Lexus all but locks in NX450h+ as brand’s first PHEV for Oz

Lexus has all but confirmed the NX450h+ mid-sized SUV will be sold in Australia with a plug-in hybrid electric system – finally giving the brand a PHEV to sell alongside the upcoming UX300e EV.

The imminent announcement and arrival of the brand’s first EV – and first electrified model – means Lexus will finally join Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW in offering cars that can be recharged.

But the near-certain arrival of the Lexus NX450h+ will coincide with the discontinuation of three of the 11 Lexus models currently on sale – including the IS mid-sized sedan that has been a mainstay and former top seller of the Japanese brand since arriving here in 1999.

UPDATED: First drive review of the Lexus NX450h+

Speaking to Australian media this week, the chief executive of Lexus Australia, Scott Thompson, said he was “really keen to make [the NX450h+] a possibility”.

“We’re currently in talks with our parent company about bringing the NX450h+ to Australia,” Thompson told media in the briefing, adding that he could not quite announce its arrival yet.

“We’ve a little bit more work to do … we’ve got strong interest in the car.

“We really want the car in Australia, but we just cannot confirm it today.”

His recent comments come weeks after Lexus cryptically said in a press release that “further details will be communicated about the NX450h+ in due course”.

All of which is adding up to the NX450h+ being all but a done deal for Australia.

The NX450h+ uses a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine matched to two electric motors. Between them the two power sources make 225kW, enough to propel the mid-sized SUV to 100km/h in less than six seconds.

It also has an 18.1kWh battery pack that allows the car to travel on electricity alone for up to 75km.

The NX450h+ is set to join the upcoming UX300e electric SUV in being the first cars from Lexus that can be recharged externally.

It would compete with the Mercedes-Benz GLC300e and upcoming BMW X3 PHEV.

Thompson defended the time it has taken for Lexus to unveil an electrified model in Australia, arguing “we believe we’re launching battery electric at the right time”.

That’s despite electric pioneer Tesla outselling the Lexus IS by about five-to-one in Australia in 2020.

Lexus has been late to the electric race in Australia, instead focusing on its regular hybrids.

Lexus previously used to market those hybrids as “self-charging”, something that prompted the Norwegian Consumer Authority to ban similar ads on the grounds they were misleading.

Around the same time Toyota Australia and eventually Lexus abandoned the overt “self-charging hybrid” marketing (there are still some references to it on the Lexus Australia website).

Meanwhile Thompson told media the company would be discontinuing the once-popular IS as well as the RC sports coupe and the CT200h hybrid. The imminent absence of the trio decimates the Lexus Australia lineup.

He blamed the unexpected model cull on a new Australian design rule regarding side airbags.

Petrol and regular hybrid versions of the all-new NX are already confirmed to arrive in Australia late this year and will be offered with the regular hybrid tech Lexus has dominated the market with. Thompson revealed that the hybrid would be the top seller in the lineup, as it is in the mechanically similar Toyota RAV4.

Once again, the NX sits on the same architecture as the RAV4 from parent company Toyota, although Lexus has stepped up the cabin presentation for what is these days the brand’s most popular model.