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The first purely electrically powered model from the Toyota Group, the Lexus UX 300e.
Photo: Lexus
The first impression:
Pretty tame, the design - and almost a copy of the well-known hybrid variant.
The Lexus only looks fresh because you rarely see it.
Since construction of the model began in March 2019, Lexus has hardly sold more than 2500 copies in Germany.
Competitive models such as the BMW X1, Audi Q3 or Mercedes GLA reach such a number in less than two months.
The manufacturer says:
Nanu?
Not pure battery, but hybrid drive is the right answer to the questions of our time - this is how the German Lexus boss Holger Nelsbach speaks about the drive portfolio of his model range.
In fact, the combination of a powerful petrol engine and a weak electric motor, as well as a small buffer battery, accounts for 90 percent of Lexus sales.
The brand no longer offers diesel vehicles at all.
At the mother Toyota, the enthusiasm for pure battery vehicles is also limited.
Toyota spokesman Thomas Schalberger leaves no doubt that the hybrid drive is the better, because it is affordable, solution;
while in electric driving on long journeys there is no way around the hydrogen-powered fuel cell.
So with the battery electric car, Toyota has a fairly long line.
But gradually electricity flows into it.
"There are markets like China, for example, where we can't avoid a battery-powered car," says Schalberger.
And when it comes to locally emission-free short-haul mobility, the battery is definitely justified.
And so Toyota and Lexus are now swimming with the flow and suddenly appear "electrified" with the UX 300e.
Instead of developing a new platform for the e-model, such as VW with the MEB, the group is first converting a gasoline engine to a battery drive.
In the long run, however, it will not stop with such modifications.
In the meantime, the group has announced that it will have its own electric platform on which, among other things, a new Lexus and a compact SUV will be built at Toyota in two or three years.
We noticed:
The first
all-
electric Lexus barely hides the fact that it is a compulsory exercise.
While other manufacturers are changing combustion engines that have been converted to e-cars at least on the radiator grille or rear, only the lettering makes the difference here.
Inside, the hybrid and e-car variants of the handy off-road vehicle are even completely identical.
When driving, the UX is flawless - apart from the artificial-looking spaceship sound that can thankfully be switched off.
Like all Stromer, the Lexus hums away silently, quietly and quickly - and this less aggressively than the Volvo XC40 Recharge.
That the Lexus puts an end to the range at 160 km / h - for free.
Even the Teslas, which can reach speeds of up to 250 km / h, rarely travel at more than 120 km / h.
And the hybrid UX only manages a maximum of 177 km / h.
So why go to the trouble and at the same time reduce the radius of action?
Lexus is more ambitious when it comes to range.
There are different levels of recuperation that can be changed with paddles on the steering wheel.
While the UX rolls out unhindered in the lowest level, the polarity reversed electric motor at the other end of the scale decelerates so much that a mechanical brake is often hardly needed.
The air conditioning and seat heating are coordinated so that they consume little electricity.
For this purpose, the vehicle also detects which spaces in the car are actually occupied.
Similar to engine and driving performance, Lexus has determined the battery size.
With 54.3 kWh storage capacity and a WLTP range of 315 kilometers, the Lexus UX hardly wins any comparison in this class.
After all, a side effect of the sparingly dimensioned battery: The air-cooled battery pack fits under the floor of the car and does not take up any of the tight interior.
On the contrary: Compared to the hybrid model, the e-car even gains 47 liters of luggage space thanks to this design (now a total of 367 liters).
Lexus has missed an opportunity offered by the moderate battery: That the battery at the charging station becomes full very quickly.
Because the UX 300e also taps with 50 kW at best from the DC pillar, the car is 80 percent charged for at least 50 minutes.
You have to know that:
Built in Japan and primarily developed for the Chinese market, the UX 300e will be available in Germany at the turn of the year.
Prices start at 47,550 euros for 150 kW / 204 hp and the 54.3 kWh battery, which is around 12,000 euros above the hybrid model.
Although the UX is the first battery-electric model from the Toyota Group, they are not completely bare in terms of technology, says Germany boss Nelsbach.
On the contrary: "With more than 15 years of hybrid experience, we are so familiar with batteries that we give an unrivaled warranty of ten years or one million kilometers on the battery of the electric car." At least a point where the Lexus ahead of the competition and not behind.
We won't forget that:
the battery indicator behind the steering wheel.
It is the former fuel gauge and looks a bit dusty: of all things, it is the only analog display in the otherwise digital cockpit of the electric car.
Thomas Geiger is a freelance writer and was supported in his research by Lexus. Reporting is independent of this.
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