Question for NX450h+ owners

[wendle]

On retirement my life situation will change and my LC will no longer be a practical car to own.

i will need a car which will comfortably seat 3 adults , with the possibility or car seats, and then children ( not mine lol. ), and a medium to large Dog.

i have looked at the NX45h+ and feel that this car will fit my needs.

During lock down owners of Hybrid cars had problems with the cars Battery because they were not being used, i remember Lexus sending out a email suggesting owners turn on the ignition until the READY light coms on and leave it a hour and do this a couple of time a week, potentially, with the miles i will travel, i may only use the engine and Hybrid system 3/4 times a year when i travel more than 35 miles.

so my question is....if you don't use your 450h+ much, and only purely drive it on electric will this have any damaging effect on the cars engine and Hybrid system?.

thinking about it this is probably a silly question as i would have hoped Lexus would have thought of this, but i would like to here your opinions 

 

 

[Pm4]

This is from the owners manual:

One day Bill complained to his friend that his elbow really hurt.

His friend suggested that he go to a computer at the drug store that can diagnose anything quicker and cheaper than a doctor.

"Simply put in a sample of your urine and the computer will diagnose your problem and tell you what you can do about it.

It only costs $10."

Bill figured he had nothing to lose, so he filled a jar with a urine sample and went to the drug store.

Finding the computer, he poured in the sample and deposited the $10.

The computer started making some noise and various lights started flashing.

After a brief pause out popped a small slip of paper on which was printed:

You have tennis elbow.

Soak your arm in warm water.

Avoid heavy lifting.

It will be better in two weeks."

Later that evening while thinking how amazing this new technology was and how it would change medical science forever, he began to wonder if this machine could be fooled.

He mixed together some tap water, a stool sample from his dog and urine samples from his wife and daughter.

To top it off, he masturbated into the concoction.

He went back to the drug store, located the machine, poured in the sample and deposited the $10.

The computer again made the usual noise and printed out the following message:

"Your tap water is too hard. Get a water softener. Your dog has worms. Get him vitamins. Your daughter is using cocaine. Put her in a rehabilitation clinic.

Your wife is pregnant with twin girls.

They aren't yours. Get a lawyer.

And if you don't stop jerking off, your tennis elbow will never get better."

[Pm4]

53 minutes ago, wendle said:

On retirement my life situation will change and my LC will no longer be a practical car to own.

i will need a car which will comfortably seat 3 adults , with the possibility or car seats, and then children ( not mine lol. ), and a medium to large Dog.

i have looked at the NX45h+ and feel that this car will fit my needs.

During lock down owners of Hybrid cars had problems with the cars battery because they were not being used, i remember Lexus sending out a email suggesting owners turn on the ignition until the READY light coms on and leave it a hour and do this a couple of time a week, potentially, with the miles i will travel, i may only use the engine and Hybrid system 3/4 times a year when i travel more than 35 miles.

so my question is....if you don't use your 450h+ much, and only purely drive it on electric will this have any damaging effect on the cars engine and Hybrid system?.

thinking about it this is probably a silly question as i would have hoped Lexus would have thought of this, but i would like to here your opinions 

 

 

Hoops, wrong cut and paste, hope you had a good laugh! 

[wendle]

4 minutes ago, Pm4 said:

This is from the owners manual:

One day Bill complained to his friend that his elbow really hurt.

His friend suggested that he go to a computer at the drug store that can diagnose anything quicker and cheaper than a doctor.

"Simply put in a sample of your urine and the computer will diagnose your problem and tell you what you can do about it.

It only costs $10."

Bill figured he had nothing to lose, so he filled a jar with a urine sample and went to the drug store.

Finding the computer, he poured in the sample and deposited the $10.

The computer started making some noise and various lights started flashing.

After a brief pause out popped a small slip of paper on which was printed:

You have tennis elbow.

Soak your arm in warm water.

Avoid heavy lifting.

It will be better in two weeks."

Later that evening while thinking how amazing this new technology was and how it would change medical science forever, he began to wonder if this machine could be fooled.

He mixed together some tap water, a stool sample from his dog and urine samples from his wife and daughter.

To top it off, he masturbated into the concoction.

He went back to the drug store, located the machine, poured in the sample and deposited the $10.

The computer again made the usual noise and printed out the following message:

"Your tap water is too hard. Get a water softener. Your dog has worms. Get him vitamins. Your daughter is using cocaine. Put her in a rehabilitation clinic.

Your wife is pregnant with twin girls.

They aren't yours. Get a lawyer.

And if you don't stop jerking off, your tennis elbow will never get better."

Is this from the Lexus NX Manual  LOL

[Pm4]

Can't seem to be able to cut and paste the relevant page, if you download the NX owners manual on page 48 it explains what to do if not used for a long time.

[Harrier Man]

5 minutes ago, Pm4 said:

Can't seem to be able to cut and paste the relevant page, if you download the NX owners manual on page 48 it explains what to do if not used for a long time.

Page 46 on the version of the manual I have ...

[Harrier Man]

1 hour ago, wendle said:

On retirement my life situation will change and my LC will no longer be a practical car to own.

i will need a car which will comfortably seat 3 adults , with the possibility or car seats, and then children ( not mine lol. ), and a medium to large Dog.

i have looked at the NX45h+ and feel that this car will fit my needs.

During lock down owners of Hybrid cars had problems with the cars battery because they were not being used, i remember Lexus sending out a email suggesting owners turn on the ignition until the READY light coms on and leave it a hour and do this a couple of time a week, potentially, with the miles i will travel, i may only use the engine and Hybrid system 3/4 times a year when i travel more than 35 miles.

so my question is....if you don't use your 450h+ much, and only purely drive it on electric will this have any damaging effect on the cars engine and Hybrid system?.

thinking about it this is probably a silly question as i would have hoped Lexus would have thought of this, but i would like to here your opinions 

 

 

Interesting question with lots of angles and obviously a high degree of personal choice in your decision. I chose a 450h+ because its  electric range covered my daily commute whilst its petrol engine would cover a weekly 200 mile trip and a 500 mile trip every other month in an area where chargers are far from readily available. Had my journeys been mostly under 200 miles, I would have gone for an all electric BEV.

There are some videos on YouTube from people with more knowledge than I have that advocate regular running of the petrol engine, even if you might otherwise get away with electric only. Engines like to be run and not sitting around for weeks or months on end when oil drains away from bearings and corrosion can start to set in. In particular, people mention the now higher ethanol content of petrol as a potential issue because ethanol is corrosive when left to stagnate. Not sure what evidence there is to show if this a problem in real world conditions and not a problem when a petrol engine is run regularly.

Maybe you could employ a heavy right foot technique if you go for the 450 so that the engine cuts in and keeps everything running smoothly! 

[Pm4]

1 hour ago, Harrier Man said:

Interesting question with lots of angles and obviously a high degree of personal choice in your decision. I chose a 450h+ because its  electric range covered my daily commute whilst its petrol engine would cover a weekly 200 mile trip and a 500 mile trip every other month in an area where chargers are far from readily available. Had my journeys been mostly under 200 miles, I would have gone for an all electric BEV.

There are some videos on YouTube from people with more knowledge than I have that advocate regular running of the petrol engine, even if you might otherwise get away with electric only. Engines like to be run and not sitting around for weeks or months on end when oil drains away from bearings and corrosion can start to set in. In particular, people mention the now higher ethanol content of petrol as a potential issue because ethanol is corrosive when left to stagnate. Not sure what evidence there is to show if this a problem in real world conditions and not a problem when a petrol engine is run regularly.

Maybe you could employ a heavy right foot technique if you go for the 450 so that the engine cuts in and keeps everything running smoothly! 

Or you can push one the buttons by the gear selector and bring in the ice engine every now and then, for a short while. 

[wendle]

1 hour ago, Harrier Man said:

Interesting question with lots of angles and obviously a high degree of personal choice in your decision. I chose a 450h+ because its  electric range covered my daily commute whilst its petrol engine would cover a weekly 200 mile trip and a 500 mile trip every other month in an area where chargers are far from readily available. Had my journeys been mostly under 200 miles, I would have gone for an all electric BEV.

This is why i think the 450h+ would be perfect for me, easily  enough range for my day to day use, but i also want a 200 mile drive every 3/4 months, and at this point of time i just want the hassle of charging away from home, depending when i decide to change things could change, more and easier assessable charging points and even perhaps longer range on electric cars like the RZ

[Alan Thompson]

Almost all of my journeys since I got the car (1st March 2022) have been covered by Battery.

I've said before I filled up the petrol tank on 1st March and have not yet needed to do it again. Although I now only have 1/4 of a tank left. As of tonight I've covered 3671 miles. 

What I have done is forced the ice to run every now and again - usually when I'm doing a motorway journey of around 10 miles, for two reasons.

1) to keep the engine lubricated (I'm no mechanic but think that will work - feel free to dis-abuse me of my thoughts)

2) I'd been conditioned during my Mitsi Outlander ownership that petrol will degrade over time and the Outlander used to force the engine to start until you added at least 15 litres of fuel every 90 days.

I'm doing a round trip from Leeds to Southampton soon, so will fill up before I go and see if I need any more fuel on my return journey?

My big concern is how much Battery charge should I have when arriving in Southampton so I don't end up with flat batteries when I collect the car for my return journey 2 weeks later.

 

 

[Pm4]

8 minutes ago, Alan Thompson said:

Almost all of my journeys since I got the car (1st March 2022) have been covered by battery.

I've said before I filled up the petrol tank on 1st March and have not yet needed to do it again. Although I now only have 1/4 of a tank left. As of tonight I've covered 3671 miles. 

What I have done is forced the ice to run every now and again - usually when I'm doing a motorway journey of around 10 miles, for two reasons.

1) to keep the engine lubricated (I'm no mechanic but think that will work - feel free to dis-abuse me of my thoughts)

2) I'd been conditioned during my Mitsi Outlander ownership that petrol will degrade over time and the Outlander used to force the engine to start until you added at least 15 litres of fuel every 90 days.

I'm doing a round trip from Leeds to Southampton soon, so will fill up before I go and see if I need any more fuel on my return journey?

My big concern is how much battery charge should I have when arriving in Southampton so I don't end up with flat batteries when I collect the car for my return journey 2 weeks later.

 

 

If you don't have an opportunity to plug it in in Southampton, don't forget that you still have the hybrid system working and even when the main Battery is empty, the car will still move off in electric mode up to about 15mph. Whenever you have some petrol in it you will not have any problems, that's the advantage of this plug in, it will switch automatically from one system to the other. 

[wendle]

42 minutes ago, Alan Thompson said:

Almost all of my journeys since I got the car (1st March 2022) have been covered by battery.

I've said before I filled up the petrol tank on 1st March and have not yet needed to do it again. Although I now only have 1/4 of a tank left. As of tonight I've covered 3671 miles. 

What I have done is forced the ice to run every now and again - usually when I'm doing a motorway journey of around 10 miles, for two reasons.

1) to keep the engine lubricated (I'm no mechanic but think that will work - feel free to dis-abuse me of my thoughts)

2) I'd been conditioned during my Mitsi Outlander ownership that petrol will degrade over time and the Outlander used to force the engine to start until you added at least 15 litres of fuel every 90 days.

I'm doing a round trip from Leeds to Southampton soon, so will fill up before I go and see if I need any more fuel on my return journey?

My big concern is how much battery charge should I have when arriving in Southampton so I don't end up with flat batteries when I collect the car for my return journey 2 weeks later.

 

 

Alan , have you ever used the engine to re charge the Battery, say when you doing motorway driving, if so any idea what it does to the mpg?

[Alan Thompson]

57 minutes ago, wendle said:

Alan , have you ever used the engine to re charge the battery, say when you doing motorway driving, if so any idea what it does to the mpg?

No, I've never used the engine to recharge - although I think it does it automatically to a certain extent?

I don't take notice of mpg until I fill up (I haven't done that yet). I'll work out approx. overall mpg when I do fill up.

[Alan Thompson]

1 hour ago, Pm4 said:

If you don't have an opportunity to plug it in in Southampton, don't forget that you still have the hybrid system working and even when the main battery is empty, the car will still move off in electric mode up to about 15mph. Whenever you have some petrol in it you will not have any problems, that's the advantage of this plug in, it will switch automatically from one system to the other. 

Again, I was thinking back to the Mitsi - I know things will have evolved and different manufacturers will have slightly different systems but on the Outlander, the 12v Battery was charged daily from the drive Battery to ensure certain systems were maintained and the suggested level of charge for the drive Battery if you were leaving it stood for a period was ~50%.

I should manage that as we are staying overnight at Newbury where there is a charge point, so charge to full there before we leave and use a mix of Battery with ice for the rest of the motorway journey to allow me to achieve this.

Edited August 7, 2022 by Alan Thompson
improve description

[Stevek13]

On 8/7/2022 at 9:43 PM, Alan Thompson said:

No, I've never used the engine to recharge - although I think it does it automatically to a certain extent?

I don't take notice of mpg until I fill up (I haven't done that yet). I'll work out approx. overall mpg when I do fill up.

We've not used the engine in recharge mode, I believe that's only useful if you need to drive through an urban area in pure electric.  Our experience is when the car runs out of electric it smoothly switches to petrol but seeks to always maintain a small amount of electric power available for acceleration etc.  Typically it shows 2 bars on the Battery level indicator but can go down to 1 or up to 3.  We've even had it charge up enough going down a long hill that it briefly switched back to pure electric mode.

It's very well engineered but let down a bit by no real time energy usage display showing what's powering the wheels etc (like our Rav 4 had) 

[Alan Thompson]

10 hours ago, Stevek13 said:

It's very well engineered but let down a bit by no real time energy usage display showing what's powering the wheels etc (like our Rav 4 had) 

If I understand you correctly, Page 362-65 of the owners manual explains how to show this either on the driver display or the main screen.

[Ken R]

I have used the Battery recharge mode via the ICE and the NX450h+ is a very different car when this is used. Engine noise is greater, it feels sluggish and somehow "heavy". In 13 miles I achieved an additional 6 miles of ev charge however petrol consumption understandably slumped to the low 30's. Not a function that I intend to use regularly.

[wendle]

1 hour ago, Ken R said:

I have used the battery recharge mode via the ICE and the NX450h+ is a very different car when this is used. Engine noise is greater, it feels sluggish and somehow "heavy". In 13 miles I achieved an additional 6 miles of ev charge however petrol consumption understandably slumped to the low 30's. Not a function that I intend to use regularly.

Thanks Ken, that's interesting to know, was this just normal driving around, i was thinking to possibly use on a motorway when traveling at 70mph, however it may not make any difference to your result not knowing exactly how the charging system works

[Stevek13]

2 hours ago, Alan Thompson said:

If I understand you correctly, Page 362-65 of the owners manual explains how to show this either on the driver display or the main screen.

Thanks, will investigate further but as I read page 363 it says 'The energy monitor and EV can be displayed on the multi-information display.' (the one in front of the steering wheel) which suggests limited to just the levels, ranges and whether the vehicle is charging or using power.  What I want to be able to see is where the power is coming from when using power.

[Ken R]

2 hours ago, wendle said:

Thanks Ken, that's interesting to know, was this just normal driving around, i was thinking to possibly use on a motorway when traveling at 70mph, however it may not make any difference to your result not knowing exactly how the charging system works

This was a journey involving around 8 miles of motorway. Try it for yourself but it's not something I will rush to do again!

[wendle]

Thanks Ken, I haven’t got one yet, but it’s on my retirement list, I may look at the RZ, but I am not totally confident in the charging info structure yet even though I would only need over 200 miles 4/5 times a year

[Ken R]

2 hours ago, wendle said:

Thanks Ken, I haven’t got one yet, but it’s on my retirement list, I may look at the RZ, but I am not totally confident in the charging info structure yet even though I would only need over 200 miles 4/5 times a year

Similarly I am not confident of the charging network hence the interim option of the NX450h+ which is a fantastic car. I may look at an RZ in the future. At the time of ordering the NX I did look at and eventually test drive a Kia EV6 which was impressive but for the reasons already mentioned along with what I judge to be a superior interior I remained with Lexus.