Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are perfect for people who want to try living with an electric vehicle (EV) without worrying about range anxiety. However, PHEVs are a transitional technology as consumers wean themselves off fossil fuels, wait for the EV charging infrastructure to develop, and fully adopt electrics as their future modes of transportation.
For 2022, the Lexus NX 450h+ joins the compact luxury PHEV SUV fray. It is based on the redesigned Lexus NX and uses technology shared with the Toyota RAV4 Prime PHEV. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the new 2022 Lexus NX 450h+ will travel 37 miles on electricity alone before its gasoline engine turns on. After that, it operates as a gas-electric hybrid and gets 36 mpg in combined city/highway driving.
Just because the NX 450h+ is efficient, don't assume that it can't accelerate out of its own way. The total combined horsepower rating is 304 ponies, and Lexus quotes acceleration from zero-to-60 mph in six seconds flat. If not fast, that's at least quick. But the powertrain doesn't sound happy to oblige a heavy right foot.
Previously, JD Power reviewed the 2022 Lexus NX 350. This review focuses on the NX 450h+ and how its plug-in hybrid powertrain potentially impacts its overall appeal to consumers.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
The Lexus NX competes in the Compact Premium SUV market segment. According to data collected from verified new-vehicle buyers for the JD Power 2022 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study, 51 percent of new Lexus NX buyers are female (vs. 38 percent for the segment), and the median age of a new Lexus NX buyer is 63 years (vs. 55).
As part of the APEAL Study, owners rated the NX in 10 primary categories. Listed below in descending order, you'll find their preferences, from their most favorite thing about the vehicle to their least favorite:
In the 2022 APEAL Study, the NX ranks 13th out of 15 Compact Premium SUV models.
In the sections that follow, our independent expert analyzes a fully loaded Lexus NX 450h+ equipped with the following options:
The test vehicle's price came to $61,785, including the $1,075 destination charge.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
To create the 2022 NX plug-in hybrid, Lexus pairs a 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine with an 18.1-kWh lithium-ion battery, front and rear electric motors, and an electronic continuously variable transmission (eCVT). The electric all-wheel-drive (AWD) system reportedly varies torque distribution continuously. It can operate solely in front-drive mode or transfer as much as 80 percent of the torque to the rear wheels.
Four powertrain modes are available. In EV mode, the NX 450h+ operates like an electric vehicle. However, if your right foot pushes hard enough on the accelerator pedal, the gasoline engine will briefly turn on to provide extra power for speedy acceleration or climbing a mountain grade.
In HV mode, the NX 450h+ operates like a traditional hybrid, using just electricity at low speeds and running the gasoline engine at higher speeds. There is an Auto EV/HV mode, too, which automatically adjusts how the powertrain operates to optimize both performance and overall efficiency.
Lastly, there is a Hold Charge mode. This allows the driver to run the NX 450h+ on the gasoline engine until it is desirable to operate solely on electricity. This is useful in the urban EV-only congestion zones found in other parts of the world.
In addition, Lexus offers three driving modes, including Eco, Normal, and Sport. You access them using an oddly placed control knob on the dashboard.
A 3.3-kW onboard charger allows you to recharge the NX 450h+ overnight using a standard 120-volt household outlet. You can achieve the same result on a 240-volt home charging station or public charger in about 4.5 hours. Upgrade to the optional 6.6-kW onboard charger and you can get a full charge on a 240-volt source in 2.5 hours.
Lexus offers the NX 450h+ in an F Sport Handling trim level that equips the electric crossover SUV with a sport-tuned, adaptive damping suspension and slightly revised styling. The automaker says the equipment drops the SUV's drag coefficient from 0.37 to 0.35, but the standard NX 450h+ test vehicle did without these modifications.
I put about 300 miles on the test vehicle and plugged it into a standard 120-volt household electrical outlet each night. With each full recharge, the trip computer indicated either 37 miles or 38 miles of electric driving range, but with each outing that would exceed that distance, the NX 450h+ fell short. Based on my experience, driving at higher highway speeds instead of lower city speeds or in traffic burns through the battery faster, especially when you have four people aboard. Observed electricity consumption rates varied between 2.3 and 2.8 kWh per 100 miles.
In urban and suburban environments, the NX 450h+ feels spry, nimble, and enjoyable to drive. On highways, it provides a good ride quality and is quiet inside. Based on data from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Americans drive an average of 39.1 miles daily, including weekends. Keep the NX 450h+ charged up and you'll cover most of those miles using nothing but electricity.
That's good, because when the 2.5-liter 4-cylinder gasoline engine fires up, the NX PHEV adds a dissatisfying grumble occasionally accompanied by droning from the eCVT. This is especially evident when accelerating onto a fast-moving freeway or requesting added power to pass slower traffic. This Lexus is quick, but it sounds unhappy about the situation.
Around town, where you're likely to encounter speed humps and speed bumps, the Lexus NX 450h+ feels solid and secure due to its robust platform and vehicle architecture. This Lexus is softly sprung and does an excellent job of isolating suspension, road, and tire noise. However, the SUV's regenerative brakes can feel a little grabby and difficult to modulate—a common problem with this kind of braking system.
If you plan to drive an NX 450h+ with enthusiasm, I recommend getting the F Sport Handling version for its sport-tuned, adaptive damping suspension. In standard specification, the handling is secure, and with all its extra weight located low in the chassis, it displays a flat cornering attitude. But on undulating pavement surfaces, excessive lateral body rocking is a source of irritation.
I did not notice much difference in powertrain responsiveness in Sport mode. In addition, the NX 450h+ comes with steering wheel shift paddles, but since you can't hear the ratios decisively changing and the transmission returns to regular Drive mode in short order, they're not satisfying to use.
The test vehicle had 235/50 Bridgestone Alenza tires, which squealed easily in curves and regularly broke loose while powering out of corners—despite the NX 450h+ model's standard AWD. The steering is decent, but in Sport mode, the effort level was too heavy and felt artificial, so I preferred Normal mode.
Overall, I think the standard NX 450h+ is best for daily-driving situations. If you're seeking maximum driving enjoyment, the NX 450h+ F Sport Handling version is probably what you want.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
Because Lexus mounts the NX 450h+'s battery under the cabin's floor and the rear electric motor is compact, the PHEV drivetrain does not encroach on passenger room or cargo space. That means the NX 450h+ has the same rear-seat legroom and headroom as other versions of the SUV. It also matches other NX models for cargo volume.
Behind the back seat, the NX PHEV has 22.7 cubic feet of cargo space. Fold the rear seat down and the SUV supplies 46.9 cubic feet. Unfortunately, these numbers are smaller than what you'll find in many of the NX's rivals in the compact luxury SUV segment.
Front-seat comfort is good, and the NX 450h+ has real leather instead of the NuLuxe simulated stuff in most versions of the SUV. In the test vehicle, heated and ventilated front seats also contributed to driver and front passenger satisfaction, and usable storage space is decent.
While my teenagers complained that the NX wasn't as roomy inside as our own 3-row midsize SUV, the grumbling was minimal. My tall 14-year-old was more concerned about the accessory tablet computer holder mounted to the test vehicle's front passenger seatback. She thought she might smack her head on it in a collision.
At the end of my week with the NX 450h+, the remote key fob battery died after warning me for two days that it was getting low. I went out to the SUV, tried to unlock it and open the driver's door, but I could not. Considering that the NX has electronic door latches, this was a troubling development.
Since the owner's manual was locked inside the NX, I resorted to YouTube, where I found a dealership video explaining what to do if the remote key fob battery dies. There is a physical key inside the remote itself, and after you pop the plastic cover on the NX's door handle, you'll find the slot that allows you to use the key to open the door.
Next, you need to start the SUV, which has an electronic push-button engine-start button. Hold the remote very close to the start button, and it should be able to generate enough signal to activate the system. In this case, it did, and the NX started up and was ready for a trip to the dealership for a new remote fob battery. My question, however, is this: Why did a new 2022 model-year Lexus suffer a remote keyfob battery failure?
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
The dead remote key fob battery capped off a week of frustration with the NX's new technology. From the small digital instrumentation panel with its crowded data and tiny indicator icons to the head-up display that is effectively invisible if you're wearing polarized sunglasses, I wonder just how much user-experience testing Lexus did with the new NX before releasing it to the public.
Furthermore, considering the infotainment system only ranks higher than fuel economy in the latest JD Power APEAL Study, according to the people who own the new NX, I'm not alone in my dissatisfaction.
In years past, Lexus took significant heat over its Remote Touch Interface (RTI) infotainment systems. They did not have touchscreen displays. Instead, drivers had to use their fingertips on a trackpad on the center console, which operated like a mouse on a laptop computer. This type of user interface is fine when using a laptop because your focus is on the laptop's screen. When you're driving a car, it's a terrible setup that causes significant distraction.
With the redesigned 2022 NX, Lexus debuts an entirely new infotainment system that banishes RTI to the dustbin of history in favor of what is supposed to be a more intuitive and user-friendly technology with a large touchscreen, natural-voice recognition, and lots of cloud-based features and services. Since the test vehicle did not have an active connected services subscription, most of the time, I ran Apple CarPlay.
At some point, I disconnected my phone from the Bluetooth, but then the system began issuing a “Wireless connection failed” message on the infotainment system display with two choices: “Cancel” and “Retry.” Choosing “Cancel” did not cancel the system’s apparent attempts to reconnect to my device, which was downright maddening.
All of the NX's displays are troubling. The oversized 14-inch Lexus Interface has plenty of onscreen real estate. Yet, it can only show one function at a time, so you can't display the radio and the navigation map simultaneously. Plus, it shows a tremendous amount of reflection and glare.
The opposite problem exists with the relatively small digital instrumentation and head-up displays (HUD). Here, Lexus crams the data together and expresses it using small icons, making it hard to quickly find and reference the information while driving.
Also, if you wear polarized sunglasses, the HUD is invisible. That makes it impossible to discern the functions of the dual-purpose, unmarked directional control buttons on the steering wheel because you must reference the HUD to understand which purpose is active. For example, you can't easily resume the adaptive cruise control if you've had to disengage it for any reason.
That issue may have also contributed to my inability to get visual warnings and messages related to the advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS). In my peripheral vision, I could see that they were occasionally displayed on the digital instrumentation panel. Still, by the time I reacted, looked down, and focused, they would disappear from view. Were they also showing on the HUD? Maybe, but I couldn't see them.
While we're on the subject of the invisible HUD, it's worth noting that the NX's front cross-traffic warning system uses it to show orange arrow indicators warning of traffic approaching from either side. With my sunglasses on, I couldn't see those, either.
Beyond that issue, the NX's steering-assist technology had difficulty negotiating a curve in a road with an intersection in the middle of it and both left and right turn lanes. On other curvy parts of a coastal highway, the steering assist sometimes wanted to hug either the double-yellow center lines or the white lines, and I had to intervene and steer the SUV away from the edge of the lane and toward the center of the road.
In addition, on a tight, winding, two-lane mountain road in Malibu, I came upon a parked motorcycle on the shoulder of a curved section of the road but dead ahead of the NX. As the Lexus approached, the forward-collision warning system issued an urgent alert followed by momentary activation of the automatic emergency braking system as I turned into the curve in the road.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
The 2022 Lexus NX 450h+ is a solid choice in a plug-in hybrid electric SUV, with the glaring exception of its infotainment system and safety features.
Would an active subscription to connected services resolve my complaints about the Lexus Interface infotainment? Potentially, but I still wouldn’t be able to display both the connected navigation map and the satellite radio display at the same time.
Would wearing different sunglasses fix my trouble seeing the HUD? Definitely. But other automakers have figured out how to make a HUD visible with these kinds of shades.
Would limiting my use of the ADAS to straight sections of divided highways reduce my griping about the driver-assistance tech? Certainly, because on freeways it behaved nicely.
Is it possible I missed something obvious that could have rectified these issues? Always. I'm human and imperfect.
Nevertheless, I haven't experienced this level of technologically induced frustration in a modern automobile in a long time. Based on this experience driving the new NX, I actually miss that old RTI infotainment setup.
Christian Wardlaw is a veteran digital automotive journalist with nearly 30 years of experience in test-driving vehicles. He has held editorial leadership roles with Edmunds, JD Power, the New York Daily News, and others. In addition to JDPower.com, his work has appeared in numerous new- and used-car buying guides, newspapers, and automotive industry trade journals including Autotrader, Capital One Auto Navigator, CarGurus, Kelley Blue Book, WardsAuto, and more.
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