New 2026 NX450h+ owner
Thread Starter
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Oct 2025
Posts: 17
Likes: 4
New 2026 NX450h+ owner
Hello! I'm about to buy my first Lexus, a 2026 NX450h+. It will also be my first plug-in hybrid, and I'm trying to learn as much as I can about the drive modes, and best practices for using them. I think I understand the basic differences between EV, Auto EV, and HV modes, but I'm curious about how people use them in real life driving. My understanding is that the vehicle will start in EV mode, and must be manually changed if there's a desire to switch to Auto EV or HV modes. I'd love to hear from experienced owners about best practices and how they normally use the modes.
Lastly, if there are any other tips or resources anyone suggest for me to check out as a new owner, I'd appreciate hearing about them.
Thanks!
Lastly, if there are any other tips or resources anyone suggest for me to check out as a new owner, I'd appreciate hearing about them.
Thanks!
Last edited by teamcary; Nov 4, 2025 at 12:14 PM.
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2023
Posts: 1,176
Likes: 663
From: Niagara Falls, Ontario
Welcome to the forum!
Feel free to ask anything at all here, don't be shy. We have contributors from all across the globe.
While I have a 350h one of our regular NX forum contributors also has a great youtube channel with plenty of informative videos for you to enjoy and learn about the ups and downs of hybrid ownership and Lexus. He owns a '22 NX450h+ himself.
LSFT is his 'handle'!
Hope you enjoy your new vehicle!
https://www.youtube.com/@lsft
Feel free to ask anything at all here, don't be shy. We have contributors from all across the globe.
While I have a 350h one of our regular NX forum contributors also has a great youtube channel with plenty of informative videos for you to enjoy and learn about the ups and downs of hybrid ownership and Lexus. He owns a '22 NX450h+ himself.
LSFT is his 'handle'!
Hope you enjoy your new vehicle!
https://www.youtube.com/@lsft
Last edited by TheCDN; Oct 31, 2025 at 10:38 AM.
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Apr 2025
Posts: 16
Likes: 4
In town i leave it on EV but i also charge every night. When long time hi way driving i leave it in EV till the battery is about 60% and switch it to Hybrid mode. It seems to the best fuel economy that what
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Oct 2024
Posts: 20
Likes: 6
From: NC
My wife drives the 2025 450h+ primarily around town and always leaves it in EV mode. On occasion it does run out of juice and it seamlessly switches to HV mode. The efficiency savings of switching between modes depending upon your driving conditions seems negligible to me, certainly less than 5 mpg, probably closer to 1 or 2. We just leave it in EV mode and charge it at home every few days as needed. YMMV. Congrats on your purchase.
2025 Luxury Edition Atomic Silver, Palomino 450h+
2025 Luxury Edition Atomic Silver, Palomino 450h+
Pole Position
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 2,903
Likes: 845
From: Idaho
Same here. I find if I put it in "Auto EV/HV" mode, it just uses EV until the battery is at 30% and then goes to standard HV until you plug in. Seems like a pretty useless feature since it doesn't switch back and forth based on driving conditions.
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Rookie
Joined: Apr 2023
Posts: 40
Likes: 19
From: Staffordshire
That's not correct. The car will auto change between HV and EV based on the available battery charge and the road. If you look at your trip info after a long journey the EV usage can be clearly seen along the route.
Rookie
Joined: Dec 2024
Posts: 25
Likes: 9
From: Minnesota
Congratulations on your new 450h+. Like the other suggestions above, I do pretty much the same thing. Run in EV for local trips. A couple of things I do in addition:
- If I'm not going to drive the car for a day or two, I keep the charge of the battery at 80% or lower There are many documents and video about the value of this.
- I purposely run the ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) once a week or so by putting it into HV mode to make sure the engine gets a bit of run time when I'm not going on longer trips + I don't want gas to get stale.
Pole Position
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 2,903
Likes: 845
From: Idaho
I have only tested this feature a couple of times in my 8 months of ownership, but I didn’t ever experience the ICE running. Perhaps I just didn’t push it hard enough? I am not very comfortable pushing a cold/cool ICE so it could have just been me subconsciously being gentle with the accelerator. I guess I need to warm up the ICE and then give this feature a thorough test.
Rookie
Joined: Aug 2025
Posts: 40
Likes: 20
From: New Mexico
My wife has an NX 450h+ and I have a TX 550h+. We just leave them in EV mode. The car switches to hybrid mode automatically when the battery drops to 0 miles of EV range. But this leaves what is necessary for hybrid mode. It doesn't completely drain the battery.
Now, we never use hybrid mode unless we are traveling out of town. So, for us there's no benefit in trying to complicate things trying to save EV mode capacity for city driving. But I can see the possible value of that approach for some people.
FYI, I found the EV mode has plenty of acceleration in both NX and TX, that being in hybrid mode with extra power is just not needed. While EV mode in these cars is not like driving a full-blown EV like a Tesla, it has more acceleration than any car I've ever owned and more than enough in EV mode for any sort of normal driving. For example, merging onto a freeway.
Now, we never use hybrid mode unless we are traveling out of town. So, for us there's no benefit in trying to complicate things trying to save EV mode capacity for city driving. But I can see the possible value of that approach for some people.
FYI, I found the EV mode has plenty of acceleration in both NX and TX, that being in hybrid mode with extra power is just not needed. While EV mode in these cars is not like driving a full-blown EV like a Tesla, it has more acceleration than any car I've ever owned and more than enough in EV mode for any sort of normal driving. For example, merging onto a freeway.
Last edited by Mtracer; Nov 7, 2025 at 08:35 PM.
Driver
Joined: Nov 2024
Posts: 56
Likes: 23
From: Colorado
Me: AUTO, wife: EV. She has enough acceleration because she kicks it while driving, i often need to start from zero. Yes, the ICE may only get used once, but it sure is nice when you need it.
Otherwise, i'm a hypermiler. It is a very rare occasion I will use HV-only. On longer drives i used to try to estimate HV usage to arrive with just 1 mile of EV left, but i always ended with more. Now, I won't bother with HV until the EV- meter actually hits 1.
Here in the mountains, downhill re-gen often throws that game plan out the window, so I end up using AUTO most of the time anyway.
Otherwise, i'm a hypermiler. It is a very rare occasion I will use HV-only. On longer drives i used to try to estimate HV usage to arrive with just 1 mile of EV left, but i always ended with more. Now, I won't bother with HV until the EV- meter actually hits 1.
Here in the mountains, downhill re-gen often throws that game plan out the window, so I end up using AUTO most of the time anyway.
Advanced
Joined: Feb 2018
Posts: 593
Likes: 126
From: San Diego
I messaged @lsft after watching the video on his YouTube Channel. I expect it to switch to HV on the Freeway.?.?
Maybe he can tell us a little more than what he said in the video.
Last edited by gamma742; Nov 9, 2025 at 01:20 PM.