NX350h - Hybrid efficiency in sort journeys

[solarpower]

Hi all,

If I have to drive the NX350h in the morning for a mere distance of 3.5 miles (to journey) , park it for a couple of hour , and then come back (back journey), would the car be running ICE or EV for the 'to' and 'back' journey? I drive everyday like this but do drive long journey around 250 miles once a month. Putting a charger is not an option, so PHEV and EV are ruled out at the moment. My current 1 litre turbo petrol has been giving 45 mpg over 6k miles in such driving conditions. 

Many thanks,

S

[subria88]

You should be able to drive the NX in EV mode for that distance - assuming you are not going over 40mph or so which would trigger the ICE.

 

[wharfhouse]

11 hours ago, subria88 said:

You should be able to drive the NX in EV mode for that distance - assuming you are not going over 40mph or so which would trigger the ICE.

 

The car would run on ICE initially to get the engine warmed up (you can do a few hundred yards without it starting but then it will kick in if the engine is cold). In summer it will switch back to EV in about a mile so long as you are very gentle though and will then probably be on and off for your full journey. The Battery as it's used will also need to be recharged from the ICE at some point so even if you make it one way largely in EV coming home the ICE will be on more. In winter the ICE provides cabin heat and so will be on for most of that journey. 

The choice of a NX350h for continuous use on such short journeys will not give many advantages over just ICE. You really need a PHEV (NX 450h) and charge at home to make those sort short journeys regular on EV only (or a full BEV like UX 300e).

[Lwerewolf]

3.5 miles will have trouble warming up any engine properly in the first place. Still, 2.5l NA vs 1l turbo - I'd go with the turbo on this, just don't skimp on oil quality & change intervals (yet you probably know this). Either way - not a very good use case for a car in the first place.

[Vadim]

My RX450h is surprisingly thirsty on short school runs, because it has to run to warm up almost all the way. This is particularly noticeable in winter.

[Vadim]

Anyway, Lexus is more about safety and comfort rather than fuel efficiency.

[Caspa]

4 hours ago, wharfhouse said:

The choice of a NX350h for continuous use on such short journeys will not give many advantages over just ICE. You really need a PHEV (NX 450h) and charge at home to make those sort short journeys regular on EV only (or a full BEV like UX 300e).

Agreed. Morning trip to the child minders is engine on pretty much all the way, especially in the winter. 

I'm replacing my RX450h with the NX450h+ as the vast majority of my journeys are within EV only range, so definitely the way to go I'd say. 

[Ken R]

Short journeys as stated will barely allow the ICE to heat up and running on the EV motor will certainly not last 3.5miles. I reckon your mpg in an NX will be low to mid 30's for such a journey pattern based upon my experiences with a 300h. Have owned this car from new (2018), covering 30000 miles and overall mpg has been in excess of 40mpg with a mix of driving conditions /distances. I know that consumption rises significantly on short journeys particularly in winter. But as already said Lexus is principally about comfort, safety and reliability. 

[Deathstar]

What’s the distance of ev only range on the new NX350h?  My 300h will do around a mile on Battery

[NemesisUK]

It's worth remembering these 'self-charging' hybrids are really only glorified stop-start systems, not meant to be driven on pure electric for any appreciable distance, think manoeuvring on one's driveway or in a car park.

The new NX450+ is a step toward full electric driving being a plug-in hybrid and a much bigger Battery. Best of both worlds at the moment, giving a decent EV range (think short trip to the shops or urban commute of 40miles) but still has the 'self-charge' fall-back to further when needed. What I don't know is do they have a separate electric powered heater for the cabin? I know one can pre-warm the car but otherwise the ICE will power up to provide warmth, even if it doesn't actually drive the wheels. 

[Deathstar]

3 hours ago, NemesisUK said:

It's worth remembering these 'self-charging' hybrids are really only glorified stop-start systems, not meant to be driven on pure electric for any appreciable distance, think manoeuvring on one's driveway or in a car park.

The new NX450+ is a step toward full electric driving being a plug-in hybrid and a much bigger Battery. Best of both worlds at the moment, giving a decent EV range (think short trip to the shops or urban commute of 40miles) but still has the 'self-charge' fall-back to further when needed. What I don't know is do they have a separate electric powered heater for the cabin? I know one can pre-warm the car but otherwise the ICE will power up to provide warmth, even if it doesn't actually drive the wheels. 

Apparently not. It uses the ICE if you want heat. 

[Caspa]

I thought all new NX have an all electric compressor, with the 450h+ using a heat pump also...

[ColinBarber]

2 hours ago, Caspa said:

I thought all new NX have an all electric compressor, with the 450h+ using a heat pump also...

All the Toyota hybrids have an electric compressor, including the series I NX, which allows AC to operate without the engine running.

The 450h+ has a heat pump, but not a particularly big or sophisticated one so whilst it will defrost a windscreen it may struggle to heat the cabin up to 20c when freezing outside. The vehicle therefore still has the normal heater matrix attached to the petrol engine's cooling system. For some just using the heat pump + seat heaters will be enough, others will want to use hybrid mode and get extra heat from the engine.

[NemesisUK]

On the 450+ I presume one can precondition the cabin temperature whilst the car is plugged in? If so surely it must have an electric heater?

[Caspa]

1 hour ago, NemesisUK said:

On the 450+ I presume one can precondition the cabin temperature whilst the car is plugged in?

Definitely can precondition via the app whilst plugged. 

I honestly can't believe that Lexus would bring out their first PHEV that can go circa 40 miles in EV mode, and then make it so the heater doesn't work in said mode.

Surely they've given it the range to be able to take a potential 50% hit?

Pretty sure the more high end PHEVs from can do this. BMW and Range Rover come to mind. 

Actually, is it being said that in EV mode it'll simply take longer to heat up?

[ColinBarber]

1 hour ago, NemesisUK said:

On the 450+ I presume one can precondition the cabin temperature whilst the car is plugged in? If so surely it must have an electric heater?

You can preheat whether it is plugged in or not. Depending on how cold it is outside it may not be able to get to full temperature as there is only a basic heat pump, there is no resistive heater.

 

In EV mode, heating is done by a heat pump system.

• When the outside temperature is low or it is snowing, compared to conventional vehicles, heating may be less effective and warm air may not come out.

[NemesisUK]

That's not great, the real attraction for me was the ability to defrost the car before going out to it. From what you say it may well struggle to clear the windows! 🙄

[Don C]

49 minutes ago, NemesisUK said:

That's not great, the real attraction for me was the ability to defrost the car before going out to it. From what you say it may well struggle to clear the windows! 🙄

It won’t need much heat to defrost the glass.  Let’s wait and see.  

[ColinBarber]

3 hours ago, NemesisUK said:

That's not great, the real attraction for me was the ability to defrost the car before going out to it. From what you say it may well struggle to clear the windows! 🙄

I'd expect it do do that. The air coming out will certainly be a few degrees over the outside temperature in the worst case scenario which will be enough to defrost in the UK.