2024 Lexus RX 450h+ Review / The most expensive Lexus RX you can buy

last year the Lexus RX entered its fifth generation and it came with the usual updates that are bowed on a new vehicle there's even a performance version of that car which I previously did a review on and you can check out up there if you're interested this year we're getting the 2024 Lexus rx450h plus plug-in hybrid but at almost $90,000 Canadian or about $70,000 American is this car worth that price let's go for a drive and find out [Music] the Lexus rx450h plus utilizes the same powertrain as

the NX 450h plus as well as the RAF 4 Prime so at the heart of it is a 2.5 L naturally aspirated engine that produces about 180 horsepower on its own but combined it produces 304 horsepower that's two more horsepower than RAF 4 Prime but the same as the NX Le Nexus claims a 0 to 100 km hour time of 6.2 seconds which is about 0.2 seconds slower than the NX plug in hybrid this RX is heavier by about 100 kg from behind the steering wheel in sport mode when the engine and electric motors are workin

g in unison this RX feels plenty quick it has an ecvt automatic so every time they you put your foot down the engine's RPMs are just going to shoot up to whatever they need to be at and they'll just stay there until you start to let off the throttle pedal there are also paddle shifters on the steering wheel and the car will give you a few virtual gears to fool around with when you start to pull one of these paddles this hybrid powertrain has a few different modes that it we switch between so rig

ht now I'm in EV mode and as the name implies I'm driving just on the electric motors and using electricity only the motors have enough power to get you off the line without impeding anybody behind you unless it's a tailgating Tesla of course or if you want to merge onto a highway or overtake another slower moving vehicle on a highway just put your foot down and the instant torque of the electric motors have plenty of punch to get you around the slower moving vehicle this Lexus RX is rated for 6

0 km of electric only driving and for the most part that's what I've actually noticed the most that I was able to squeeze out of it was 63 km and right now the ambient temperatures are hovering around 10° C which which I believe is around 50° F and also I have climate running all the time plus I have been driving up and down Hills as well as a few Highway runs in addition to mostly City driving so if I had to guess if you live in a part of the world where the climate is a little bit warmer than

this and you drive mostly on flat and level areas then you should be able to squeeze out even more than what I was able to do at 63 km another mode of this powertrain is hybrid mode when you push the button on the center console then the computer will automatically hold the battery charge at whatever state it's at and the RX will drive like a normal self-charging hybrid like the RX 350h for example so when you set off from a stop the engine's going to be running to get you up to speed and then o

nce you get up to speed the engine's going to shut off and you'll just drive on the electric motors for brief periods and then it'll switch between the engine and the electric motors you can even choose to have the engine recharge the battery however that will use up a lot more fuel but once the battery is depleted it's not actually depleted you still have a little bit of charge however it won't let you drive just on electricity alone it only keeps that charge so that you still get the full 304

horsepower and you get the E all-wheel drive system there is no physical shaft connecting the engine to the the back wheels there's an electric motor in the back that powers the back wheels so you get the all-wheel drive system but getting back to what happens when the battery is drained the engine will turn on and the RX 450h plus will behave like a normal self-charging hybrid so it'll switch between the engine running and just driving on electricity for brief periods once the battery is deplet

ed and the RX drives in the hybrid mode it should return up to 6.5 L per 100 km in the city and 7.1 L per 100 km on a highway but if you consistently plug in the SUV and use the available electric driving range then you'll be getting much much better fuel consumption figures over the 500 or so kilm that I drove this RX I average just 2.2 L per 100 km recharging the 18.1 KW battery pack will take approximately 2 and 1/2 hours from a level two charger and about 10 to 12 hours from a regular househ

old power outlet the driving dynamics of this new generation Lexus RX are definitely better than the previous generation it doesn't feel quite as soft and as cumbersome as the previous one did however it still doesn't feel quite as sporty or as engaging to drive as say a BMW or even a Genesis however in my opinion that's not the point of Alexus the point of a car like this is to make you feel comfortable and relaxed and this RX definitely does that it's it's also a really easy car to drive it do

esn't have the rear wheel steering of the RX 500h which I previously reviewed but the Turning circle is still pretty good so you can easily Park this car in a tight parking lot but as I said overall very easy car to drive and comfortable as [Music] well with the price of this rx450h plus you'd expect it to be equipped with the Adaptive dampers of the RX 500h but sadly that's not the case however the standard suspension is still really good it feels plush without being overly floaty but over bigg

er bumps it will take a few more jces before the suspension settles the body the transition from Electric to gasoline is imperceivable while on the Move what you may notice are some vibrations from the 2.5 L engine when it is providing power in hybrid mode Additionally the noises from this engine can be evident in some situations such as overtaking slow or moving traffic on highways but when this RX is being propelled by electricity it is as smooth and as quiet as the RZ 450e in other words as s

mooth and as quiet as a Lexus is expected to be the interior of the Lexus RX is a really nice place to be in pretty much every surface that you touch is covered in soft leather from the leather that's on the side of the the center console to the center armrest which does have a decent amount of padding and the center armrest does open either from my side or from the passenger side of course the seats are covered in leather as well as a little bit of suede on the very far edges the steering wheel

is also nice and soft to the touch and there's a little bit more leather on the door panels in addition to some suede that is surrounding the stereo speakers however the there is some material in here that does look a little bit cheap and that is the fake wood that's on the center console on the dashboard as well as on the steering wheel at the price that you're paying for this car it would have been nice if Lexus actually included real wood instead of this Fake Plastic wood but overall still i

s a really nice place to be in additionally there's a lot of space up here in these front seats I am 6'4 above average in height and I have plenty of leg room my knees are nowhere near touching the dashboard additionally I have just enough Headroom but keep in mind this seat is in its lowest position that's just how I like to sit in all of these vehicles so overall really nice place to be in now let's go check out the back seats behind my taller than average driving position I have just enough s

pace in these back seats yes my knees are brushing up against the back of the front seat but by no means do they feel squished at all if somebody more average in height was sitting up there and somebody more average in height was sitting back here then you'd probably have like I don't know an inch 2 in of leg space so this RX definitely offers a lot of leg room however Headroom is not quite as commodious my hair is brushing up against the headliner but these back seats do recline and they are po

wer operated so when I recline it all the way back and I rest my head up against the headrest then my hair is is not brushing up against the headliner I know it's a little hard to see but trust me it's not actually brushing up against it also if you do sit in this seat then you can move the passenger seat forwards and also tilt it forwards for more space there's a couple of buttons right here right next to the seat that allow you to do that I think that they pulled this out of a Genesis because

that's the first car that I saw to have these type of buttons a Genesis vehicle correct me if I'm wrong on that in the trunk the Lexus rx450h plus does not lose that much space in becoming a plug-in hybrid it has 838 L of space behind the second row seats and 1,38 L with the 40240 split power fold seats in the down position but unlike the RX 500h this RX does not have a spare wheel under the floor just a small space for the charging cable [Music] there is no way to sugarcoat this the 2024 Lexus

rx450h plus is the most expensive version of the RX that you can get with a price of $86,900 Canadian for the Canadian Market there are no optional packages to choose from the only options are the paint and interior colors along with some accessories in the United States there are a few packages to choose from such as the convenience package technology package and cold area package at least for the almost $90,000 price tag this is a fully loaded Lexus RX that means it has leather upholstery heat

ed and ventilated seats in all four corners heated steering wheel Dual Zone automatic climate control Power hands-free liftgate a large panoramic sunroof which makes the cabin feel very airy especially with the Macadamia color leather upholstery there's also a wireless phone charging pad a head-up display a rear camera mirror and Surround view cameras which provide an invisible view quote unquote of the car as you park it speaking of parking the RX can locate and park without any driver inputs i

nto any parking spot it can detect the lines on the ground and it does not require any other vehicles around it in order to perform this maneuver in the end it does cost a lot of money to get your hands on this plug-in hybrid Lexus RX but this car is fully loaded it's space ious it feels luxurious and it is really fuel efficient also in today's market cars are definitely getting more expensive as is evident with this one so people are choosing to hold on to them for longer periods and this Lexus

like many others should last a really long time also if you do decide to sell this car say 5 6 years down the road then it should hold its value a lot better than a lot of its luxury competitors so you are paying a lot of it but you should get a lot of money back when you sell it if you would like to know more about this 2024 Lexus rx450h plus plug-in hybrid I have a written review with a few more details about it over on my website you can find that link in the video description or click on th

e popup bner right up here and as always I will see you in the next car or truck or most likely another SUV like this one anyway thank you for watching I hope you enjoyed the video and see you in the next one [Music]