want something that gets good fuel economy MH you want to be able to drive around an eote around town and we’re doing 50 m hour which if you live in a suburban area it’s probably the maximum speeds you’re going to be
Seeing it is to your point in the shop much quieter than something like a Rav 4 or an NX and it’s a fairly inoffensive vehicle the problem I have with it is that it’s $70,000 7172 by the time you load one of before we start tearing into
It for yeah uh you know you’re clearly we’ve done other RX Vehicles before and there’s some pros and cons based on the trim level and it really is incredible the spread of what you get in terms of the regular RX is kind of hum drum like it’s okay to the the full-blown like
Performance one is a very good um and then this is is very expensive but you’re getting the uh the electrification part that the reason you’re buying this uh for not having adaptive dampers in here something at this price point is unbelievable uh it is a negative it is a negative I guess
You could say but at the same time it’s a positive because this thing rides great I I mean you could argue the handling is not going to be you know it’s not going to be the most dynamic driving car but it still is sub over every surf surface without feeling like
A boat this is something that the Lexus brand does far better than the Toyota equivalence you you know with on the Toyota side you either get it’s too firm and too noisy or it it’s like a boat and just no body control whereas Lexus does a really good job at isolating you out
Without feeling like you’re not getting car sick well Market said Alexis driving signature it’s that track that AIO Toyota himself was like build me a hotel at this track he build a hotel a track servants no I mean so we’re still in emote I’m impressed that the isolation
The quietness it’s Eevee obviously that should be um what it does compared to its cheaper equivalents I would not say and this is where I guess we can get into it unless you have any more thoughts about it I think if you’re getting into one of these cars and you
Haven’t driven all of its competition and you’re coming from a cheaper pH you’ll be really impressed by how refined it is at least in EV mode but when we get out of EV mode and we put it into auto mode and that Rav 4 drivet train kicks in while it is less rily
Sounding because all the sound deadening than it is in the Rav 4 prime it does substantially detract from the premium feel of this $70,000 luxury product I mean Volvo to be fair in the XC90 has a four popper right but the German Rivals don’t have that problem and in the xc9
To be fair to the Volvo 4cylinder it doesn’t sound as four-cylinder is this it’s far more is it’s not shared with a four-cylinder it’s found in a $25,000 SUV yeah it it’s it is it’s a standalone engine and there’s very little vibration and noise that comes from it um this
Drivetrain tuning is impact able for a plugin hybrid it is by far the most transparent in terms of not feeling switch overs between e well to begin with it is it’s really really good and even like the CVT or C ecvt performance is responsive enough to feel more like a
Torque inverted automatic so drivetrain wise you’re paying for that refinement it’s just not a unique drivetrain because they’re using it in everything else and if you don’t know that and you’re coming into this just I’m a Lexus buyer I want a new RX that’s a plugin
Hybrid it’s going to work it’s going to last they’ve minimized the complication of having all aluminum suspension and the the replacement cost that’s going along with that it doesn’t have rear steer it doesn’t have adaptive dampers it doesn’t have air ride it just has an enormous price tag for a luxury product
And the only thing I will say is it will probably hold its value better than an X5 your q5s your Mercedes equivalent the Q7 and that’s where you’re that’s why you’re buying this but it it’s not delivering on the luxury stuff as well as the luxury brands in terms of feature
Set and Dynamics even ride refinement um the way I look at this thing is at 72 I think 73 before destination a fully loaded x5e yeah which is their you know b-58 joking aside with with their eight-speed gear box it has more e- range it is only marginally more money it’s like5 to
$6,000 which when you’re spending 73 versus 78 I think a regular person who’s shopping in that price range can eat that cost Delta it is from a luxury perspective a better product it rides better it may not be quieter than this but it definitely drives better and it’s
A generation old on top of it like it’s it’s over a 5year life cycle older than this and it’s still better 2020 to to 24 well when was the X5 maybe 19 it’s a it’s a generation old y compared to this better yes so I mean that’s that’s the
Tricky part what do you value in a luxury product and we had this argument before about Lexus and I said I said this that luxury doesn’t just mean features it reliability is a piece of that cost to own is a piece of that this is the only brand luxury brand that is
Doing something that’s not entirely disposable compared to like Acura but Acura you know I don’t know that that’s a different type of product compared to tier Below in price and public perception from luxury right and they don’t have a plug-in hybrid they don’t that doesn’t compete in this class so
That leaves you the only other thing is like the Koreans when you drive the gv70 and the gv80 while it might have Tech figured out better and some of the isolation better that’s going to depreciate like a brick compared to this and it’s not something you’re going to
Keep long term so that’s really the pro of why you would choose Lexus over the other brands the only reason you would pick this is if you knew you bought an SUV and you wanted to keep it 10 years yeah which I’m going to argue that most people who buy full-size luxury
SUVs keep them for 3 to 5 years Max it’s either we’re not talking about regular RX now we’re talking about the plugins yes when you’re pay when you’re paying like 70 grand for an SUV the reason you’re buying this thing is because you’re going to keep it three to five
Years and then you’re going to move on to the next one if you’re that buyer honestly I’m going to I think this is going to be a rare car I don’t think there’s going to be a ton of them and I think it’s going to be hard to find in
The next couple years and personally I think it’s going to hold its value incredible compared to all the other things so you know even that price point I don’t think it should be 70 grand I think it’s it’s so much money for what you’re getting here but at the same time you could
Argue that with a lot of Lexus products that people just will fight over in the Ed Market too it’s just hard for me to look at what you’re paying for for 70 grand and you look at the alternatives for the same money and go yes I feel my
Money is well utilized I I agree with you honestly as much as I love this brand it it it’s it’s a really hard sell as a luxury product and I talked about it in the interior it’s like the plastic wood there’s just some it just doesn’t
Feel as much of a luxury product as much as they’ve tried to turn up $50,000 or 55 like an MDX yeah yeah not a type S but a regular MDX 60 Grand okay yes and over 70 mhm you’re playing in a different field and it’s harder for me
To be like okay yeah and again it goes if you’re comparing them all side by side that’s where this argument is so I’m going to leave it at that J all right Mark with that let me go crash into the snow back please Don’t final thoughts on the RX plug-in hybrid over the course of this video it’s fairly obvious this is for a very specific buyer you’re not looking for Value you’re not looking for the ultimate and luxury features you’re not looking for the bleeding edge of safety technology and driving Dynamics you’re
Looking for a vehicle that you can plug in at home get get 30 to 40 mil of range and do your daily commute without having to fill this up that often but you also want to be able to go and do the real world things that hybrids and plugins
Allow you to do take large road trips if you drive this gingerly you can get essentially 550 miles of range on a full tank of gas and using the EV component you can also Force charge it like if you just want to have the EV stocked up you
Can hold a button and it will charge itself with the gasoline engine so you can use the EV part next day so you’re not tied to a charger and if you’re in a bad condition like we are in the midwest in the winter and you don’t you know you
Don’t have enough range to get home or whatever you don’t have to be saddled to a charger outside at slower charging speed so it’s kind of the best of this generation you’re just paying a lot of money for that privilege I feel like a broken record we
Talk about this all the time a lot of these vehicles are just definitely not worth their price tag and when you get to the 70 plus th000 range it’s a serious amount of cash to outlay if you’re financing it or even buying it you know most of these things are Lease
Only so I you know I think you can read between the lines there I don’t need to say anything more but overall it performs its Duty well it’s just can you swallow uh the amount that you’re going to have to pay to get something like this thanks for watching I’ll see you next
Video
We review the new 2024 Lexus RX450 Plug-in Hybrid, a Luxury SUV designed to bridge the gap between the EV world and a normal vehicle. While the price tag of $70,000 may cause shock, the Lexus is going in a different direction for a unique buyer. Others to consider are BMW X5, Volvo XC60 Recharge, Genesis GV80, Acura MDX, and Mazda CX-90 PHEV.
#cars #technology #engineering
Index:
00:00 Interior and Exterior
4:06 Mechanical Impressions
7:30 Driving Impressions
15:33 Final Thoughts
