NX450h+ EV mode test drive

[Chance521]

I placed my order for NX450h+ mid March in Sweden after two short test drive, each roughly 30 mins. It’s already been a month now and I told sales that I miss the car so much 😄. He was so nice and arranged a 1.5 hours test drive for me, just to let me enjoy the car and gain some more patience 😁

The route I planned was exactly 80 km with combination of highway(90-110km/h), country road(50-70) and city road(<40), having the hope that the car can manage it with EV mode. I was too optimistic and in the end it managed a little more than 70km then switched to HV mode. The google route for reference 

https://goo.gl/maps/UYe91uVvwN714ST79

temperature 5-7 celsius , cloudy.

The car was fully charged when I took over and dashboard shows 60km EV range.

AC in auto mode 

 

After the highway (from starting point to B in google route) , EV indicates 28km left . Mostly cruise 100km / h 

 

Then country road plus a short city road ( google route B-C-D) and speed was mostly 50-60 and the last few km was 30 with a couple of stop before red lights.

 

 

The last few km was in HV mode.

Conclusion: as my home is about 40 km away from work place with mix of highway and country road , the car will probably be able to do a round trip  in EV mode in summer before next charge.

And finally, how can I get the patience for 1 year waiting time…

[Gureamu]

On 4/14/2022 at 3:04 PM, Chance521 said:

I placed my order for NX450h+ mid March in Sweden after two short test drive, each roughly 30 mins. It’s already been a month now and I told sales that I miss the car so much 😄. He was so nice and arranged a 1.5 hours test drive for me, just to let me enjoy the car and gain some more patience 😁

The route I planned was exactly 80 km with combination of highway(90-110km/h), country road(50-70) and city road(<40), having the hope that the car can manage it with EV mode. I was too optimistic and in the end it managed a little more than 70km then switched to HV mode. The google route for reference 

https://goo.gl/maps/UYe91uVvwN714ST79

temperature 5-7 celsius , cloudy.

The car was fully charged when I took over and dashboard shows 60km EV range.

AC in auto mode 

 

After the highway (from starting point to B in google route) , EV indicates 28km left . Mostly cruise 100km / h 

 

Then country road plus a short city road ( google route B-C-D) and speed was mostly 50-60 and the last few km was 30 with a couple of stop before red lights.

 

 

The last few km was in HV mode.

Conclusion: as my home is about 40 km away from work place with mix of highway and country road , the car will probably be able to do a round trip  in EV mode in summer before next charge.

And finally, how can I get the patience for 1 year waiting time…

I've had my 450h+ F-Sport for a week now and have completed about 400Km. Used in Eco mode I'm averaging 5.5Km/KWh and have completed 71Km before the engine cut in. Admittedly I've been driving gently to gauge what distance is possible but even so, I'm impressed that the EV range Lexus state has actually proved to be on the conservative side. The temperature here has been 10c - 18c.

I don't think that I can help with the patience question. I did find that watching NX YouTube videos and reading this forum didn't even a little whilst I was waiting 🙂

[Pm4]

Has anyone else had problems charging on public chargers? I tried a Tesla destination (hotel car park) it fits the type 2 plug in but it does not charge, found a pay by card one but it cost £7.50 same as petrol equivalent! 

[Pm4]

Just now, Pm4 said:

Has anyone else had problems charging on public chargers? I tried a Tesla destination (hotel car park) it fits the type 2 plug in but it does not charge, found a pay by card one but it cost £7.50 same as petrol equivalent! 

That's a 450h +

[Harrier Man]

On 4/21/2022 at 4:38 PM, Pm4 said:

Has anyone else had problems charging on public chargers? I tried a Tesla destination (hotel car park) it fits the type 2 plug in but it does not charge, found a pay by card one but it cost £7.50 same as petrol equivalent! 

My desktop research suggests Tesla chargers are only for Tesla owners. There is a trial going on where other vehicles can use them but the trial applies to rapid DC chargers, and these are not compatible with the NX. I believe you also need a Tesla account.

Some companies, like BP Pulse and Shell, charge a lot for their chargers, 50p/kW in some cases. Having a subscription account can reduce those costs but at 50p/kW, the electricity is as expensive as petrol on a per mile basis. Of course, charging at home is a lot less, even taking recent price rises into account. Many other public chargers are around 28-30p/kW. The advantage of the BP and Shell EV stations seems to be that their chargers work, whereas many others do not.

In Scotland, many chargers have been supported under the Charge Place Scotland network and, until recently, many of these provided free electricity. However, Councils have found reliability of the chargers is not as high as expected and have, therefore, introduced (or are about to introduce) charges so that they have the income necessary to keep the chargers operating.

Charging policies vary and are changing as local authorities learn about this brave new world. Some of these policies really don't suit the NX. For example, they have a 45 minutes time limit before a penalty is applied; enough juice for about 10-12 miles of electric only motoring. Others have a fixed fee per session, £3.80 around my way. Good value if charging a full EV from empty but very poor value for topping up a small Battery (as are fitted to PHEV)

[Pm4]

16 hours ago, Harrier Man said:

My desktop research suggests Tesla chargers are only for Tesla owners. There is a trial going on where other vehicles can use them but the trial applies to rapid DC chargers, and these are not compatible with the NX. I believe you also need a Tesla account.

Some companies, like BP Pulse and Shell, charge a lot for their chargers, 50p/kW in some cases. Having a subscription account can reduce those costs but at 50p/kW, the electricity is as expensive as petrol on a per mile basis. Of course, charging at home is a lot less, even taking recent price rises into account. Many other public chargers are around 28-30p/kW. The advantage of the BP and Shell EV stations seems to be that their chargers work, whereas many others do not.

In Scotland, many chargers have been supported under the Charge Place Scotland network and, until recently, many of these provided free electricity. However, Councils have found reliability of the chargers is not as high as expected and have, therefore, introduced (or are about to introduce) charges so that they have the income necessary to keep the chargers operating.

Charging policies vary and are changing as local authorities learn about this brave new world. Some of these policies really don't suit the NX. For example, they have a 45 minutes time limit before a penalty is applied; enough juice for about 10-12 miles of electric only motoring. Others have a fixed fee per session, £3.80 around my way. Good value if charging a full EV from empty but very poor value for topping up a small battery (as are fitted to PHEV)

Many thanks for the comprehensive reply Harrier Man, obviously the current system is not helpful on longer trips away from home charging, also had many other problems trying to charge on public chargers so very pleased to have gone for an hybrid rather than a fully electric, I still managed around 60 miles x gallon on a mixed trip of around 600 miles, mainly on petrol. 

 

 

[Ken R]

I actually achieved a distance of 51 miles on fully charged electric power in my 450h+ yesterday - half of which was motorway driving. Impressive.

[Harrier Man]

6 hours ago, Ken R said:

I actually achieved a distance of 51 miles on fully charged electric power in my 450h+ yesterday - half of which was motorway driving. Impressive.

That's very good. I shall be very happy if I can achieve that sort of distance. What mode were you in? Did you have Eco engaged?

[Ken R]

Yes to be fair that was recorded in eco mode with the a/c only on for part of the journey.

 

[javadude]

On 4/22/2022 at 6:23 PM, Harrier Man said:

My desktop research suggests Tesla chargers are only for Tesla owners. There is a trial going on where other vehicles can use them but the trial applies to rapid DC chargers, and these are not compatible with the NX. I believe you also need a Tesla account.

Tesla destination chargers are AC. If red and labelled for Tesla charging then they only allow Teslas to charge. If white and labelled for EV charging then any car can use them. Often there's one of each.

Tesla superchargers are DC. Some (eg 15 in the UK) are open to other makes as part of a trial but they're only suited to cars with charge ports in certain locations (eg rear left or front right) as the cables are short.

[Harrier Man]

3 hours ago, javadude said:

Tesla destination chargers are AC. If red and labelled for Tesla charging then they only allow Teslas to charge. If white and labelled for EV charging then any car can use them. Often there's one of each.

Tesla superchargers are DC. Some (eg 15 in the UK) are open to other makes as part of a trial but they're only suited to cars with charge ports in certain locations (eg rear left or front right) as the cables are short.

Thanks for the clarification Chris. Photo from a restaurant I pass sometimes shows the red-sign Tesla charger on the right and I guess the white/silver/grey on the left. I think this had a Type 2 connector that should be compatible with my NX but I don't remember seeing a display or key pad to allow me to pay. So, was I right when I said I thought one had to have a Tesla account to use it?

[javadude]

15 hours ago, Harrier Man said:

Thanks for the clarification Chris. Photo from a restaurant I pass sometimes shows the red-sign Tesla charger on the right and I guess the white/silver/grey on the left. I think this had a Type 2 connector that should be compatible with my NX but I don't remember seeing a display or key pad to allow me to pay. So, was I right when I said I thought one had to have a Tesla account to use it?

You don't need an app for to pay for destination (AC) chargers. They're provided for complementary charging for customers of the restaurant etc. Looking at that photo I'd guess the one on the left would work for a non-Tesla. The app is just required for (DC) superchargers.

[Harrier Man]

2 hours ago, javadude said:

You don't need an app for to pay for destination (AC) chargers. They're provided for complementary charging for customers of the restaurant etc. Looking at that photo I'd guess the one on the left would work for a non-Tesla. The app is just required for (DC) superchargers.

Thanks Chris, very good news. Just need my car now so I can try it out whilst supping a cup of their excellent coffee!