Lexus NX 450h+ lands in long-term test as pricing and PHEV details are set out

Lexus’s NX 450h+ F Sport returns to the spotlight

Chasing Cars has added a Lexus NX 450h+ F Sport to its long-term garage, describing it as the priciest version of the brand’s popular midsize premium SUV and noting that the loan runs for six months and a target 10,000 kilometres. The outlet said the 2022-onwards, plug-in hybrid NX 450h+ F Sport was priced from $96,000, or about $97,200 before on-road costs and extras in 2026, placing it roughly four grand above the earlier RX 350h Luxury loaner it had previously run. ¹

Where the NX 450h+ sits in the range

Chasing Cars and GoAuto both positioned the NX 450h+ near the top of the NX line-up, but they did so in different trim contexts. Chasing Cars said the 450h+ Luxury arrived in November 2025 at $84,500 list before adding the as-tested 450h+ F Sport at $96,000, while GoAuto’s 2 March 2026 review of the 450h+ Luxury also listed it at $84,500 plus on-road costs and called it a late addition to the range after the deletion of the NX 250 Luxury as stock sold through. ¹³

Chasing Cars also said the broader NX range included 350h Luxury from $71,700 list, 350h Sport Luxury and F Sport from $79,200, an AWD premium of $4,800 to $5,800 depending on grade, and the turbo-petrol F Sport at $79,450. It said the NX range had 16 variants and that the 450h+ F Sport sat at the summit, with Enhancement Pack 2 standard on that grade. ¹

Confirmed plug-in hybrid hardware and equipment

GoAuto’s two reviews agreed on the NX 450h+ drivetrain details: a 2.5-litre plug-in hybrid system with intelligent all-wheel drive, combined output of 227kW and 450Nm, and an 18.1kWh lithium-ion battery. The 2026 Luxury review said the battery delivered a claimed 87km of electric-only driving range, while the 2022 F Sport review said the real-world electric range in that test reached up to about 70km, with the best result recorded at 68km. ³⁴

The 2026 GoAuto review said the NX 450h+ Luxury included heated and ventilated front seats with eight-way adjustment, heated rear outboard seats, a heated steering wheel, smart entry and start, a wireless smartphone charger, leather-accented upholstery, panoramic view monitor, powered tailgate and Lexus Safety System+ active safety tech. The 2022 review of the NX450h+ F-Sport added that the flagship grade featured a 14.0-inch touchscreen, digital instrument pod, head-up display-linked steering wheel controls, leather upholstery, heated and ventilated front seats, heated mirrors, a sunroof and a 10-speaker Mark Levinson audio system. ³⁴

Charging, performance and driving claims

GoAuto said Lexus claimed a 0-100km/h time of 6.3 seconds for the NX 450h+, with variable torque distribution from 100:0 to 20:80 front-to-rear. The 2026 review said the air-cooled AC charging system used a 6.6kW on-board charger that could replenish the battery in as little as two and a half hours on a 32A supply, or around seven and a half hours on 10A, while the 2022 review said home charging was about eight hours on a 7kW system and two to three hours on a wall charger or public unit. ³⁴

In its 2022 road test, GoAuto said the NX450h+ AWD was quicker and more engaging than many rivals, but it also noted the plug-in obligation and said the standard hybrid NX350h AWD might be better value by around $8,000. The same review said the NX450h+ could use as little as 1.5L/100km when charged and around 6.0L/100km when the battery was depleted, depending on route and usage. ⁴

Historical context and market position

Chasing Cars said the NX was Lexus’s biggest-selling model in the Australian midsize premium SUV class in 2025, with 6,024 units, ahead of the Mazda CX-60 on 5,410 and BMW X3 on 4,909. Chasing Cars’ Lexus NX page also described the second-generation NX as a refinement step forward and listed an ANCAP five-star rating, providing context for the PHEV variant’s place in the wider range. ¹²

Chasing Cars framed the long-term test as a comparison of the NX 450h+ F Sport’s price and packaging against premium rivals such as the Audi Q5, BMW X3 and Mercedes-Benz GLC, but its documented concern was not about segment demand. Instead, the outlet said the key question was whether the smaller, older-generation NX could justify its premium when measured against the roughly $107,000 on-road figure it cited for the as-tested vehicle. ¹