MOTORS: This Lexus UX 300e is a car that could go relatively unnoticed
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It sounds like faint praise, but one of the latest models from Toyota’s upmarket cousin, Lexus, is a nice car. Nice, well put together and a good solid – and pretty expensive – piece of kit.
The all-electric UX 300e is an improvement on the previous model not least in increasing its range by more than 40 per cent, so that it should be able to do almost 300 miles on a full charge, something which was much needed. That’s down to the installation of a new battery system but there’s also detailed changes to the car’s suspension, body and chassis to improve handling and make it a generally better-behaved and more compliant machine on the road.
The UX compact SUV first appeared in 2019 and since then has become the best-selling Lexus in Europe and the UK but they operate in a niche market. Last year, fewer than 400 of the UX EV were sold here and total sales are still around the 1500 mark.
That should be boosted by the new model which feels more complete than what went before and there are more luxury touches which appeal to Lexus customers, who are generally on the older side.
They’re the ones who will be more prepared to pay that bit extra to get what they want. The entry model costs just over £47,000 but the top-of-the-range Takumi version of the featured test car adds another £10,000 but you do get a comprehensive package of equipment as part of the deal.
For a start there’s a vast array of standard safety features including blind spot monitor, rear cross-traffic alert and auto brake in addition to the Lexus Safety System+ which combines a suite of technologies including a Pre-Collision System, Dynamic Radar Cruise Control and Lane Trace Assist. Road Sign Assist recognises traffic signs to provide information to the driver via the central display or the optional head-up display. Where the triple-eye LED headlights are fitted an adaptive high-beam system is included.
There’s also Intersection Turning Assist, which detects oncoming vehicles and pedestrians crossing in the opposite direction when turning at a junction
Other features include a panoramic view monitor for a near-360 degree view around the car, and parking support alert.
The interior is crammed with comfort and convenience features including a new 12.3ins touchscreen multimedia display, two inches larger than that in the previous model and it’s also high on the dash for easy access.
The 13-speaker Mark Levinson Premium Surround Sound system should be an improvement on that in the previous model. One older former owner described it to me as “terrible” and “inferior” because of its inherent distortion which was amplified by his hearing aid. It was so bad he stopped listening to the audio system.
The attention to detail among the changes includes a palm rest with integrated audio controls on the centre console.
Externally, the design is clean and sophisticated but I felt a touch bland and unexciting and it’s a car that could go relatively unnoticed in the street, especially in the test car’s Terrane Khaki colour scheme but that maybe suits the average Lexus customer.
Where the UX300e wins though is on the road and the engineers have done a cracking job in balancing the extra weight of the batteries under the cabin floor through the chassis and suspension tuning and the car felt confident and well-behaved through the bends.
Like all EVs, the feel of the instant power to the front wheels is a delight – what Lexus call “natural yet brisk acceleration” – and the CVT transmission is effortless thanks to the shift-by-wire drive selector with a stroke which has been shortened so rapid changes can be made between drive, neutral and reverse.
Behind the wheel, the car is a very comfortable and relaxing place to be with only some slight road noise discernible above the deliciously quiet atmosphere in the cabin.
Lexus UX 300e – Takumi Pack
PRICE: £57,095 (£57,765 as tested)
MOTOR: 72.8 kWh Lithium-ion battery with permanent magnet motor
TRANSMISSION: e-CVT
POWER: 204 bhp
TOP SPEED: 100 mph
0-62mph: 7.5 secs
RANGE: 273 miles
