2022 Lexus UX300e Luxury review

The first fully electric Lexus is here and adapted from the current UX small SUV. But at over $70,000, making the value equation work is a tall order.

What we love

Complementary at-home charger

50kW CHAdeMO and Type 2 charging points are handy

Quiet, comfortable and refined to drive

What we don’t

Feels expensive for the size of the car

Not enough driving range to use far beyond urban confines

Controlling the infotainment via the touchpad is tricky

Introduction

Lexus has now gone full-EV with the first battery-electric model from the Japanese luxury brand now hitting Australian shores. It’s called the 2022 Lexus UX300e and uses the same bones as the current UX small SUV.

Instead of a petrol or closed-loop petrol/electric hybird powertrain, this model is fully electric: a 150kW/300Nm electric motor spins the front wheels, and is powered by a 54.3kWh lithium-ion battery package.

Lexus claims that this UX300e has an electric driving range of 360km (according to the lenient NEDC testing cycle), but we found that to be quite inaccurate in the real world. More on that later.

This 2022 Lexus UX300e Luxury is the less-expensive variant of the electric Lexus UX300e, with an asking price of $74,000 before on-road costs. That’s a fair sight cheaper than the $81,000 Sports Luxury variant, but naturally quite a jump in price over the petrol and petrol/electric Lexus UX models.

What do you miss out on for the savings? There’s quite a bit of gear for the $7000 difference: 18-inch alloy wheels (we’ve got 17s here), tri-beam LED headlights with adaptive high-beam (we’ve got regular old LEDs for our spec), a sunroof, head-up display, 360-degree camera, acoustic front and side glass, and a higher grade of materials and finishes to the interior.

Other gear we have in this spec are daytime running lights, auto-folding and heated side mirrors, 10.3-inch infotainment display, 13-speaker Mark Levinson sound system, and 7.0-inch driver instrument display. There’s also tyre pressure monitoring, wireless charging, heated and vented front seats, heated rear outboard seats and steering wheel, and parking sensors front and rear.

And typical to the Lexus buying experience, there isn’t any long list of options or packs to dig through. What you see is what you get. Only the optional premium colour will sting you an extra $1750.

We’ve got a nice Graphite Black that has an impressive amount of metallic content and reaction to the sunlight. Other colours include Sonic Chrome, Sonic Quartz, Titanium, Mercury Grey, Khaki Metal, Carnelian (orange), Caliente (red), Celestial Blue or the only no-cost paint shade Onyx black.

While it is expensive, Lexus does help the value equation slightly by adding in an at-home charger free of cost, as well as three years’ worth of vehicle charging via the Chargefox network.

Inside

This Lexus UX300e is a mostly familiar experience inside to others in the model range, with a few indicators that it’s the battery-powered electric model. There’s one on the instrument binnacle, on the other side of the central speedometer and power indicator. This is a digital set-up, with an additional display on the other side with only basic information available.

The seats are heated, vented and electrically adjustable, and plenty comfortable enough for everyday usage. There’s an electric steering column as well to allow one to get positioned nicely behind the wheel.

There’s a unique gear shifter with a slightly different action for drive and reverse, along with an electric park brake and the touchpad for controlling the infotainment display.

The centre console of this otherwise small vehicle is decently sized and hides two USB-A power outlets. This is joined by a wireless charging pad, 12V outlet and – bless – a CD player.

Otherwise, the built-up nature of the interior layout – with the big dashboard and raised centre console – doesn’t help with the spaciousness or airiness. However, it does feel high-quality and very well put together overall, which puts it in a good position to fight against the likes of an Audi or Mercedes-Benz.

The second row isn’t too spacious, either. We just squeezed kids’ seats into the back, but I wouldn’t like the chances of fitting long-limbed adults behind each other comfortably. There are air vents in the back, however, and a couple of USB-A power outlets further down.

There is a transmission tunnel to contend with in the UX300e, a carryover from its petrol-powered legacy which now functions as cable routing for the high-voltage batteries (with the batteries themselves underslung beneath the floor and back seat). Fitting five adults into the car would be somewhat tight in the back.

The boot is reasonably sized for a small SUV measuring in at 414L. It also bucks the trend of limited boot space in electric vehicles, because Lexus has stowed the battery packs low and central in the UX chassis. Such a thing is good for torsional rigidity and the centre of gravity, but the electric Lexus also gets more boot space than the petrol and hybrid variants. The tailgate is electric, but you don’t get a spare wheel in the UX of any sort. You’ll have to make do with the repair kit.

Infotainment and Connectivity

Despite getting a new electric powertrain, the electric Lexus UX300e has kept the same touchpad-driven infotainment system that Lexus has been using for some years now. The infotainment display is of a good size, and the operating system ticks important boxes like wired Apple CarPlay, wired Android Auto, digital radio and native navigation.

But with no touchscreen capability (and the screen feeling a little out-of-reach), you’re forced to use the mildly infuriating touchpad behind the shifter for your control.

It isn’t all bad, as the volume controls and additional buttons are helpful for navigation. However, attempting to move the pointer between icons accurately is a challenge. Once you’ve got your eye in, it gets a little easier. But there is no doubt that using this while driving takes more effort and attention than a straight touchscreen system.

Other cars in the Lexus line-up have recently had touchscreen capability added, which gives the driver (or passenger) the option of that or the touchpad. Such a thing would be a nice addition to this Lexus UX300e small electric SUV.

The infotainment display is joined by a couple of quaint touches you rarely see on cars these days (an analogue clock and a CD player), and the multi-function display in front of the driver also gives you a small amount of basic information.

Safety and Technology

Safety is an important factor for any new car these days, and the Lexus UX comes away from this test with good results – along with a five-star ANCAP test result in 2019. Adult occupant protection in particular is very good with a 96 per cent score logged.

Along with eight airbags for occupants in the event of a crash, the Lexus has a lot of systems in place to try and prevent such a thing happening.

Autonomous emergency braking comes from forward-facing radar and camera systems, which also power things like traffic sign recognition, smart adaptive cruise control and lane tracing (Lexus speak for driver assist tech that can keep the car centred in the lane even through traffic and curves).

The autonomous braking also works for pedestrians day and night, and cyclists during the day. There’s also brake assistance, automatic high beam, rear cross-traffic alert and blind-spot monitoring.

Another handy feature for a city-focussed vehicle is a kind of low-speed autonomous emergency braking. At speeds below 15km/h, the Lexus UX will use its sensors to monitor for impending collisions (like in parking lots and shopping centres).

Value for Money

If you compare this Lexus UX against non-electric vehicles in its own range, the UX300e is always going to feel very expensive. The petrol-only UX200 costs around $45,000 before on-road costs in a similar specification, while the more powerful (and more efficient) petrol-electric hybrid goes for around $52,000.

That means you’re shelling out more than $20,000 extra to eliminate tailpipe emissions from your vehicle, and have the possibility of a zero-emissions form of transport. That’s the nature of electric vehicles – batteries are expensive and that’s simply the cost of doing business.

Lexus throws in a complimentary at-home charger for the asking price, and three years of charging via the Chargefox, which helps with the value proposition.

Depending on where and how you charge your vehicle, there is a good chance of improving that value-for-money ratio by reducing the running costs overall. We charged up the Lexus using an Evie charger – at 40c per kilowatt hour – which filled us up from near low to 92 per cent for around $13. This could be cheaper if you’re charging via other networks at home.

Having a CHAdeMO and Type 2 plug – both of which are capable of 50kW – is handy for flexibly charging in different locations, and you can get a full charge in around 80 minutes using the most powerful DC charger.

If you charge from home, using the provided 7kW charger, Lexus claims “about” 6.5 hours for a full charge.

For those shopping against other small luxury SUVs with electric propulsion, there is a good mix of options to choose from.

The Mercedes-Benz EQA is similarly priced at $76,800, and the new Polestar 2 can be had with dual motors and a long-range battery from around $70,000. And don’t forget the Volvo XC40 Recharge, which is a $77,000 proposition. But if you’re buying electric, you’d be mad not to consider other options like the Tesla Model 3, Hyundai Ioniq 5, and Hyundai Kona Electric as well.

However, whichever way you cut it, the Lexus offers the least bang-for-buck when you consider driving range. Only the electric Mazda MX-30 offers less driving range at 224km, claimed. The Mercedes EQA offers 480km of claimed electric range, while the XC40 Recharge can go 418km according to WLTP testing.

Driving

There are some clear benefits from this electric powertrain in a small luxury car like the Lexus UX. Firstly, the performance is better. Instant torque is much better than the flaring, hard-revving nature of the petrol engine, and the rolling acceleration is particularly fast and enjoyable.

Getting out of the hole, the electric motor can quickly find (and exceed) the limits of traction afforded by the 17-inch economy-focussed tyres. Get some progressive application of the throttle and the Lexus UX300e offers plenty of acceleration for the application.

While the quality of the ride, steering and performance are all good, you can feel the weight of the thing overall. Its 1840kg is quite a bit for a small, front-wheel-drive car after all, and symptomatic of the battery pack that’s mounted below the floor. That’s about 300kg more than the UX200 Luxury, and you get a sense of that as the electric UX300e starts loading up outside wheels through corners. It’s well-masked by the suspension and steering tuning, but it’s certainly there.

Levels of refinement are quite high, even though this Luxury specification misses out on the acoustic glass that the Sports Luxury specification gets. It’s something that is no doubt helped by the mostly silent electric motor, which allows the Lexus to reach higher levels of refinement than petrol-powered models.

The biggest problem from my point of view is the lack of driving range for the amount of money spent. While Lexus claims around 300km worth of electric driving range between recharges, turning on the air-conditioning quickly saw that indicated number drop down to 264km.

And during a hot Australian summer – with a dark hue nonetheless – you’re using the air-conditioning and vented seats aplenty. From my experience in the Lexus UX300e, I’d be sitting on a safe range of around 250km between recharges.

Conclusion

Not all petrol-turned-electric models are perfectly executed, and that certainly feels like the case here for the 2022 Lexus UX300e. However, there’s plenty to like about the little electric Lexus. It’s quiet, refined, feels cohesive and well made.

It also feels quite expensive for such a small vehicle with a limited driving range.

Whether 250km is enough range will depend upon the end user’s expectations and usage. Considering you can get it back to full overnight is heartening, and 250km is a lot of driving around town to get through for most users.

Those wanting to buy an electric car don’t look at the raw value for money in comparison to fuel-burning alternatives. If you want electric, you’ll need to be happy paying a premium over internal combustion.

And you’ll also need to consider the driving range, and whether it suits your needs, like I mentioned. At least, as part of the Lexus Encore ownership program, UX300e buyers are able to borrow another vehicle from the Lexus range for up to eight days – just the thing to offset the UX’s short touring range if a road trip is on the cards.

What holds the Lexus UX300e back is the fact that you can get a longer driving range for similar money from other brands like Mercedes-Benz and Volvo. Where the Lexus wins some points back, however, is the level of standard kit, as well as the inclusion of a charger installed at home, three years of charging and Encore benefits including valet parking and other special offers.

But if 250km is enough, and this little Lexus is big enough for you in terms of interior space and exterior dimensions, then it’s worth considering.

Keyword: 2022 Lexus UX300e Luxury review