Lexus NX 450+ Takumi Plug-In Hybrid Review: The Goldilocks of Luxury Touring SUVs
If you’re searching for the perfect balance of eco-luxury, refinement, and road-trip mischief, the Lexus NX 450+ Takumi Plug-In Hybrid may be the best plug-in hybrid SUV in Britain—equally at home sweeping into a Sussex manor as sneaking into a Cornish car park.
Lexus NX 450+ Takumi Plug-In Hybrid Review
A Wild Lust Tour Begins: Lexus NX 450+ Takumi
As Morecambe and Wise might have advised, “Let’s go on a wild lust tour—we’ll probably end up in a Wimpey bar.” A dubious motto, perhaps, but entirely fitting for our jaunt in the Lexus NX 450+ Takumi Plug-In Hybrid. Sussex, Wiltshire, Cornwall, the Cotswolds—an extravagant loop of English counties stitched together with hedgerows, manor houses, spa hotels, and the occasional roadside café whose signage suggested either culinary genius or mild desperation. We even paused at what passes for a beach in England, which is to say: shingle, drizzle, and an unconvincing sense of seaside bliss.
Our Lexus proved the perfect accomplice. Elegant enough for Eleven Bibury, clever enough to tackle endless dual carriageways, and discreet enough not to look entirely ridiculous outside a garden shed masquerading as a jungle café in West Sussex. With its electric drive whispering through sleepy villages and the petrol engine making the occasional dramatic entrance for longer stretches, it transformed a three-day, 600-mile gallop into an exercise in indulgent calm.
Posh Cotswold Vegan Cafés and Motorways
Some places in England appear so perfectly composed they could only exist in a romance novel—or a period drama where everyone inexplicably has perfect hair. Bibury, tucked along the meandering River Coln in the Cotswolds, is precisely such a village. William Morris himself, never one for understatement, declared it “the most beautiful village in England.” We couldn’t argue—though the queues of tourists snapping selfies might have disagreed with the “tranquil idyll” marketing copy.
The NX 450+ felt entirely at home here: compact enough to navigate the winding lanes without alarming the locals, yet sufficiently confident in its styling to hold court among Bentleys and Aston Martins on a Saturday wedding line-up. It’s a car that whispers sophistication but can also yell, quietly, “I could do this all day,” which, frankly, is exactly what we intended.
Specs Without the Snooze
The Lexus NX 450+ Takumi is a plug-in hybrid SUV that combines a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with a sophisticated electric motor system. Together they produce a very usable 292 horsepower, propelling the car from nought to sixty-two in a brisk 6.4 seconds. It is neither boy racer nor plodding estate; it is, as with everything about the NX, perfectly judged.
Its electric-only range of 44 miles is not the fantasy figure of so many plug-ins but genuinely achievable in daily life. For our first sixty miles to Sussex, we barely touched the petrol tank, running almost exclusively on silent electric power. When the battery does ease off, the hybrid system takes over so discreetly that you’d struggle to know it had happened unless you were staring at the dials.
Fuel economy is where it shines: an average of 60 mpg over our three-day tour, proof that eco-luxury isn’t just marketing. Add to this the practicality of a 55-litre tank, and you have a machine that can run with miserly efficiency without ever feeling miserly.
Exterior: Understated Glamour
Approaching the Lexus NX, you notice first the grille. Ah yes, the Lexus spindle. Once mocked as a samurai’s sneeze, it has matured into something rather distinguished, like a flamboyant tie worn with enough conviction to become stylish. Flanked by razor-sharp LED headlights and finished in Sonic Titanium paint, it catches light like liquid mercury, glinting discreetly in the sun without ever straying into vulgarity.
The proportions are spot on. Unlike the bloated SUVs beloved by Chelsea, the NX feels taut and sculpted. Its sleek side profile is accented with chrome, while the rear carries the now-signature Lexus light bar, a flourish that distinguishes it from the herd. The twenty-inch alloys give just enough presence without compromising ride comfort.
Park it outside a country pub and it looks handsome. Park it outside a five-star spa and it looks at home. This is an SUV that never seems out of place.
Interior: Boutique Hotel on Wheels
Slide inside and the mood changes entirely. This isn’t the cold, clinical tech den of its German rivals. Lexus interiors have always leaned towards the warm and indulgent, and in the Takumi trim they positively luxuriate in it.
The black leather seats are stitched in white for sharp contrast, heated and cooled to deal with our famously indecisive weather. The dashboard is a study in balance: tactile knobs for climate and drive modes, brushed metal for accents, and wood panelling framing the Mark Levinson audio system, which remains one of the finest in-car sound experiences money can buy.
The infotainment screen is vast but mercifully clear, supporting both CarPlay and Android Auto. Wireless charging sits conveniently within reach, backed up by four charging ports to keep the family powered. The cabin feels crafted for modern life, from the twin cupholders in the centre console to the panoramic roof flooding the interior with natural light.
In the back, three full-sized seats are genuinely comfortable, an increasingly rare feat in SUVs where the middle passenger is often punished. Add in a drop-down armrest with cupholders, and you’re looking at an environment that feels less family car, more rolling first-class lounge.
Technology: Luxury in Laziness
This is where the Lexus NX 450+ earns its reputation as the thinking person’s SUV. With a single press of a steering wheel button, adaptive cruise and lane assist take over. It’s not quite full autonomy, but it’s close enough to make long journeys dramatically easier. For half of our 600-mile tour, the car steered, braked, and accelerated itself, leaving me to oversee proceedings with all the responsibility of a monarch cutting ribbons.
The head-up display projects speed and navigation onto the windscreen with crystalline clarity, while the suite of driver aids—blind spot monitoring, parking sensors, 360-degree cameras—work with reassuring precision. Lexus has understood something its rivals sometimes miss: technology should calm, not overwhelm.
My only quibble is the automatic high beam, which has the social grace of a drunk uncle with a torch, flashing at oncoming drivers at exactly the wrong moment. It can be turned off, thankfully, and once it is, the NX remains the most technologically soothing companion on Britain’s roads.
Performance: Swift, Smooth, Sublime
The NX is not about brute force. It is about composure. Electric torque ensures lively starts, while the petrol engine takes care of high-speed cruising with unflappable grace. Braking blends regenerative recovery with disc power so smoothly that you never notice the transition.
On bumpy lanes, Eco mode gives the suspension a forgiving softness, floating over potholes as if in polite denial of them. Switch to Sport and everything sharpens—the steering weights up, body roll tightens, and you discover an agility that feels almost playful. It’s not a sports car, nor does it want to be, but for a family SUV, it handles with an elegance that makes long drives less chore, more pleasure.
Most importantly, it never feels stressed. Whether threading through Cornish lanes lined with stone walls or sweeping along the M4 at pace, it maintains a calm dignity. You arrive refreshed, not rattled.
Cornwall by Lexus: Cream Teas Without the Cream Puff
Driving into Cornwall, we discovered the NX’s greatest trick: it makes distance disappear. That county, famous for its beaches and infamous for its traffic jams, felt positively manageable. The electric drive handled village crawls silently, while the hybrid kept us gliding along the coastal roads with enviable economy.
We parked above Fistral Beach, watching surfers do battle with the Atlantic while the NX gleamed beside us, its Sonic Titanium paint catching the setting sun. No growling exhaust, no drama—just silent, elegant competence. It felt less like a car, more like a co-conspirator in the art of civilised escape.
Unbelievable Value & Serenity on Four Wheels
The Lexus NX 450+ Takumi Plug-In Hybrid is the Goldilocks SUV. Not too big, not too brash, not too thirsty—just right. It combines the serenity of electric motoring with the reassurance of petrol backup, packages it in a body that looks equally good at country house hotels and beach car parks, and fills its interior with comforts that flatter every journey.
Starting at £46,615, it represents remarkable value for what it offers: a genuine luxury SUV with the refinement to challenge Range Rover, the technology to outwit BMW, and the reliability to outlast the lot. The Takumi trim, with its artisan attention to detail, makes it more than a car—it makes it a philosophy of craftsmanship.
If asked tomorrow which SUV I’d choose for another indulgent thousand-mile tour of Britain’s manor houses, coasts, and countryside cafés, it would not be a Porsche or a Range Rover. It would be this Lexus. Elegant, eco-conscious, endlessly competent, and, above all, relaxing. The most civilised way to cross Britain without needing a massage at the other end.
