Lexus NX 450h+ long-term test: report 5

The car Lexus NX 450h+ Premium Pack Run by Will Williams, senior photographer

Why it's here To see if this plug-in hybrid can suit someone who covers a lot of miles, while serving as both family transport and a working vehicle

Needs to Combine the practicality and wow factor that you'd expect from a large, prestige SUV, with the low running costs you wouldn't

Mileage 7930 List price £52,870 Target Price £51,686 Price as tested £57,370 Test economy 67.3mpg Official economy 256.8mpg

10 August 2022 – Staying cool

In Winter, and especially when you’ve been shooting on a Welsh hillside all day, I appreciate the value of a heated seat for keeping me toasty on the way home. But in the midst of Summer, it’s the reverse I’m turning to, in the form of the cooled seats in my Lexus NX.

With their powerful cooling – I can choose from three settings, depending on how hot and bothered I am – they help to keep me alert during my drive and mean I don’t arrive at my destination feeling flustered. They are also pretty quiet in operation, even with both front seats running on the highest of their available cooling settings.

What’s more, using the intuitive Lexus Link app on my phone, I can schedule the air conditioning to turn on ahead of my journey so that the car is chilled to my chosen temperature before I even leave the house. It does this using power from the charger supply, which means the Lexus’ electric range isn’t depleted as part of the effort.

In fact, it’s probably more efficient than getting in the car and having the air conditioning on full blast to cool it down like you do in most cars, because it doesn’t need to utilise the cars’ energy. I can set it working straight away, or if I’m organised (read if I don’t forget), I can schedule a time ahead for it to switch on, and set how long a duration I need it to run for.

Conversely, when Autumn and Winter arrive, I’ll be able to plan for the car to be toasty warm for those frosty early morning starts. 

The app was initially a bit glitchy, and it wrongly warned me that my car was unlocked when it wasn’t. But, after a recent update, it's far more stable and a joy to use.

It can also show me how much charge is remaining, what my overall range is, where the car is parked and when to book a service;  and as the NX hurtles towards the 10,000-mile mark, that last one is a function I’ll be using before long.

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