Lexus UX 300E Review: Is This Fancy Electric SUV Worth Your Cash? | 4K

That sounds dangerous, doesnt it with this. The ux 300e question is: has it been worth the wait? This is auto trader uk, where we drive the latest the greatest giving you the good, the bad and the ugly so strap in subscribe, and if you have been watching, dont stop dont ever stop okay. So what is it? Well, if youre familiar with the ux range youll know it is a compact crossover and a pretty good looking one at that, it seems like a lot of electric cars tend to have really smooth front ends in order to promote aerodynamic efficiency, but lexus have just said: Aero shmero and stuck with their traditional spindle grille, and even though it might not be the most optimized in terms of aero, its actually really good. Looking, i also love these l shaped leds on the headlights. These look tremendous around the side. This is where you get a true sense of the cars proportions, because, even though it looks quite chunky and quite big in pictures in person, its really compact and dont, let these big wheel, arches fool. You either even though theres a lot of space between the wheels and the arch and these 18s dont really fill it very well. If you look underneath the car, you can actually see the battery cover, so uh dont go taking this off road anytime soon around the back. Again i like it. I, like these l, shaped lights that go the full width of the car, these creases that make it look a bit more dramatic than certainly some cars in its class.

So, on the whole, a really nicely designed package, some headline figures for you, the starting price is just north of 40 000 pounds. It has a 50 ish kilowatt hour battery pack, good for around 200 miles on a good day and as with all cars, theres pros and theres cons. So lets start by looking at the pros Music lets start with the biggest pro of all. Shall we the fact that we are giving away alexis ux 300e to one of you lot thats right as part of our monthly electric car giveaway were giving one of these away to one of you to find out how to enter then just click, the link down Below in the description box, now, first impressions on this car really really pleasant its such a quiet car to drive the ux 300. Honestly, i know electric cars are quieter anyway, but this is one of the better examples of that: its a really really serene peaceful cabin. The driving position is pretty good on the whole, apart from the fact that the steering wheel doesnt go very high, this is its highest position, which means that, if you like to have your seats set up as high as possible in order to get good visibility, all Around the car, then it can feel a bit like youve got the steering wheel in your lap, but you do get used to it. If ive said it once ive said it a thousand times, and that is, electrification really does suit a lot of cars, and that includes the ux series.

Ive driven previous ux models, particularly those with the hybrid powertrain and the cvt gearbox, and lets just say it wasnt. My favorite powertrain in the world, but having batteries and a motor in the ux transforms this car, its really smooth and really pleasant to drive. The suspension is pretty good as well. It irons out imperfections in the road and flows over the surface of the road really nicely to give you a nice smooth drive and its got a lot of power as well. This car, its very quick, its got a 200 horsepower motor driving the front wheels and its very responsive. You put your foot down and you get an immediate response from this car. That means overtaking is exceptionally easy, as is pulling away from the traffic lights. Itll do north 62 in 7.5 seconds, and it actually feels even quicker than that. It feels as quick as a hot hatch as for handling well its all right. Its got decent body control, but not a lot of grip. If im honest, because when you go into a corner with a little bit too much speed, then it does like to understeer and also if you accelerate hard on roads that arent completely dry, then it does like to spin up the wheels a little bit in winter. I would probably recommend upgrading to some slightly better tires. This is interesting. On top of the dashboard youve got a mode selector switch that lets you cycle between eco, normal and sport.

All of them feel quite aggressive, though, so you probably wont end up using that too much youve also got a traction control button directly in your field of vision, but i suspect that probably wont get too much use either this isnt a sports car lets face it. So its good to drive and a pretty good looking car to boot, certainly where the exterior is concerned so whats it like looking at using and living with a ux300e when youre sat inside the interior is actually quite nice. Its really solid. A lot of electric cars tend to be quite compromised with their interior quality, because the batteries and motors are quite expensive, which doesnt leave a lot of cash to spend on the cabin, but lexuses are actually quite nice. I love the blue and black contrasting in here. The materials are good, this blue and white leather looks really really nice and everything feels really really solid and strong theres, also quite a lot of physical buttons in here for controlling the climate control, which you dont get in a lot of modern cars. You also get heated seats and heated steering wheel controls, which is a nice touch. Also look at this center console its hinged on the right and on the left, which means that you can get access to it as the driver, but soaking your passenger and inside there. You get a couple of usb ports plus cup holders. Wireless phone charging id say that on the whole, the cabin looks quite nice and is quite easy to use.

But not everything about the ux 300e is quite as appealing, no matter how good the interior theres. No getting away from that 41 000 pound price tag, which puts it on a par with a lot of rather excellent rivals: tesla model 3 mustang machi, skoda anyakt to name but a few, and many of those rivals offer a lot more, particularly where space is concerned. Just look at the boot, for example its not very big at all its 367 liters, which is less space than you get in the tesla model, 3, and pretty much everything else that i talked about earlier. But you do get some underfloor storage, which is where you keep your charging cable and your tire puncture repair kit, so thats quite handy and to be fair, you can get stuff in there just less stuff than you can get in some of its rivals in the Back of the ux 300, its really not massive, but to be fair, there is just about enough legroom and a decent amount of headroom. The issue comes with, as it does in a lot of these electric cars, with the fact that theres batteries underneath you, which means that your legs end up in quite an elevated position, which isnt the most comfortable, especially on a long journey. There are some things i like in here. For example, here you get a little armrest which has a couple of cup holders, but theres, not a lot of other storage back.

Here you get a little bit of storage in the back of the passenger seat, but on the drivers seat, nothing at all, which makes you wonder what they were. Thinking really theres also no door pockets for storing any odds and suds that your kids might have its almost like. Whoever designed this car doesnt like children or know what they are, but you do get some heated seats in the back, which i guess is useful for grown ups, but for children who are using car seats. Thats not going to be of much use at all. Really. On the whole, not the most practical theres, a couple of other weird bits to do with the technology in this car as well. First of all, it uses the lexus remote touch, control system, which is basically a mouse trackpad style interface, which requires you to move your finger around this trackpad and it then controls the cursor on the screen, its very strange. But after a while, you can get used to it. The downside is that theres not a lot of functionality in the actual infotainment display, for example, theres no sat nav in this car, which means that its not very easy to find a local charging point. You have to use your mobile phone for that, which is, i mean its less than ideal isnt. It Music lets discuss the range now. Shall we so the ux 300e has a 50 ish kilowatt hour battery pack, which, according to lexus, gives it an official range of just under 200 miles in my hands, ive been averaging around 3 miles per kilowatt hour, so 3 times 50 is 150, which is what You can probably expect to get in the real world its british summer time right now, so its 17 degrees outside, and that means that in winter you can probably expect a significant drop in range.

I wouldnt be surprised to see this thing go down to around 115 120 in colder conditions. How does the range compare to its rivals? Well, a tesla model. 3 standard range will do around 300 miles officially, so it will go further and cost you a little bit less charging is another interesting topic in the ux 300e. You have two options. Basically, on your right hand, side, you have a type 2 charge port, the one that you connect to your household charger, for example, and that can top you up from zero to 100 in around nine hours, so an overnight charge. You also have a fast charger on the left hand, side, which isnt very fast. Actually it only has a charging rate of 35 kilowatts, so it can go from 10 to 80 in an hour and 15 minutes. How does that compare with other cars in this class? Well, not favorably, they usually can go from 10 to 80 in only around 30 minutes, which is worth keeping in mind its also worth noting that that charger is of the chadimo variety, which is not very popular in europe. Most cars in this region use ccs. The other thing thats really worth bearing in mind, is that this car doesnt have a built in sat nav. So if you ever find yourself running low on charge, you need to use your mobile phone to find your nearest charger, which is slightly inconvenient. If you do want a sat nav baked in, you can spec the ux 300e with the takumi pack, which also includes a head up display and a mark levinson speaker system, its not cheap, though thatll cost you around 53 300 pounds around 13 000 pounds more.

So, who would buy a lexus ux 300 e over the competition? Well, i think the kind of person it will appeal to is the kind of person that loves the look of lexuses, its a very distinctive looking car and a very handsome car as well, particularly from the front. There are numerous apparent downsides. You know the price, the range, the speed of recharging, the lack of practicality, but sometimes cars are just an emotional purchase. You know, and if emotionally you feel connected to the ux 300e, then by all means, go check it out thanks for watching guys. Let me know what you think of the car down below and also dont forget. You can win one of these by entering our electric car giveaway. All the details are in the link in the description.