Lexus NX 450h+ F Sport 2025 Review

The plug-in hybrid 2025 Lexus NX 450h+ F Sport is the flagship in this medium SUV range. The $96,000 price certainly reflects that.

That means it’s $11,000 more expensive than the $85,000 NX 350h F Sport plugless hybrid, $11,500 more expensive than the newly introduced $84,500 NX 450h+ Luxury and $24,300 more than the entry model in the range, the $71,700 NX 350 Luxury 2WD. All these prices are plus on-road costs.

It’s a lot of money, but competitive compared to key rivals. It sits close to the Audi Q5 TDI quattro Sport ($94,100 plus ORCs), sits above the $86,800 BWM X3 20 xDrive and below the $104,800 X3 30e xDrive, not too far from the $100,200 Genesis GV70 3.5T Signature Sport and in the shadows of the new $99,900 Mercedes-Benz GLC 350e plug-in hybrid.

The NX 450h+ is powered by a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that works in combination with no less than three e-motors (including an e-CVT transmission) and an 18.1kWh lithium-ion battery pack to punch out 227kW (no torque number is stated), produce a 6.3 seconds 0-100km/h dash, drive all four wheels and claim an official EV-only range of 87km.

If you think some of those specs read familiar it’s because the Lexus NX and the Toyota RAV4 share a lot of fundamentals down to the underpinning platform. Yep, Lexus has done its own tuning and added its own bodyshell and interior, but they are close siblings.

There’s a new RAV4 next year, which means a new NX won’t be that far behind it.

Standard NX 450h+ F Sport exterior features include a body kit (badges, grill, roof rails etc.) led by 20-inch alloy wheels, adaptive LED headlights, a powered tailgate with a kick sensor and a sunroof.

Accessed keylessly, the F Sport cabin includes leather-accented heated and ventilated powered front sports seats, heated rear seats, a power-operated and heated steering wheel, dual-zone climate control and a wireless smartphone charger.

Wireless Apple CarPlay, wireless Android Auto and a 10-speaker audio are standard. A 17-speaker Mark Levinson system is amongst the options.

Infotainment technology includes a 14.0-inch infotainment touchscreen mounted on the dashboard, an 8.0-inch digital instrument cluster inset into the dash and a head-up display projecting onto the windscreen in front of the driver.

Safety tech includes a suite of driver assist systems led by autonomous emergency braking (AEB), airbags to protect front and rear-seat passengers include a knee bag for the driver but no centre airbag, a 360-degree camera and park assist with radar sensors front and rear.

Like all NX models, the 450h+ comes with a five-star ANCAP rating based on 2022 protocols.

The NX range is also protected by a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and a high-voltage battery warranty that can be up to 10 years/unlimited kilometres but is subject to Lexus health checks.

Capped-price service comes in at $595 per visit for the first five visits to the workshop. Intervals are 12 months/15,000km.

You know, that’s not the easiest question to answer. The reality is the 2025 Lexus NX 450h+ is likeable without doing any one thing to an outstanding level.

We’ll go with the powertrain, which is pretty darn good, while not being the leader it once was.

It delivers a reliable EV-only range up to 70km and a hybrid range that could theoretically stretch to 1000km given the 55-litre fuel tank size and the 5.4L/100km fuel (it likes 95 RON) consumption average on test. That’s compared to the silly 1.3L/100km claim.

Electricity consumption came in at 22kWh/100km, well over the 14kWh/100km claim.

The trouble for this smooth, refined and fuss free powertrain is it does much the same job as a bunch of Chinese PHEVs that have arrived this year costing tens of thousands less.

Some are more than $50,000 cheaper than the NX. I’m not suggesting many people cross-shop Lexus and Chery, but the level of tech in the sub-$40k Chinese SUV is pretty startling.

The exterior of the NX is exceedingly pleasant. It looks far more compact than its 4.66m overall length. Even its over-sized ‘scream’ mouth is incorporated pretty well. You’d never guess this car shares its underpinnings with the blue-collar Toyota RAV4.

Inside, it’s a similar story of distinct presentation disguising common hardpoints. The wending centre console and dashboard look stylish and the materials quality is good. The seats are soft and comfy (if lacking a little in bolster) and there is a decent amount of room in the back for two taller people.

The boot size is a generous 520 litres expanding to an impressive 1410 litres with the rear seat folded. You won’t find spare tyre in there, but at least the 450h+ does come with tyre-pressure monitoring.

Storage across the front and back compartments is also generous enough. The bin lid between the front seats that opens either right or left and not to the rear is an interesting piece of design.

To drive the NX is comfortable, quiet and even a little bit sporty. Steering has a bit of weight – but not much – and the all-wheel drive grip is appreciated. The ride varies from supple to moderately tight depending on where you set the independent adaptive suspension. But it would be going too far to call the 450h+ nimble.

In the right drive mode, helped by steering wheel flappy paddles that select ‘gears’ manually, the attitude can get razzed up a bit.

There’s enough instant electronic response and ongoing power to perform that quick pass, dive into that busy roundabout or conquer that hill without drama.

Overall, though, inoffensive is the tone here. It’s definitely not the firebreather it’s F Sport badging might suggest. And that’s just fine.

The 2025 Lexus NX 450h+ F Sport requires quite a complex interaction to access various information menus in the digital instrument cluster and head-up display (HUD).

It involves various up-down and left-right thumb tabs on both horizontal steering wheel spokes and interacts with and changes various information readouts in the cluster and the HUD. For all that effort, there doesn’t seem a great deal of in-depth trip information to actually drill into. Maybe over time you’d become adept with this system, but over a week it was confusing, discouraging and distracting.

Speaking of fiddly, the gear selector on the centre console can be a bit obstinate if you’re looking to make a rushed gearchange … say when you’ve reversed out into the street without seeing that P-plater ute steaming down the road.

The lane keeping is somewhat annoying and you may want to switch it off – something that has to be done each time you get in the car. Thankfully, there is a shortcut menu on the touchscreen to help with this.

Once up and rolling there’s a bit of crash and bang on severe road corruptions. But nothing too unruly. Most surfaces, no problem.

A PHEV system downside is its lack of DC charging. It’s not alone among plug-ins in this of course and it’s really only handy if you want fast charging on a road trip. At home overnight, 6.6kW AC charging is fine.

There’s plenty to like here about the 2025 Lexus NX 450h+, especially the imagery it projects. Outside, it’s purposeful, pretty sleek and entirely pleasant. Inside the welcoming ambience is really nicely done.

The vast bulk of what you’re dealing with though, is pretty run of the mill. Neither a big deal in the positive or negative column.

But for the money the PHEV system isn’t setting a new standard and some of the fiddly bits in the cabin are annoying.

A nice car, just not an exceptional one.

2025 Lexus NX 450h+ F Sport at a glance:
Price: $96,000 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol-electric
Output: 136kW/227Nm (electric motors: 134kW/270Nm and 40kW/121Nm)
Combined output: 227kW
Transmission: Electronic Continuously Variable
Battery: (18.1kWh lithium-ion)
Range: 87km (ADR)
Energy consumption: 14kWh/100km (ADR)
Fuel: 1.3L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 29g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP Year – 2022)

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