Calvin Fisher returns to Lexus after an absence of perhaps five years, finds everything exactly where he left it and grows insufferably smug about owning a plug.
The Lexus RX 450h+ has always been an oddity to me. Posh, large and now with a plug. Let’s talk about it. But first, this might be a shocker: my recent test of the RX 450h+ marks my first time at the wheel of a Lexus in ages, perhaps five years. Some brands just elude you for a time, but I’m happy to be reunited with the original Japanese luxury marque and its wares. Not much has changed, either. It’s all familiar, the ergonomics especially, everything just as I left it, like revisiting your childhood bedroom, if your childhood bedroom had a 14-inch touchscreen.
THE ORCA IN THE ROOM
Lexus likens the RX’s profile to an Orca killer whale, which is a lot to hang on a family SUV. Yet there’s something to it, what with the 21-inch alloys and the single taillamp wrapped across its rump. Don’t let that svelte, coupe-like shape fool you, though. It’s capacious in there, the seating is comfy and the toys are absolutely brimming: semi-aniline leather, heated and ventilated front seats, a heated wood-and-leather tiller, a head-up display and a panoramic roof. It’s a Toyota product ultimately, so under all that tinsel you’ll encounter some solid engineering that, while it can get its underside dusty, really excels at a more urban lifestyle.
SO WHY THE PLUG?
An 18.1kWh battery and two electric motors join forces with a 2.5-litre 4-pot and an e-CVT, for 227kW, all-wheel drive and 0-100kph in 6.5 seconds. For something this large, that’s no slouch. Those numbers only tell half the story, however. EV is the default mode, good for a claimed 66.5km, and Lexus promises the petrol engine will stay asleep however hard you lean on the loud pedal. How far is your daily commute, really? Plug in overnight, whisper to work, whisper home. Repeat till smug.
Lexus quotes 7.8 hours for an 80% home charge, or 2.7 on the faster Mode 3 cable, and there’s no DC fast charging. The clever bit comes when the battery runs out and the RX simply reverts to being a regular hybrid, a handy trait given Mzansi’s still-modest public charging network. On electric power it’s quiet, cushy and in no hurry to scythe through anything, and that’s fine. Lexus calls the handoffs between petrol and electric barely discernible, though the e-CVT can drone when you ask for more at higher speeds. Do note that Lexus’s 1.3 litres per 100km assumes 75 to 80% of your driving is done on electric power. Forget the cable and you can forget that figure.
THE R1.7 BAR QUESTION
At R1 717 400 this is serious money, and those Chinese plug-ins flooding our shores start at well under half that. What they can’t offer is that Lexus sense of everything being bolted together for the long haul, backed by a seven-year/105 000km warranty and maintenance plan, plus eight years or 195 000km on the hybrid battery.
So, still an oddity? Absolutely. Take as prescribed.
