PHEV boost! Popular Lexus NX450h+ plug-in mid-size SUV returns to sale in Australia as Tesla Model Y and Mercedes GLC rival’s production bottleneck finally eases

January 2, 2025January 1, 2025 John Mahoney 4367 Views 0 Comments Lexus, NX450h+, PHEV

With plug-in hybrid sales on the rise in Australia, Lexus has welcomed the NX450h+ PHEV back on sale Down Under for the first time since March 2023 when a stop sale was placed on the popular SUV.

Blaming a lack of supply and a two-year waiting list that stretched well into 2025 for the pause, the returning Lexus NX450h+ is only offered in the flagship F-Sport grade with the Enhancement Pack 2 fitted.

The 450h+ arrives back with PHEV sale sup 100 per cent in 2024, albeit off a small base. It also returns just months before a significant Fringe Benefits Tax exemption is axed for plug-ins.

Prices start at a hefty $95,000 plus on-road costs, which is $5910 more than Lexus charged back in March 2023.

For that money you get an SUV that shares a platform and powertrain with the Toyota RAV4 PHEV not offered Down Under.

Blending a 136kW/227Nm 2.5-litre naturally-aspirated four-cylinder with a punchy 134kW/270Nm front e-motor and a second electric motor that produces 40kW and 121Nm driving the rear wheels, combined, the NX can launch from 0-100km/h in just 6.3 seconds.

More relevant for those buying the premium plug-in SUV is its large 18.1kWh lithium-ion battery pack that is claimed to provide for an impressive 87km of pure-EV driving under ADR 81/02 (NEDC) lab testing.

That figure exceeds the Mazda CX-60 (76km), Volvo XC60 (81km) and Mitsubishi Outlander (84km) that helped set the template for plug-in hybrid SUVs.

Official fuel economy, meanwhile, is the usual unrealistic PHEV lab testing number at just 1.3L/100km.

VFACTS data reports just 5619 Lexus NXs were sold between January and November this year, which is a drop of 11.8 per cent in volume over the same 11-month period in 2023.

Despite lack of stock the NX450h+ along with the NX350h still were said to account for 74.4 per cent of all NX deliveries in 2024, with the base NX250 only accounting for 25.6 per cent of sales.

Even with the drop off in the medium SUV priced above $60,000 category the Lexus NX is still the second best-selling model after the dominant Tesla Model Y (12,516).

Thanking customers for their patience Lexus Australia CEO John Pappas said he had been working “extremely closely with our production teams in Japan to ensure we would have sufficient volume moving forward.”

Meanwhile, Lexus has also announced its petrol ES 250 mid-size sedan will be axed from the line-up for 2025, leaving only the ES 300h+ hybrid in the line-up.

The petrol-electric ES accounts for 90 per cent of deliveries, Lexus said.

Deliveries of Lexus vehicles to the end of November 2024 with either hybrid, PHEV or battery electric powertrains sits at 74.5 per cent, keeping the luxury brand on track to transition to 100 per cent electrified by 2030.