At $79,990 plus on-roads, the front-wheel drive 150kW/300Nm Lexus UX 300e is quiet, smooth and easy to drive. While it could do with some minor improvements, it’s a great entry level electric vehicle.
Updated for 2024, this base variant comes with 17-inch alloys, LED lighting, leather look interior trim, wireless Apple CarPlay (wired Android Auto) and a large 12.3-inch infotainment screen (more on that in a moment).
There are some neat touches like heated and cooled front seats, heated rear seats and a warmed steering wheel. You’ll also find multiple USB charge ports, fresh suspension, and brakes and steering tweaks.
If you buy one, you’ll even get a complementary home charger install, two charge cables and 3-years free access to fast and ultra-rapid charging at selected Chargefox stations. If that’s not enough, Lexus are throwing in Encore Platinum Electrified membership.
Lexus claims a range of 440km (WLTP), and a Type2 charge time of 6.5 hours. On a DC fast charger, you can expect to wait around for about 80 minutes to get from 10 to 80 percent. It will sprint to 100km/h in 7.5 seconds.
Jumping inside, the UX 300e is impressive, and everything makes a lot of sense, falls to hand naturally and unlike some modern cars, it all feels very familiar. The infotainment setup is responsive and well placed, although it could be a little more intuitive.
A Mark Levinson 13-speaker sound system provides a decent aural experience. Actual buttons feature for air-conditioning and volume. The small analogue-inspired digital dash is equally as welcome, and super easy to read at a glance.
The rest of the switchgear is standard stuff, and while the radar cruise control is a bit fiddly to activate at first, it works well. There are paddles behind the wheel to adjust regenerative braking settings, while the drive selector requires a flick to the right to shift.
There are two cup holders, two USB ports and a wireless charge shelf, a large padded centre armrest and decent storage bin that opens two-ways. The front seats are supportive and remain comfortable, even on long journeys.
The cabin is small though, and its small windows, chunky pillars and low roof line make the UX feel squishy. Likewise, they create plenty of blind spots, particularly when in shopping centre and school carparks, where there are little ones running around.
In saying that, there is a reverse camera, and a park support brake which detects objects around the car and stops the vehicle if needed. There’s also blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert.
Jumping into the back row, the small bench seat is comfortable and there is room for three young kids. It’s a little tight back there for full-sized adults, in terms of leg room, which is perplexing because the UX 300e is not a super small vehicle.
A slight sacrifice in boot space could have made an enormous different to the practicality of the Lexus. The roofline is also low. If you do have very young children, there are three top tether and two ISOFIX points.
Rear passengers will enjoy two vents, charge points and speakers, one seat pocket, and a centre armrest that folds down, revealing cup holders. The doors have no bottle holders. The boot is hidden behind an electric tailgate.
There’s plenty of room for shopping, school bags or luggage, and the rear seats split fold to really open up the space, should you need it. You’ll also find courtesy lighting. The rear window though, is quite oddly placed, hampering vision.
The driving experience is as you’d expect from Lexus; refined, with the UX 300e sharing its platform with internal combustion-based hybrid variants. The electric motor is located at the front of the vehicle.
There are three drive modes, including Eco, Normal and Sport, with the first two of these delivering a smooth accelerator pedal, with ample torque and drive. Flick to the latter and active sound control kicks in, simulating an EV whine for the (R)EV heads.
We spent most of our time testing the Lexus in Eco and Normal and returned an average of 19.6kW/100km over the week. Lexus claim 16.9kW. It’s thirsty, or should that be draining, for an EV. Based on our maths, that means you should expect a range of 400km.
Regenerative braking is not super strong, and there is no one-pedal driving option. The revised electric steering is light, yet gives decent feel for an SUV, and the brakes are powerful, with good initial bite on the pedal.
We performed multiple emergency stop tests without brake fade, and while the new suspension setup is on the first side of plush, it is very comfortable. Overall, the Lexus UX 300e is an easy going EV that could do with some improvements in efficiency and charging.
It would suit a single person or couple, perhaps with small kids or pets, more than a big family. Lexus backs its smallest EV with a 5-year unlimited kilometre warranty, 10-years battery backing, and roadside assist.
You also score the impressive after sales care package that is the Lexus Encore Program. You can find out more from the Lexus Australia website, or by talking to your local dealership.
Our test vehicle was provided by Lexus Australia for review purposes.
