Lexus NX450+ on the way as a plug-in hybrid Lexus with Toyota RAV4 PHEV powertrain?

Lexus has filed a trademark application for NX450+ in Europe which looks like it could be for the first Lexus plug-in hybrid using RAV4 PHEV powertrain.

Lexus (and Toyota) may be best known for electrified cars, but their electrification has been all about ‘self-charging’ hybrids. But things are starting to change.

We’re already seen Lexus heading down the EV route with the electric UX 300e, and Toyota is embracing plug-in hybrids with the Toyota RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid. And now it looks like Lexus is planning to join the PHEV party too.

Toyota has filed a trademark application in Europe (thanks to MachE Club for the heads-up) for Lexus NX450+, which looks to point at a new Lexus plug-in hybrid.

It’s a sensible route for Lexus to go with PHEVs still getting big tax breaks (especially for businesses with BIK in the UK), and logically it will use the same powertrain as the Toyota RAV4 PHEV, revealed at the end of 2019.

Assuming the NX450h will get the same PHEV as the RAV4, that will mean a 4WD powertrain using 2.5 litre petrol engine and a pair of electric motors to deliver 302bhp and an EV range of around 37 miles.

The Toyota RAV4 PHEV is due to go on sale towards the end of the year, and it seems likely Lexus will deliver something official on the NX450+ by then.