Lexus at its peak—the 2024 RX450h+ is one smooth plug-in hybrid

Enlarge / It's a somewhat pricey plug-in hybrid, but it's also quite competent. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

Arguably, some of Lexus' greatest innovations have been in its product strategy as much as any technology to emerge from its R&D labs. When it launched in 1989, it was with the idea that a car could combine Japanese reliability with the luxury and power expected from a big German sedan. A few years later the RX basically invented the crossover category with SUV-like looks but with fewer of the handling compromises.

I'll be frank—I haven't always jelled with those crossovers. During the last couple of years we tested both the RX 500h F Sport, which I didn't find that sporty or particularly efficient, and the battery-electric RZ 450e, which left me very cold. Third time is evidently the charm, because I got on much better with the topic of today's review, the RX 450h+ Luxury, to give it its full name.

This is Lexus' plug-in hybrid version—the 500h carries a much smaller battery that only recharges as the car drives. In fact, it's the same plug-in hybrid powertrain as that found in the smaller, cheaper NX crossover, combining a 2.5 L four-cylinder gasoline engine and a pair of electric motors fed by an 18.1 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. Total power output is 304 hp (227 kW), but Lexus has declined to publish a combined torque figure or any outputs for the electric motors.