The 450h+ or 450h+ F Sport Handling can go 36 miles electric-only on a fully charged battery. Once the battery is depleted it becomes a normal hybrid. What is the mpg when in hybrid mode?

It is hard to find the hybrid mileage figures, from online reviews, when it is running in the hybrid mode. The best numbers I have seen are only a 3 mpg to 38 city and 34 highway. With the significant increase in performance, this seems a little suspect, The more realistic figure I have seen is a 9 mpg drop to 30 city and 28 highway.

There is a dealership in Sacramento that had a redline Lexus NX 450+ (not F Sport Handling) for $7,500 ADM ( Ha Ha price of tax credit), but they also have a phenomenal trade-in allowance $75.5 % of the original MSRP on a 6-year-old car.

So is it worth it to sacrifice the hybrid mpg advantage the 350h has and also forgo the Mark Levinson audio I really want ( I would have to pay for a professional upgrade like I did on my last Lexus) ?
The Sacramento dealer is touting the higher mpg rating of 38/34

Thanks for your responses ahead of time,


YMMV, (literally true in this sub-discussion LOL )

MidCow

 

EPA says 36mpg
https://fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=44933

How much gas can you buy with the price difference from the 350h?

 

Depends,

Are you getting the 7.500 dollar tax credit? It will expire sometime this spring. When Toyota hits the 200.000 vehicle limit for the credit. Just it has already done for Tesla and Chevrolet.

 

Wouldn't the 350H and the 450H+ get close to the same mileage when both are operating as Hybrids?

The 450H will be less of course, simply because of the extra weight it's hauling around.

Personally, I like the idea of the 450H+ acceleration and instant torque, but the additional cost certainly isn't worth it, IMO.

It probably would be fun though!

 

Lexus.com shows the 350h as "39-MPG EPA ESTIMATE (CMB)".

 

Weight is one big factor. But does the additional 64 Hp ( by the way just this morning, 12/31/2022 Lexus updated their web site on NX) comes from? On the website, the 350h is now rated at 240 Hp, and the 450h+ is now rated at 304 Hp. The 450h+ has 64 more Hp than the 350h.

The weight of the 350h is 4080 lb and the 450h+ is 4,475 lb or 395 lb more.

Is the additional horsepower all from higher-powered electric motors or was the ICE also tweaked? The question is 'are the electric motors in the 450h+ changed ?' or more likely they are being fed a higher voltage/amperage and are being used as higher-powered motors. If so, then does the higher voltage/amperage reduce the lifespan of the electric motors. Another factor, assuming a higher voltage/amperage motor would be that as the 450h+ even in a depleted battery state would recharge the batteries somewhat in a regenerative fashion and still would retain additional performance over the 350h.

YMMV,
Midcow3

 

I don't have an exact mpg, because the weight does subtract from things, but I came up with about $3K in gas saving with the 450+. This assumes I get one of the cheaper rate plans from PGE. Without one of those, or solar, it's about $500 because PGE sucks. Cost will vary depending on electricity.

However, tax credits make things a bit funky, and the $10K price difference means $1.1K in additional TTL, so the hybrid runs anywhere from $2K to $5K less, depending. Of course, none of this means anything with ADM and the way these vehicles are showing up loaded.

FWIW, those numbers are a base 450+ vs a 350h with premium package (want the HUD, not the rest). I did assume premium gas.

 

The primary source of the extra power is the larger battery and related software/hardware allowing increased current. Different gearboxes which incorporate slightly larger MG units as well, but those mainly just accommodate the increased power.