Plug-in hybrids are a bridge to full electrification, with enough electric driving range to do things around town and the security of an ICE engine when the battery depletes, but they’re also usually expensive. The Lexus RX 450h+ is no different, a luxury plug-in hybrid that can operate on electric and gas power while starting at $70,080.
The 2024 RX 450h+ is the brand’s second plug-in and fourth RX model. Visually, it looks like the other RX models, save a bit of trim and different wheels; the 450h+ rides on standard 21-inch wheels for instance. Things get more interesting when you take a look at the powertrain.
Power comes from the same 2.5-liter inline-4 that powers the NX 450h+. While Lexus didn’t say how much power it makes here in the RX, in the NX the combination of the I4 engine, electric motors driving the rear wheels and an 18.1-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack make 304 total system horsepower.
In the RX, Lexus says the 450h+ is rated for 83 MPGe and gets 35 miles of EV driving range, or one MPGe worse and two fewer miles of EV range compared to the NX 450h+. Those numbers are probably conservative, however; when I tested the NX 450h+ in 2022, for instance, I saw 42 miles of EV range.
Elsewhere, all the usual Lexus luxurious goodies are there in the RX 450h+, too: eighth exterior color options, standard leather seating with heating and cooling, ambient lighting, 14-inch center touchscreen, panoramic roof, and a 21-speaker Mark Levinson sound system. Whether all of that is worth the $70,000 starting price — including over the smaller but cheaper NX 450h+, which starts at $57,705 — is up to you.
